Tim Winter (also known as Abdal Hakim Murad) has had a major impact on the religious landscape internationally through his role in the formulation of the most significant statement made by Muslims to Christians in the whole of their shared history: the document A Common Word (ACW). Through the pathway of ACW, Winter has inspired institutional and individual dialogues between Muslims and Christians in Rabat, Brisbane, Baku, Khartoum, Alberta and Indonesia.
Much of Winter’s research is based on the conviction that it is crucial to build dialogue between the Islamic theological tradition and other institutions in the modern world, especially as that tradition both opens up new options for Muslim engagement with other religions, and addresses Jews and Christians with a prophetic call to a shared and peaceful co-existence.
Drawing on his extensive research and experience in Muslim-Christian relations, Winter played a very significant role in the genesis, composition and promulgation of ACW, whose editor was HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan. He was also one of the initial signatories and part of the ‘core group’, consisting of ten internationally senior figures (including a former candidate for the Presidency of Libya), responsible for the initial dissemination of ACW.
ACW has also resulted in Winter taking on a leadership role in the Catholic-Muslim Forum, alongside Popes Benedict and Francis, which has significantly improved relations between the Vatican and the Muslim world. This has taken place at a crucial juncture, when Muslim-Catholic relations were seriously endangered.
Finally, Winter conceived and contributed to a companion volume to ACW for churches and mosques, which has been widely used across Europe, and in Russia and Malaysia, to deepen inter-faith dialogue.
Through ACW, Winter’s work has led to his exerting a truly global influence, inspiring people, both at an institutional and individual level, to pursue world peace.
“Winter played a very significant role in the genesis, composition and promulgation of A Common Word… drawing on his extensive research and experience in Muslim-Christian relations.”
– HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan
