“The other day I was sitting next to an American couple in a restaurant in London,” said Prince El-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan in a teleconference at Carleton. “And one of them leaned over and said to me, ‘you’re an Arab Muslim, aren’t you?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Are you going to blow us up?’ I said, ‘Well no, this evening is my off day, but if you come back tomorrow, I might oblige.’”
During the teleconference Jan. 18, Prince El-Hassan discussed the role of universities in promoting humanitarianism, and the importance of peaceful cultural cohabitation.
The Prince shared his experiences as a globetrotting scholar, the different sorts of people he has encountered through his travels, and their responses to him as a Muslim man.
In the West, for example, he said he has noted much ignorance surrounding what it means to be Muslim.
Although the prince did indulge in some macabre humour, his overarching message was entirely serious: racial and cultural understanding is the only path to peace.
He spoke of the Abraham Geiger Award that was bestowed upon him in Berlin, an award named for a great liberal thinker of Judaism, and how the ceremony brought together people of all religions and ethnicities to celebrate his achievement.
“We went to the mosque: Christians, Muslims and Jews; men and women. I was asked to give the lesson, which was translated into Arabic and Turkish and German, and we broke bread together after the visit.”
When asked whether he viewed differing cultures as a source of conflict, the prince answered, “Not necessarily,” laying the blame instead on politics.
He pointed out that most religions strive to teach similar lessons, using as example several different readings of the Golden Rule, as it has been rendered in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
He called for the separation of church and state in countries where the two are intrinsically bound, and the dissolution of inflexible moral authorities.
“Religion rises above politics,” he explained.
Carleton president Roseann Runte chaired the dialogue, and questions were supplied by students and faculty of the university. The conference was transmitted live over Carleton’s online homepage, with e-mails sent out beforehand encouraging students to watch.
During the conference, the prince was surrounded by students of a Jordanian university, and he expressed a willingness for the students of Carleton to meet with those of Jordan to discuss how they might work together for the betterment of civilization.