And more on the Road to Mecca....

Lots of Islamic theme'd posts. And this one is doing some intresting things for me. Its going to an Article by Al-Guardian. which is usually a bloody communist rag. But the Guardian has pointed out something which I think needs to be repeated. AlGore and other American politicos when they go to Saudi Arabia and other areas of that sort bash America. Prince Charles the man described as "proof of what happens when cousins marry" has done something on his trip to Saudi Arabia that is proof that he may some day become less of a douche.

The most important speech of the prince's visit came on Saturday, however, at the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, a conservative institution with 24,000 male students - most of whom will end up as preachers, judges in Islamic courts or members of the notorious religious police.

Focusing on the interpretation of religious texts, Charles told his audience: "We need to recover the depth, the subtlety, the generosity of imagination, the respect for wisdom that so marked Islam in its great ages ...

"What was so distinctive of the great ages of faith surely was that they understood, that as well as sacred texts, there is the art of interpretation of sacred texts - between the meaning of God's word for all time and its meaning for this time."

Prince Charles is speaking to the sense in the Muslim world of their great civilization being in decline, and he is pointing to the lack of a great vision which encourages a greatness as its cause.

This is simply inspiring and should be something you hear out of the likes of Bill Clinton and Al Gore when they touch down in the sandbox. You should hear Senators and Congressmen saying that when they discuss political issues regarding the region...

and heck It'd be great if the President could actually say that to. But we have such a failure of imagination that people are afraid of seeming bigots to speak those kinds of words.

Now... Prince Charles has a unique relationship with the Islamic world (he is even rumored to be a Muslim) and some may argue only he could say what he did... But I really don't think thats the case.

The words however -according to the Media..getting the leg work from Saudi Sources no doubt- was less then well recieved.

Initial reactions to the speech from students interviewed by Reuters were far from encouraging.

"Charles and the west don't understand the true Islam," said one student, Maher al-Sehili.

"There's nothing to change," said another.

"Islam can adapt to any era and any place, but there are no two interpretations to its sacred texts," said a third.

A 21-yer-old student called Abu Dijana added: "He (Charles) should remember that the Qur'an is sacred. I don't trust them (westerners) and the Qur'an says it clearly - Jews and Christians will not be satisfied until you follow their path."

But Charles spoke the words that needed to be said, and he bridged a multiculturalist's sensitivity with a realistic view of the Islamic world today