The 21^st century will be the century of Islam. The events of September 11 saw to that. The hijackers of the four American planes not only killed thousands of innocent people, but also created one of the greatest paradoxes of the 21^st century: Islam, which sees itself as a religion of peace, is now associated with murder and mayhem.

In light of the fact that the Muslim world population is one of the fastest growing, let us consider three important facts about Islam today: First, there are about 1.3 billion Muslims living in 57 states. One of these states, for the time being, is nuclear and one-third of the world’s Muslims live in non-Muslim countries. Second, about 25 million live in the West. Of these 25 million, 7 million live in the United States and 2 million live in the UK. And third, Muslim nations are indispensable for American foreign policy. Of the nine “pivotal” states identified by foreign policy experts, on whom the United States bases its foreign policy, five are Muslim – according to the experts The main terrorists on America’s wanted list are Muslim – Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar, but, so are America’s main allies in the “War on Terror” – President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, President Karzai of Afghanistan and King Abdullah of Jordan. Therefore, if both implacable opponents and close allies are Muslims, it is imperative to begin to understand Islam.

We know that for the first time in history, due to a unique geopolitical conjunction of factors, Islam is in confrontation with all of the major world religions: Judaism in the Middle East, Christianity in the Balkans, Chechnya, Nigeria, Sudan, the Philippines and Indonesia; Hinduism in South Asia, and, Buddhism—after the Taliban blew up their statues—in Bamiyan. And, Islam is on a collision course in the western province of China, where culture represents an amalgam of the philosophy of Confucius, Tao, and Communist ideology.

It is this historic conjunction that both singles out Islam and creates the global argument that the 21^st century will be a time of war between Islam and the other world civilizations. Of course, this neat concept is challenged because so many Muslim countries are clearly allied to non-Muslim ones. Besides, so many Muslims now live in non-Muslim nations. But it is true to say that the major world civilizations are experiencing problems in accommodating or even understanding Islam, both within their borders and outside them.

If we are to prevent the world from lurching toward one crisis after another, one flashpoint to another, then we all need to radically rethink the relationship between our religion and other religions; a radical reassessment of one another. The West must send serious signals to the ordinary Muslim people - via the media, through seminars, conferences, meetings - that it does not consider Islam to be the enemy, however much it may disagree with certain aspects of Muslim behavior.

The shocking fact, that several polls confirm, is that about 75% of Americans said they knew nothing about Islam or that they were hostile to Islam. This figure illustrates the extent of the problem.  It is made worse because the figures for the Muslim world are equally as alarming. Anti-Americanism is now rampant and widespread. Even Muslims living in America know little about American history or the great American figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. These founding fathers dreamt noble and grand dreams with universal appeal for their new nation. Unfortunately the poster child for America in the Muslim world is now Lynndie England, whose photograph shows a cowering and naked Iraqi prisoner being gleefully pulled by a dog leash around his neck. This is now perhaps the best recruiting propaganda for fighting Americans.

It is therefore essential that we create by any and all means a process of mutual understanding and dialogue. With dialogue comes knowledge and understanding. The events of September 11 appeared to push the world toward the idea of the clash of civilizations, but they also conveyed the urgency of the call for dialogue. The creative participation in the dialogue of civilizations, in the struggle to find an internal balance between the needs and traditions of local communities and a world increasingly dominated by international corporations and political concerns, in the committed search for global solutions to the common global problems confronting human society, and the quest for a just, compassionate, and peaceful order, will be the challenge human civilization faces in the 21^st century.

To meet the challenge is to fulfill God’s vision; to embrace all humanity in doing so is to know God’s compassion. Without dialogue, knowledge and friendship, human society – all of us, everywhere and at any time – in the 21^st century and beyond, will face a more dangerous, violent and uncertain future. We must do everything to encourage understanding between cultures and societies.