A possibly significant development in Muslim-Christian-Jewish relations is being spear-headed by the Islamic Scholars of North America (ISNA). In July of 2012, ISNA Director of Community Outreach, Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, convened a small multilateral forum of scholars in Mauritania to discuss challenges faced by religious minorities in Muslim-majority communities around the world.

Mauritania is an interesting choice, since it has no indigenous Christian population, and the CIA World Fact book lists the country as “(official) 100% Muslim.”

So, officially, Mauritania is 100% Muslim, which begs the question: If the ISNA is reaching out to Islamic scholars in Mauritania on the issue of minority religious rights, and the (official) statistic is that Mauritania is 100% Muslim, is this a tacit recognition on  ISNA’s part that some of the 100% officially Muslim Mauritanians have secretly switched their religion….and that international human rights standards should allow them to do so?

If that’s the case, then this is a significant development in inter-faith relations.

The key word being if Continue reading →