Scope of Cooperation between Islam and Other Religions

Islam promotes peaceful coexistence among people following different faiths. So they are taught to live in a pluralistic society. As the Holy Qur'an teaches us, “In the beginning all the people followed the same way. (Afterwards there came a change and differences arose).” See 2.213 Adam was the first Messenger of God Almighty and he is accepted by now by all as the common ancestor of mankind. All Muslims believe, as taught by the Holy Book, that several thousands of messengers were sent to different parts of the world when men went astray from the teachings of God, though names of only few among them are revealed in the Qur’ān. Few of them have been given the divine books as well showing the humanity the right track. Authentic researches reveal the number of such messengers as about 124,000 and of the revealed books as 115.

So far as the Muslims all over the world, “They all believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books and Messengers. And they say, ‘We do not discriminate against any of His Messengers. We have heard the Message and submitted to it. Our Lord, we look up to You for forgiveness, for to You we shall all return.” See 2:285 Thus God enjoins the believers to equally respect all the Messengers and Books.

Islam holds that all Prophets came with the same message: there is only one God, and that He is indivisible, all-powerful, and God of every nation, tribe and people – whether they accept it or not. Islam’s vision has from the outset been a universal one. Moreover, the orientation and evolution of the early Muslim community under the Prophet Muhammad’s guidance was worldly and pragmatic, with public good as the overarching principle.

As Samuel P. Huntington, a known political scientist, said, of all the objective elements which define civilisations, however, the most important usually is religion, as the Athenians emphasised. To a very large degree, the major civilisations in human history have been closely identified with the world’s great religions. All the oriental faiths have this heritage, as Islam has. At the same time, unfortunately, religions in every part of the globe have contributed all too often in human history to the aggravation of conflicts and wars. “Time and again we see leaders and members of religions incite aggression, fanaticism, hate, and xenophobia – even inspire and legitimise violent and bloody conflicts. Religion often is misused for purely power-political goals, including war. We are filled with disgust”, Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993 noted with regret. Throughout history we can observe brutal acts of individuals in the name of religion. And similar attitude among violent groups within the same religions were also not uncommon. Contemporary history is also not an exception.

This dialectics has to be handled carefully, and to defeat the destructive and divisive elements of religions and to foster the inspiring and peace-building elements among religions, more strategic and effective ways of dialogue and cooperation among themselves and between the world of politics and that of religions are the only way out. In the words of former US President Jimmy Carter, “Religious representatives need to exercise their moral authority and mobilise the vast human resources of their communities in the service or peacemaking. The rest of us, in turn, must recognise the growing importance of religious factors for peacemaking and develop ways, both informal and formal, to cooperate with religious leaders and communities in promoting peace with justice.” (Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson (eds), Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, Oxford University Press: New York, 1994, p. VIII).

Highlighting the urgent need for dialogue among civilisations and cultures in order to prevent major conflicts and the imminent need for inter-cultural and inter-religious peace-building, Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations asserted once, “All sensible people must wish to avoid such a clash. Certainly most Muslim leaders do…. One far-sighted leader of a Muslim country, President Muhammad Khatami of Iran, made a memorable speech on the subject to the United Nations General Assembly. He said, ‘The Islamic Revolution of the Iranian people… calls for a dialogue among civilizations and cultures instead of a clash between them’. At his suggestion, the assembly has since decided to proclaim the year 2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilisations.” (Kofi Annan, Dialogue of Civilisation and the Need for a World Ethic, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies: Oxford, 1999) Because, to borrow the words from Hans Kung, the foremost authority on interfaith relation: “There will be no peace among nations unless there is peace among religions. And there will be no peace among religions unless there is authentic dialogue among religions.” (Hans Kung, Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic, Crossroad: New York, 1991, p. xv).

Existence of diverse religions all over the globe is an accepted fact and that fact demands tolerance and respect to the ‘other’ from everyone.

Almighty taught us, “Then We revealed the Book to you (O Muhammad!) with Truth, confirming whatever of the Book was revealed before, and protecting and guarding over it. Judge, then, in the affairs of men in accordance with the Law that Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires in disregard of the Truth which has come to you. For each of you We have appointed a Law and a way of life. And had Allah so willed, He would surely have made you one single community; instead, (He gave each of you a Law and a way of life) in order to test you by what He gave you. Vie, they one with another in good work. Unto Allah is the return of all of you; and He will then make you understand the truth concerning the matters on which you disagreed.” See. 5:48

To those who do not believe the way you do, tell them, the Holy Qur'an guide us, “O disbelievers, I do not worship those whom you worship, Nor are you worshippers of Him Whom I worship, Nor am I a worshipper of those whom you have worshipped, Nor are you worshippers of Him Whom I worship. For you is your religion and for me is mine.” See. 1-6: 109. Perhaps the source of secular thought, the world has ever seen.

