Islam the uniting force in world religion

For years King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has been planning to unite the religions of the world in a bid to establish world peace. His hopes took a step forward in October 2011 with the founding in Vienna of the “King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue”. The centre has mainly been funded by the Saudi government.

It will be governed by a 12 person panel of representatives from the major religions and will supposedly be independent of the Saudi government.

During the signing ceremony in Vienna the Saudi Foreign Minister said that, “The thesis is valid that world peace cannot exist without peace between the world’s major religions.”

It may seem ironic that a nation which operates a strict form of Sharia law, devotes a tithe of its national income to the spread of Islam and denies the right to practice another religion within its borders should outwardly be seeking to build peace and harmony between religions. But to the Islamic mind global peace will only come when all submit to the god of Islam. Initiatives such as the King Abdullah Centre are ultimately aimed at convincing other religions of the superiority of Islam.