RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND SOCIAL HARMONY
Efforts for inter-religious dialogue must be undertaken for mutual learning and sharing. Furthermore, we need to adopt the tested formula of peaceful coexistence for social harmony.
The principle for inter-religious dialogue from the Islamic point of view, is neither religious uniformity nor inter-religious debate but, rather, mutual learning between people from different religious backgrounds based on mutual respect.
We are all seekers, in some way or the other. We need to try to find the truth about life and the universe. This seeking is a continuous process. In the course of this journey, we seek to achieve a conviction. For this, we have to study and interact with others. Inter-religious dialogue is important for mutual learning and sharing in seeking truth. Dialogue participants can freely share their experiences regarding truth, and others can try to learn and benefit from them. It is a healthy interaction. Interaction, dialogue, and exchange of thoughts are very important. However, they are not meant to establish claims of superiority over others. They should be only for learning. Learning has no end. There are limitless things that we can learn. The universe of facts is limitless: it has no end. Thus, our learning process can continue throughout our life.
As far as social harmony is concerned, we need to adopt the tested formula of peaceful coexistence. Moreover, as far as inter-religious dialogue is concerned, we need to take it as a means for learning, exchanging ideas and experiences, and sharing. By following this method, we can achieve two goals simultaneously: to grow in our realization of truth and to promote harmonious relations between individuals who subscribe to different belief systems. This is according to the Laws of Nature, or the Creation Plan of God.
This, to me, is the only meaningful model for inter-religious dialogue. Dialogue for the sake of dialogue is nothing. We must be very clear if we want dialogue to have some purpose. According to my experience, the purpose of such dialogue should be sharing, mutual learning, and interaction between people with different religious beliefs or understandings, which helps all parties in a dialogue to grow as human beings and thereby lead a more meaningful life.
