The passing of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II marks the beginning of the reign of King Charles III. The new monarch is well-known for his opinions on a number of social and cultural issues, such as politics, religion, and climate change.
He has also frequently shared his opinions on Islam and Muslims and has publicly discussed his appreciation for the Islamic faith.
The book, Charles At Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes and Dreams, discusses his study of the Quran and his belief that Islam and Christianity may both benefit from each other. On the political front, according to the book, he supports the Palestinians, opposed the Iraq War, and disapproves of the Burqa Ban in Europe.
In 2015, he said he would keep the monarch’s traditional title as “Defender of the Faith”, but wished to be known as the “protector of all faith.”
He founded Mosaic, an organisation that mentors the young and underprivileged members of the Muslim community and others, in 2008.
King Charles III has made numerous remarks over the previous 30 years in which he expressed his adoration and utmost regard for Islam.
The following is a collection of quotes from his speeches over the years that discuss Islam and Muslims.
King Charles III and Islamic Spain
In a speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in 1993, King Charles III spoke about how the West can learn and benefit from the legacy of Muslims in Andalusia.
“The medieval Islamic world, from Central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history. For example, we have underestimated the importance of 800 years of Islamic society and culture in Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries. The contribution of Muslim Spain to the preservation of classical learning during the Dark Ages, and to the first flowerings of the Renaissance, has long been recognised. But Islamic Spain was much more than a mere larder where Hellenistic knowledge was kept for later consumption by the emerging modern Western world. Not only did Muslim Spain gather and preserve the intellectual content of ancient Greek and Roman civilisation, it also interpreted and expanded upon that civilisation, and made a vital contribution of its own in so many fields of human endeavour – in science, astronomy, mathematics, algebra (itself an Arabic word), law, history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture, theology, music. Averroes and Avenzoor, like their counterparts Avicenna and Rhazes in the East, contributed to the study and practice of medicine in ways from which Europe benefited for centuries afterwards.”
Muslim Influence On The World
Back to his speech in 1993, he spoke about the influence Islam had on Europe and the wider world.
“Islam nurtured and preserved the quest for learning. In the words of the tradition, ‘the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr’. Cordoba in the 10th century was by far the most civilised city of Europe. We know of lending libraries in Spain at the time King Alfred was making terrible blunders with the culinary arts in this country. It is said that the 400,000 volumes in its ruler’s library amounted to more books than all the libraries of the rest of Europe put together.
During his 2006 Unity in Faith speech at Al-Azhar University, the world’s second oldest university, he told the audience: “We need to remember that we in the West are in debt to the scholars of Islam, for it was thanks to them that during the Dark Ages in Europe the treasures of classical learning were kept alive.”
At the Markfield Institute of Higher Education in Leicester, he said: “Anyone who doubts the contribution of Islam and Muslims to the European Renaissance should, as an exercise, try to do some simple arithmetic using Roman numerals. Thank goodness for Arabic numerals and the concept of Zero introduced into European thought by Muslim mathematicians!”
“My own family benefitted from Islamic wisdom too – Queen Victoria, my great, great, great grandmother, was taught Hindustani using Persian script by Hafez Abdul Karim, one of several Indian staff in her household.”
The West Can Learn From Islam
In 1996, King Charles III gave a speech in Wilton Park titled ‘A Sense of the Sacred: Building Bridges Between Islam and the West.’ Discussing the importance of collaborating, many parts of his speech also emphasised integrating what the modern world has fragmented.
“I start from the belief that Islamic civilisation at its best, like many of the religions of the East – Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism – has an important message for the West in the way it has retained a more integrated and integral view of the sanctity of the world around us. I feel that we in the West could be helped to rediscover those roots of our own understanding by an appreciation of the Islamic tradition’s deep respect for the timeless traditions of the natural order. I believe that process could help in the task of bringing our two faiths closer together. It could also help us in the West to rethink, and for the better, our practical stewardship of man and his environment – in fields like healthcare, the natural environment and agriculture, as well as in architecture and urban planning.”
The Success of Muslims
In the official opening of the new Markfield Institute of Higher Education building, King Charles III reminded the audience of the previous Muslim generation.
“The presence of Muslims in academia, public office and the higher echelons of our society is thus not something new, but it is something to be celebrated. And we might also pause, perhaps, to remember the hundreds of Muslims who died in the service of the Crown in two world wars. The Merchant Navy Memorials on Tower Hill in London, for example, provide ample evidence of those brave Muslim men who gave their lives on board British ships. Given such a heritage, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here at the official opening of the new Markfield Institute of Higher Education building.”
King Charles III and Ramadan
In April 2022, the King spoke passionately about Ramadan and the many sacrifices Muslims make in this month.
“Ramadan provides time to reflect on one’s own blessings and to give gratitude for them. One of the greatest ways of showing gratitude in Islam, I understand, is by being of service to those less fortunate in our society. The generosity of spirit and kind-hearted hospitality of Muslims does not cease to astound me and I am sure that as we enter more uncertain times, with many now struggling to cope with increasing challenges, the Muslim community will again be a source of immense charitable giving this Ramadan.”
Danish Cartoons
During a visit to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt in 2005, Charles criticised the release of the Danish cartoons that insulted Prophet Muhammad. He urged everyone to respect the views of others.
“The true mark of a civilised society is the respect it pays to minorities and to strangers … The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others,” he said in his remarks.
On Islamic Finance
Speaking at the World Islamic Economic Forum in London in 2013, the then-Prince of Wales discussed Islamic banking and how it may address some of society’s faults.
“Where, then, might the solutions lie? It is clear from the Quran and, indeed, from the Bible too, that humanity has a sacred responsibility for the stewardship of the Earth. The time has surely come for our financial institutions to recognise that the Earth is not a limitless resource that can be plundered at will, and to integrate that principle of stewardship into our financial structures. This is where I believe the World Islamic Economic Forum and Islamic or “Alternative” Finance can make a significant contribution. What interests me is that it is based on very important teachings at the heart of Islam the notions of “unity through diversity,” of equity and compassion, as well as the requirement for natural capital to be properly acknowledged.”
He added: “There is also a welcome emphasis implicit in Islamic Finance on the real economy, and the idea that finance cannot be divorced from wider ethical and moral codes. So, I wonder, is it possible to build financial and business models that seek to share risk more fairly, between our and future generations, between rich and poor and between financial organisations and society? As it stands, I suspect that if the strict injunction of the Quran against Riba were to be applied to the economic system that prevails at the moment, then the debt we have effectively incurred for future generations by the depletion of the Earth’s natural capital would surely be found to be usurious and profoundly unacceptable.”
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