JEDDAH, 20 October 2006 — It is being billed as the first serious and tangible step by the Muslim world to halt the growing bloodshed in Iraq between Shiites and Sunnis.

Nearly 50 Iraqi scholars from both communities were busy yesterday fine-tuning a document that essentially calls for ending the fratricidal carnage in Iraq. Their names were, however, not revealed to the media.

General principles about avoiding inter-Muslim violence, which are the subject of agreement among all sects without exception, have been collated in a document known as the Makkah Document.

The meeting tonight at the royal palace in Makkah that overlooks the Holy Kaaba is being held under the auspices of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Expectations in the Muslim street are high but analysts doubt if the accord will have any positive impact.

“The document is aimed at ending bloodshed among Muslims in Iraq and putting an end to the sectarian fighting and the terrorizing of the innocent people there,” said Mahdi Fathallah, the director of OIC’s political affairs, at a press conference yesterday. The conference was attended by a large contingent of journalists from Iraq.

“The sectarian fighting in Iraq has caused a great deal of concern, not only for the Iraqi people but for all Muslims,” he said. “It, therefore, became incumbent upon the Ummah to try and defuse the situation,” he added, pointing out the Qur’anic injunction that says: “If two parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, make peace between them.”

According to Fathallah, the meeting has no political agenda. “It is not a conference, a symposium, a debate, a discussion or a form of negotiation. It is simply a meeting of ulema (religious scholars) from both communities,” he said. “They have come together to underline the importance of unity and to help stop the spilling of Muslim blood in the streets of Iraq.”

Fathallah said everybody agrees on the inviolability of a Muslim’s blood and the prohibition of taking the life of any human being without due justification.

“The taking of even one single innocent life is viewed in Islam as equivalent to a homicide against all people on earth,” he added. “It is agreed among all the believers that one is duty-bound to avoid disobedience to Allah in whose eyes spilling the blood of an innocent is the most despicable sin.”

On what impact the meeting will have on the ground, Fathallah said: “For such a document to be issued from the holy city of Makkah and in the blessed month of Ramadan in itself constitutes a wake-up call for Muslims. It would enlighten them on their duties vis-à-vis the sectarian conflict and remind all Muslims and especially Iraqis of Allah’s law in this regard.”

The document has received full approval and endorsement from Iraq’s key leadership, most notably from Shiite leader Ali Al-Sistani, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and militant leader Moqtada Sadr.

“Since the document does not contain any controversial matter whatsoever, we are optimistic that success will be on our side for us to be able to assist our brothers in Iraq to live in peace and security and to help put an end to the sectarian bloodshed there,” Fathallah said.

He said the Makkah Document would form the core of Friday sermons throughout the Muslim world.

“We want every Muslim to understand the Qur’anic injunctions to desist from spilling Muslim blood,” he added.

Fathallah’s optimism was, however, not shared by political analysts who say the problem of sectarianism is a direct result of the American occupation of Iraq.

“It is the occupation that is leading to all kinds of problems. US commanders are to be blamed for the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. They (the Americans) are playing one community against the other. It is a classic imperial game: pitting one community against the other and then lording over them,” said a leading Arab journalist on his blog.

However, one newspaper in the region called it a welcome development. “The OIC has at long last become involved in an effort to end the bloodshed in Iraq. The alarming situation in the country requires the urgent attention and constructive engagement of all of the region’s multilateral organizations, which have been slow to respond to the intensifying crisis,” it said.