Islam in Relation to Other Religions by Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid,

A paper for the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"

      Rhodes, October 10 - 14, 2007

(Only part of this 21 page paper is published here)

In my faith tradition the Holy Qur'an commands believers for interfaith co-operation "to come to common grounds" (The Holy Qur'an 3:64). As a Muslim I have been ordered to build good relations with all people of the world (The Holy Qur'an 49:13 & (16:40); work for peace everywhere and whenever possible with others (The Holy Qur'an 2:208 & 8:61); cooperate with others in furthering virtue and God-consciousness (The Holy Qur'an 5:2); seek and secure human welfare, promote justice and peace (The Holy Qur'an 4:114); do good to others (The Holy Qur'an 28:77) and not to break promises made to others (The Holy Qur'an 16:91). The Holy Qur'an tells believers that those who do good deeds and help others are the best creation (The Holy Qur'an 98:6).

The Prophet of Islam (May the peace of God be upon him) practiced this ideal for interfaith dialogue himself while talking to Jews, Christians and other faith traditions, as well as people with no faith on issues concerning life, death and relevant matters.   The Prophet of Islam confirmed this in writing explicitly in the Charter of Medina in 622 CE. Under this constitution, any Jew who followed the Muslims was entitled to their assistance and the same rights as anyone of them without any injustice or partisanship The Holy Qur'an not only recognized religious pluralism as accepting other groups as legitimate socio-religious communities but also accepting their spirituality. The preservation of the sanctity of the places of worship of other faiths is paramount in Islamic tradition (The Holy Qur'an 22:40).

We have a great deal to learn from one another, which enriches us without undermining our own identities. Together, listening and responding with openness and respect, we can move forward to work in ways that acknowledge genuine differences but build on shared hopes and values.

One lesson we have to learn from the evil events of 11th September 2001 is to build bridges between different communities. The answer is Dialogue with dignity, frank and honest conversation with diplomacy. What is dialogue between peoples of different faiths and what is its purpose? These questions need clear answers, otherwise hidden motives can be suspected and prevent the growth of trust.

Dialogue is a sustained and honest conversation between parties who are not saying the same thing and who recognise and respect the differences, the contradictions and the mutual exclusions between their various ways of thinking. The object of this dialogue is understanding and appreciation leading to further reflection upon the implications for one's own position of the convictions and sensitivities of other traditions.

Christianity, Judaism and Islam carry with them stereotypical expectations about others. Among these expectations is that the faiths cannot be taught or studied without personal bias toward one's own faith and against another's. While this statement is partially true, bias can be encountered in any discipline whether theological or secular. All the same, these faiths can also be taught just as seriously as biology or English literature. More surprisingly, what many of us fail to realize is that what we learn about another faith may actually increase the depth to which we learn our own. There are two ways today to counter religious hatred in any culture. First, we must raise the awareness of our children that the greatness of any nation lies in its people. We ought to teach more to love and reach for one another without regard to race, colour or religious orientation. Finally, we must wipe out negative stereotypes of the "other" from our human hearts and minds, for harmful images lead to harassment, discrimination, and intimation and hate crimes.

I also believe that Muslims, Jews, and Christians need to draw a line in the modem world between our communities and the non-monotheistic religions. Not that we should preach against them or hate them; but we should be unafraid to insist on our mutual concerns. The words of Pope Paul VI apply to all Christians, Jews, and Muslims, who "must assuredly be concerned for their separated brethren...making the first approaches toward them . . . dialogue is demanded nowadays...by the pluralism of society and by the maturity man has reached in this day and age."[Ecclesiam suam, no. 78, quoted in Austin Flannery, Vatican Council 11 (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1975), 1003.] It is toward that end all Christians, Jews and Muslims are urged to strive, first among themselves and then with each other in pairs and all together. We should not forget the past but should not be prisoner of our past. We must learn lessons from the history and move on for better understanding of each other with respect, dignity, mutuality and work together for seeking common good.

The spiritual foundation of non-violence in the various religious traditions needs to be rediscovered in dialogue. One of the pressing questions for us all is: How do we speak about God in a century that has witnessed horrific events like the Shoah? The events in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo were a reminder that horrors such as those of the Nazi era could only be thwarted by men and women prepared to make a stand for healing the wounds of the past. Our actions will speak louder than words. .

If we are to avoid the mistakes of the past, we must educate people -- particularly our young. Each one of us has a fundamental responsibility to protect and promote civil and human rights of all our brothers and sisters around us irrespective of their colour, creed, ethnic origin and their appearance. Jews and Muslims must reject their lunatic, fanatic and extremist fringes.

