MECCA, Saudi Arabia - Muslim scholars meeting in Saudi Arabia wrapped up a three-day conference Friday by calling for efforts to boost dialogue with Christians and Jews.
Wrapping up a three-day international conference in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the scholars urged the creation of the King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Centre for Connection between civilisations" in honour of their Saudi host.
They also called for the creation of an international prize named after the king for "figures and international organisations that contribute to advancing the dialogue in order to reach its objectives," a final statement said.
The scholars called on the king to bring together specialists from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions and other beliefs "to agree on a format for a fruitful world dialogue that would contribute to solving problems faced today by mankind."
In a statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, the scholars also stressed the need for dialogue with other religions to give a "correct picture of Islam" and to reach "out to other sects of Islam, which will lead to uniting the nation."
In March, Abdullah proposed talks among the three largest monotheistic religions in a first for the kingdom, which is home to two of the three holiest shrines in Islam.
"The difference between nations in beliefs and cultures are God's will, so they should use their common values as a base for cooperation that would be for their benefit," the statement said.
But the scholars insisted that dialogue should not mean abandoning their principles and their religion's fundamentals.
"A constructive dialogue and peaceful coexistence and cooperation between the followers of (God's) messages and others does not mean abandoning the axioms, or giving up the religion fundamentals," the statement said.
The participants also called upon the Mecca-based Muslim League, which hosted the conference, to set up an international Islamic committee to put together a common strategy for the inter-faith dialogue.
Shiite Iranian politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani also attended the conference, and on the first day sat at Abdullah's left in a gesture of unity between the two major sects in Islam.
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