It calls for peace between Muslims and Christians and tries to work for common ground and understanding between both religions, in line with the Qur'anic command: "Say: 'O People of the Scripture!
[2] "A Common Word between Us and You" is a follow-up to a shorter letter, sent in 2006, in response to Pope Benedict XVI's lecture at the University of Regensburg on 12 September 2006.
Great effort was made to ensure signatories represented as broad a range of viewpoints from the Muslim world as possible.
Notable signatories included: Some commentators such as the leading Jewish American political columnist Mona Charen,[12] have criticized the open letter.
"[13] On 28 November 2007, Patrick Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund, interdenominational Christian aid agency, published an analysis of the letter.
Sookhdeo's analysis also claimed that the letter has no acknowledgement that in many areas - such as parts of Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Indonesia and Pakistan - rather than Christianity fighting a war to destroy or displace Muslims, the reverse is the case.
"[15] However, Cardinal Tauran is quoted as saying that his remarks were not exclusivist and that Muslims and Christians are to engage in a substantive dialogue concerning theological and spiritual foundations.
[16] The Common Word website Frequently Asked Questions section attempts to address the criticism of the letter's lack of inclusiveness: "This document is a first step, but one that strives to lay a solid foundation for the construction of many worthy edifices.