SUCCESSFUL HINDU-MUSLIM DIALOGUE

Hindu-Muslim dialogue held with full sincerity, cooperation, and acceptance of differences with an objective mind will open a new chapter in the history of India, making both partners on the path to progress.

Islam and Hinduism, both representing two great traditions, have co-existed for more than one thousand years. It is very important to understand the relationship between these two religions. There are two divergent views on the subject of this relationship. One view is that both traditions are very similar to each other. I once happened to meet a Hindu scholar who with great enthusiasm said, “I do not find any difference between the two religions. When I read the Quran, I feel that I am reading the Gita and when I read the Gita, I feel I am reading the Quran.” The second view is that Islam and Hinduism are both very different from each other and that their only meeting point is (heated) debates. This view was particularly widespread during the British rule in India and reached its zenith at that time.

It would be more intellectually and academically productive to assess the merits of the two religions in the context of intellectual development. Such development can come about only as a result of social interaction, intellectual exchange, and interfaith dialogue. I give herein certain principles for successful dialogue.

The dialogue, if it has to succeed, should not take the form of polemics. Participants in the dialogue should not become spokesmen of their respective communities. What should be uppermost in their minds is the vaster national interest and what the path is for the betterment of both communities.

Both the parties in the dialogue will have to commit themselves to differentiate between issues and non-issues; they will not hold any matter as a prestige issue; they will not adopt the way of claim and counterclaim; they will only say something keeping the result before them; that they will be impartial; that while pressing their demands they will also be willing to concede that while taking from others they will also be willing to give.

I would like to emphasize that the dialogue is not a meeting of rivalry but a brotherly meeting. Such noble tasks are performed by rising above the defeat-victory psychology. The dialogue aims to solve the matter and not confound it. The feeling at work behind dialogue is one of reconciliation and not one of rivalry.

Dialogue means an attempt to solve controversial matters through negotiation rather than through confrontation. If a dialogue is started with this spirit its success is certain. A dialogue keeping this spirit in view can surely open the closed door provided it is conducted with true spirit, and results in the progress of the country and each community.

I am of the firm opinion that the Hindu-Muslim dialogue held with full sincerity will open a new chapter in the history of India. In my experience, differences in religion are not an evil but a blessing. We require only an acceptance of these differences with a positive mind so that we can learn from each other and live as partners, rather than as rivals. Life is all about cooperation and coexistence, and the relationship between different religions must be based on the acceptance of this principle.