‘Dialogue
between Abrahamic Faiths’
By Dr. Mohiuddin Waseem
McAllen, TX
I commend Pope John Paul II whose quarter century
reign has clearly changed the 2000 year history
of relations between the Roman Catholic Church
and the Jews. I believe that if time had permitted
him, he would have definitely
generated a similar constructive dialogue with
the Muslims as on many occasions he expressed
his wish to do so.
Two important events have drawn my attention recently.
The first is Pope Benedict XVI address to the
leaders of the ‘American Jewish Committee’
in the Vatican and the other one is “Second
World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace”
in which 72 Muslim clerics and 72 rabbis have
taken part in a three-day conference held in Spain,
which was sponsored by a Paris-based peace foundation
Hommes de Parole.
In the footsteps of Pope John Paul II the new
Pope Benedict is also trying to outreach Muslims
and has said that “Judaism, Christianity
and Islam believe in the one God, Creator of heaven
and earth. It follows, therefore, that all three
monotheistic religions are called to cooperate
with one another for the common good of humanity,
serving the cause of justice and peace in the
world” (March 16, 2006).
His words reflect his sincere intentions and it
is now the duty of Muslim clerics to seriously
take up this initiative and come up with a team
of Muslim scholars which could be assembled under
the auspices of ‘The Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC)’ for this history making
event of possibly the first interfaith dialogue
between the three different Abrahamic faiths.
In the post-holocaust era many sessions of interfaith
dialogues have taken place between the Roman Catholics
and the Jews essentially focusing on the most
sensitive issues which affected the Jewish people,
namely, the Church's attitudes towards the common
history related to Christology, its stance in
respect to the mission of the Jews and its position
regarding the State of Israel. Like our Jewish
brethren, I am convinced that both Muslims as
well as Christians can cite many genuine grievances
from the past but it is the future we all need
to focus on and as is said by the Pope for the
purpose of “serving the cause of Justice
and peace in the world”.
I think this noble cause in itself can serve as
an agenda for a possible future dialogue because
different Abrahamic faiths which reminds me of
the Qur’anic command to Muslims stating,
“Let not the hatred of others to you make
you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be
just: that is next to piety: and fear God.
For God is well acquainted with all that ye do
(Holy Qur’an 5; 8). Now the conference in
Spain (March 20, 2006) was designed to let religious
leaders discuss what role they can play in conflict
resolution and in educating young people about
religious tolerance. It was addressed by the Chief
Rabbi of Israel, Yoma Metzger, and Imad al Falouji,
the Imam of Gaza besides other dignitaries. A
sound suggestion from the conference which I liked
the most is the need to form a ‘United Religious
Body’ just like the secular ‘United
Nations’ for the purpose of conflict resolution
in the religious sphere. Even though the world
is ruled by secular forces, the conflicts we face
today, especially post-9/11, have a deep religious
basis for which we definitely need a forum where
those differences can be debated. My humble opinion
is that the best place for such an organization
will be in Jerusalem, the city of peace.
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