HUMAN FRATERNITY FOR WORLD PEACE AND INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

On 4^th February, the World is celebrating the International Day of Human Fraternity all over the countries as an important sign to the World that peace and cooperation are still relevant. Despite many unnecessary wars in the name of religion, political differences and many more, people are calling for its total ending and urging the leaders to look forward to many fruitful cooperations and human fraternity.

Religious leaders also play an important role in humanity, not only preaching the values of goodness, kindness, and love to each other but also moving people towards these values. This is in line with the move by two renowned scholars Pope Francis and The Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib, on 4^th February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, signing a monumental document entitled “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”.

This document highlights that diversity in religion is no longer a reason to divide rather, it is a sign of God’s power to make us ponder. He creates us in differences “so that we may know each other” (al-Qur’an, 49:13). In this verse, God maintains that the creation of humans is not singular, but plural when He says: “O mankind, Indeed We have created you from male and female and made you people and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous.”

All religions honour good values. None of any religions promote hatred and enmity. Rather they encourage people to love each other and promote values such as respect, understanding, and kindness.

The history of the Prophet Muhammad SAW has also recorded significant reconciliations of the Prophet with the Jewish tribes, the Christians, and the Pagans (idol worshippers).  When the Prophet SAW migrated to Madinah, several treaties were signed with the Jews and the Christians, to ensure a peaceful living with them. This is also a similar case when Muslims came to the Indian subcontinent, they made a respectful agreement with the Hindus and the Buddhists.

Interfaith dialogue signifies active engagement or dialogue among different religions to promote understanding, respect and good values.  Prophet Muhammad SAW has shown a good relationship with the Christians. He taught us that appreciating our similarities can help us honour and respect one another, which does not mean compromising our beliefs. In the Qur’an, we find the verse: “… and nearest among them in love to the believers will you find those who say: ‘We are Christians.” (Quran 5:82).

The word dialogue is a combination of dia (across, through) and logos (conversation or word). It simply means a conversion between two or more people. In Islamic tradition, conversation between individuals, groups, and religions is essential for living together and to establish understanding, cooperation and mutual respect. In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet says:

“Souls are like recruited troops. Those who get to know each other will develop mutual understanding, and those who are strangers to each other are more likely to dispute.”

The goals for interfaith dialogue are various, such as to build bridges between different communities, to provide platforms for listening, communicating and respecting, to eliminate religious biases, prejudices and fanaticism, to collaborate different strengths for human welfare, to understand similarities and differences through theological and intellectual stances, and finally, to work together for justice, peace and humanitarian aid.

All of us are responsible for religious freedom and peace. This corresponds with what has been done by the lecturers and students of the Faculty of Leadership and Management, Programme of Akidah and Religion Studies & Akidah Global Outreach Centre at USIM, with the Christian fellows of Catholic Theresa Church of Nilai to disseminate the values of good relationships and harmonious dialogue on 4^th February 2025. It also marks the first event of the Christian-Muslim Programme on Scriptural Reasoning. It provides a platform to allow the members to share their insights on religious convictions and the impacts on their everyday lives.

Our conversation continued for 2 hours, allowing the members to present how religion is meaningful in making them better humans, especially by discussing the importance of fasting. The programme ended with many suggestions and ways forward, particularly on how to bring community welfare and engagement in the future.

In conclusion, all need to enhance knowledge about interfaith dialogue, master the skills and create platforms to establish relations with other religious groups and more importantly, work together for the common good.