Conceptually, the interfaith harmony means “a cooperative and positive interaction between people of different religions, traditions, faiths, and spiritual or humanistic beliefs,” at the individual and institutional level. Overall the aim of this harmony is to derive a common ground “belief through a concentration on similarities between faiths, understanding of values, and commitment to the world.”
The bottom line is the promotion the understanding between various religions to enhance acceptance for each other. As summarized by Prof Dr. Hans Kung, “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions.” Unfortunately, under the current global scenario, the very concept of interfaith harmony is facing serious threats to its survival. As revealed through a number of news reports, a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida is planning to host an “International Burn a Quran Day” on September 11, 2010. As per ‘The Dove World Outreach Centre,’ this malevolent event is planned to venerate the victims of the tragic incident of 9/11. The event would be the beginning of a formal campaign against the Muslims and Islam. Maliciously, the handful people of Christian community associated with the Dove World Outreach Centre believe that, perhaps, the Muslims are responsible for the incident of 9/11. Although, still there are lot of assumptions, as who planned and executed the unfortunate incident. However, Islam as religion does not allow the violence. In Islam, killing an innocent human being is equal to killings of the whole humanity, therefore, how the killings of thousands of the people of WTC could be attributed to Islam or its followers. In order to burn the copies of the Holy Quran, the Dove World Outreach Centre has invited the Christian community by using the websites, you tubes, and facebook pages at the Church on September 11, 2010. A lot of hate material is being circulated by the church to promote this anti-Islam campaign. To the extent of being the impudent, the said church sells shirts and coffee mugs bearing the wordings like; “Islam is of the Devil.” This small group of the people associated with the said Church, indeed are denying the true teachings of the Christianity itself. The Muslims, however, believe that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are three forms of the same religion of Abraham. The basic teachings of all these forms are the promotion of peace and love among the human beings. The Holy Quran, the last massage of God clearly says; “O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.” The teaching of another Divine Book, the Holy Bible are; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Similarly, “The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.” While believing on the teaching of all these Divine Books, one would learn that all give the message of peace and harmony. Since there is no concept of the hate or violence in any of these forms of the basic religion; therefore, there is no logic of this church planning and executing the burning of the copies of the Holy Quran. In order to remove misgivings of the other faiths, the custodian of two Holy Mosques of Islam, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia while addressing an Interfaith Conference in the United Nations on Nov 13, 2008, said that, “Throughout history, preoccupation with differences between the followers of religions and cultures has engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification. It is high time for us to learn from the harsh lessons of the past and concur on the ethics and ideals in which we all believe. Matters on which we differ will be decided by our Omniscient Creator on the Day of Judgment. Every tragedy suffered in today’s world is ultimately a result of the abandonment of the paramount principle enunciated by all religions and cultures: The roots of all global crises can be found in human denial of the eternal principle of justice. Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization. They would not have appeared except for the absence of the principle of tolerance. The alienation and the sense of loss which affects the lives of many young, leading them to drugs and crime, became widespread due to the dissolution of family bonds that Almighty God intended to be firm and strong.” While reinforcing the King’s assertions, and further emphasizing on the interfaith harmony, President Obama, during his address in the Cairo University on June 4, 2009, unequivocally said that, “We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world — tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims.” President Obama admitted that Muslims were ill treated by West during last one and half centuries. Promising a new beginning, he said, “I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” Admitting the services of Islam and Muslims towards humanity without any discrimination, President Obama said that, “The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.” As far as the interfaith harmony and tolerance in Islam is concerned, irrespective of the class, colour, or social status, it has no parallel in the history. The first ever Islamic State of Madina, established by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a classic example of accommodating the interests of the people from all religions, from Christianity to Judaism and Islam. Under the Muslim rule; Umayyads in Spain and the Abbasid rule in Baghdad, Christians and Jews were given equal treatment in all spheres of life including education in schools and universities at the state expense. History also witnessed that, “the Muslim empire was a refuge for all those who fled from persecution by the inquisition.” Indeed, Islam is a religion of “moderation and tolerance, a message that calls for constructive dialogue among followers of religions, a message that promises to open a new chapter for humanity in which, God willing, concord will replace conflict.” There is no rationale of such like events to redress the grievances of the victims of 9/11. These acts would rather, provoke the religious sentiments, whose repercussions would be very serious for the global peace. Instead of bringing an interfaith harmony, the world may witness the vicious religious clashes after this incident. At this critical juncture of the history, there is need of more interfaith harmony than impairing it. In order to maintain the global peace and interfaith harmony, US Government must take stern actions against the church, planning this misdeed. The fanatic planning if materialized, would seriously dent the credibility of Christianity at the global level.
