According to Andrew Alderson, writing in the London Daily Telegraph of 29 October, 2005 (Prince Charles To Plead Islam’s Cause To Bush), Prince Charles will try to persuade President George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam.
The Prince leaves with the Duchess of Cornwall on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US. According to the Telegraph, while expressing sympathy for America over the 9/11 terrorist attack, he is concerned over America’s "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam’s strengths.
He ventilated his concerns at a meeting with senior Muslims in London in November 2001. Those present included Sir Iqbal Sacrani, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and Hashir Faruqi, the chief editor of Impact International, an Islamic affairs magazine.
The Telegraph understands that Prince Charles did not – and does not – believe that the actions of 19 hijackers should tarnish the reputation of hundreds of millions of law-abiding Muslims around the world.
He has not however expressed any views on the military incursions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The report said Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam.
In 1994 he famously said that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith".
A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws.
He spoke warmly of the West’s debt to the culture of Islam and distanced moderate Muslims from misguided militants. "Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity," he said.
Until next time,
David Flint