We should see religion as a total way of life anchored in faith in God and expressing itself in ethical conduct at the individual and social level. Justice, love and compassion - values that are highly cherished in any religion - rather than form, ritual and symbol - should propel this way of life. Since these values are universal, religion, which serves as a conduit for them, should also be preached and practised in a genuinely universal manner. This is what one expects the practitioners of the religions to do in the coming century to counter the challenge of globalisation. They should discard the narrow, exclusive concept of religion, which often confines virtue and goodness to one's own kind. Justice and compassion in this exclusive approach seldom transcends one's own religious boundaries.

It is as if social reality itself is forcing us to get rid of our exclusive attitudes and develop a universal orientation to our religion, which will be more accommodating of 'the other'. Indeed, one gets the feeling that each and every society is slowly, often painfully, beginning to realise what "humanity as a single family" means. Perhaps this is the path that nations must take for a universal community founded upon our common humanity to emerge.

While the notion of plurality may appear to be a relatively new concept, it is not new to those who are familiar with the Holy Qur'an. The Holy Qur'an is quite explicit in reminding all that if God willed, He would have made of all mankind one nation ( The Holy Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:48; Hud 11:118). Likewise, the Qur'an states that had it been God's will, He would have made all people believers ( The Holy Qur'an Yunus 10:99).

This means that forcing people to believe in God runs against His decree of free will, which includes the fact that some will reject Him. The ultimate reward or punishment for accepting or rejecting belief in God is deferred until the Day of Judgment. This value inculcates the attitude of being non-judgmental and accepting of people as they are, human beings entitled to choose and who are answerable to their Creator. Acceptance of plurality does not mean accepting the plurality of ultimate truths, nor does it preclude sharing one's faith with others and even inviting them to it. Plurality means peaceful coexistence with those who hold differing beliefs and convictions.

Plurality is a fact of today's global village. People from many different faiths and belief or no faith live side by side. But society can only be built on mutual respect, openness and trust. This means living our lives with integrity, and allowing others to do so too. Our different religious traditions teach us the importance of good relationships characterized by honesty, truth, love, unselfishness, compassion and generosity of care for resolving conflicts by peaceful means.   

Better understanding of others require us to share our desire for peace-building based on reverence of life, freedom, and justice, the eradication of poverty, dissolution of all forms of discrimination and protection of the environment for future generations. We should show each other respect and courtesy. Honesty and sincerity, love and compassion, dignity and mutual respect, modesty and humility, moderation and restraint in our actions, sacrifice and unselfishness, kindness and courtesy, a sense of justice and a sense of fairness, a sense of balance and a sense of propriety, seeking forgiveness and asking for apology for past mistakes - these are values which all religions cherish.

Since 11 September 200 a concerted effort has been underway in some quarters to bring about a 'clash of civilisations" between Islam and the West. Part of this is through inflammatory articles and speeches some of which can be clearly and justly labelled as anti-Semitic or Islamophobic. On the other side of the spectrum are efforts to bring about a dialogue of civilisations. In bringing about such dialogue we cannot start by pointing fingers and casting blame. Instead, we must recognise the areas of agreement and build on them.

Islamic teachings insist on establishing justice between people, and through justice, peace. Islam protects the universal, God-given rights of humankind, while recognising that people have differing paths in religion which they are free to follow and which confer differing social and economic rights among people such as in marriage, divorce and inheritance. This freedom is at the heart of the tolerance of Islam.

We have seen that history has not ended and civilisations have not clashed even after 11 September 2001, 11 th March 2003, 7 th July 2005 and Gulf War I and II. Institutions, nations, groups and all decent individuals must work together and shape the modern world as a peaceful place. It is our collective responsibility to give the hope and make this happen.   It would be foolish, though, to deny that unless Muslims feel that genuine tolerance and compassion are shown to the Palestinian people, unless the right of Muslims to the holy city of Jerusalem is acknowledged, and unless media hostility is checked, there will be no end to the confrontation between religions and nations. The people of the Book - Muslims, Jews and Christians - need to find a way of living peacefully together. If we cannot think in terms of our common noble religions, let us think in terms of our common cultural heritage as representing the ideal.

We should pledge to increase our awareness by positive thinking in understanding one another. We must pledge to be courageous defenders of peaceful teachings and interpretations of Islam, and to be exemplary peacemakers in the personal, family and social conduct in order to live a socially beneficial, peace fostering, bridge-builder and nature-friendly way of life.

Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid is Chair, Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK, Chair, National Association of British Pakistanis; Chair, UK Chapter of World Conference of Religion and Peace; Chair, Islamic Food and Nutrition Council UK; Chair, Muslim Marriage Guidance Council UK; European representative, World Council of Muslims Inter-faith Relations; and Imam, Brighton Islamic Mission.