The bottom line is the promotion the understanding between various religions to enhance acceptance for each other. As summarized by Prof Dr. Hans Kung, “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions.” Unfortunately, under the current global scenario, the very concept of interfaith harmony is facing serious threats to its survival. As revealed through a number of news reports, a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida is planning to host an “International Burn a Quran Day” on September 11, 2010. As per ‘The Dove World Outreach Centre,’ this malevolent event is planned to venerate the victims of the tragic incident of 9/11. The event would be the beginning of a formal campaign against the Muslims and Islam. Maliciously, the handful people of Christian community associated with the Dove World Outreach Centre believe that, perhaps, the Muslims are responsible for the incident of 9/11. Although, still there are lot of assumptions, as who planned and executed the unfortunate incident. However, Islam as religion does not allow the violence. In Islam, killing an innocent human being is equal to killings of the whole humanity, therefore, how the killings of thousands of the people of WTC could be attributed to Islam or its followers. In order to burn the copies of the Holy Quran, the Dove World Outreach Centre has invited the Christian community by using the websites, you tubes, and facebook pages at the Church on September 11, 2010. A lot of hate material is being circulated by the church to promote this anti-Islam campaign. To the extent of being the impudent, the said church sells shirts and coffee mugs bearing the wordings like; “Islam is of the Devil.” This small group of the people associated with the said Church, indeed are denying the true teachings of the Christianity itself. The Muslims, however, believe that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are three forms of the same religion of Abraham. The basic teachings of all these forms are the promotion of peace and love among the human beings. The Holy Quran, the last massage of God clearly says; “O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.” The teaching of another Divine Book, the Holy Bible are; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Similarly, “The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.” While believing on the teaching of all these Divine Books, one would learn that all give the message of peace and harmony. Since there is no concept of the hate or violence in any of these forms of the basic religion; therefore, there is no logic of this church planning and executing the burning of the copies of the Holy Quran. In order to remove misgivings of the other faiths, the custodian of two Holy Mosques of Islam, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia while addressing an Interfaith Conference in the United Nations on Nov 13, 2008, said that, “Throughout history, preoccupation with differences between the followers of religions and cultures has engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification. It is high time for us to learn from the harsh lessons of the past and concur on the ethics and ideals in which we all believe. Matters on which we differ will be decided by our Omniscient Creator on the Day of Judgment. Every tragedy suffered in today’s world is ultimately a result of the abandonment of the paramount principle enunciated by all religions and cultures: The roots of all global crises can be found in human denial of the eternal principle of justice. Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization. They would not have appeared except for the absence of the principle of tolerance. The alienation and the sense of loss which affects the lives of many young, leading them to drugs and crime, became widespread due to the dissolution of family bonds that Almighty God intended to be firm and strong.” While reinforcing the King’s assertions, and further emphasizing on the interfaith harmony, President Obama, during his address in the Cairo University on June 4, 2009, unequivocally said that, “We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world — tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims.” President Obama admitted that Muslims were ill treated by West during last one and half centuries. Promising a new beginning, he said, “I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” Admitting the services of Islam and Muslims towards humanity without any discrimination, President Obama said that, “The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.” As far as the interfaith harmony and tolerance in Islam is concerned, irrespective of the class, colour, or social status, it has no parallel in the history. The first ever Islamic State of Madina, established by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a classic example of accommodating the interests of the people from all religions, from Christianity to Judaism and Islam. Under the Muslim rule; Umayyads in Spain and the Abbasid rule in Baghdad, Christians and Jews were given equal treatment in all spheres of life including education in schools and universities at the state expense. History also witnessed that, “the Muslim empire was a refuge for all those who fled from persecution by the inquisition.” Indeed, Islam is a religion of “moderation and tolerance, a message that calls for constructive dialogue among followers of religions, a message that promises to open a new chapter for humanity in which, God willing, concord will replace conflict.” There is no rationale of such like events to redress the grievances of the victims of 9/11. These acts would rather, provoke the religious sentiments, whose repercussions would be very serious for the global peace. Instead of bringing an interfaith harmony, the world may witness the vicious religious clashes after this incident. At this critical juncture of the history, there is need of more interfaith harmony than impairing it. In order to maintain the global peace and interfaith harmony, US Government must take stern actions against the church, planning this misdeed. The fanatic planning if materialized, would seriously dent the credibility of Christianity at the global level.
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