So far as Muslims world over are concerned, ‘We believe in God and what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and to Issac and Jacob and his descendents, and the teachings which God gave to Moses and Jesus and to other Prophets. We make no distinction between any of them...’ See 3:84.

There is no compulsion and coercion in regard to religion. See 2:256. As is borne out by this command in the Qur’ān, Muslims are to believe in all of the prophets sent by God as all of them were sent to guide the humanity. What this entails is that they are not permitted to show any form of disrespect to any prophet or to the specific religion which he taught to his followers. To a Muslim, religious belief must come out of choice, as God has also commanded not to use any kind of coercion in the matter of religion. It is the conviction of the followers of one faith, and certainly, not the compulsion they try to impose on others, that establish the moral force of their religion on earth. This was a principle evident in the life and practice of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), as well as the Madinan constitution, which he drew up, keeping in mind the multi-religious community of Madinah. This great document guaranteed freedom of worship to all religious communities. Such step was in tune with the spirit of the Qur'an that shines into the hearts of all its perceptive readers. God says in the Qur'an that He has made people into nations and tribes so that they can know and deal with each other in an equal temper of kindness and generosity.

And all these are messages for mutual respect, cooperation, doing virtue to others, and for peaceful coexistence.

According to the Holy Qur’ān, Adam was the first man and God’s first messenger to humanity. God ordained thousands of His messengers in various lands with the duty to do his best to bring back the humanity on the right track (See 2:213). Like this, on occasion after occasion, God went on appointing messengers from out of the men living in a given phase of human history and in a given part of the world. No phase of history nor any part of the world was left out without messengers. Only some of these messengers have been named in the Holy Book. Likewise only some of the revealed books find mention by name. God enjoins upon the believers to equally respect all these messengers and books (2:285).

Historically, Islamic scholars have agreed that the Qur'an gives “People of the Book” special status, allowing those who live in Muslim lands (called dhimmi – protected people) to practise their own religions and to own property. They were not subject to certain Islamic rules, such as the prohibitions on alcohol and pork. Under the Islamic state, they were exempt from the draft, but were required to pay a tax known as jizyah, part of which went to charity and another part to finance churches and synagogues. They were, however, exempt from zakat, which is obligatory on Muslims. This practice later led Islamic countries to follow religious toleration towards Christians and Jews, although they were never accorded full status enjoyed by Muslims.

The Holy Qur'an teaches us, “It may well be that Allah will place love between you and those whose enmity you have now earned, Allah is All-powerful, and He is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. Allah does not forbid you to treat kindly and act equitably towards those who have neither fought you in the matter of religion nor driven you out of your homes. Indeed Allah loves the just.

“He only forbids you to take for friends those who fought you in the matter of religion, and drove you out of your homes, and cooperated with others in your expulsion. Those who take them for friends are indeed the wrong doers. See 60:7-9. Muslims, therefore, accept other religions as the faith of the fellowmen and believe that true tolerance means permitting every adherent of a religion to live his life in accordance with the values and traditions of his religion; no matter how incorrect they may seem from the Islamic point of view.

It is not tolerance to try to pretend that differences do not exist. For example, when presented with two objects one of which is black and the other white, it is not tolerance to say that both are grey. Neither is it tolerance to say that one particular religion is the same as another religion. Allow each one to follow the faith he chooses.

Muslims, and the millions of others who chose to remain Zoroastrians were accorded the same privileges and duties accorded by the Constitution to the Jews. Christians also received the same treatment. Following the conquest of India by Muhammad bin Qasim, the Muslims could see new religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, never known to them until then. It is said that Muhammad Bin Qasim sought instructions from the caliph in Damascus on how to treat Hindus and Buddhists. They were idol worshippers and their doctrines were at the farthest to Islam. Their founders were unheard of by Muslims. The caliph called a council of Ulema and asked them to render judgement on the basis of the governor’s report. The judgement was that as long as Hindus and Buddhists did not fight the Islamic state, as long as they paid the jizyah or tax due, they must be free to worship their gods as they please, to maintain their temple, and to determine their lives by the precepts of their faith. Thus, the same status as that of the Jews and Christians was accorded to them. These historical facts revealed a new situation occurred after the Qur'an and paved a new way for coexistence in tune with the divine orders and the precedents shown by the Prophet.

“Verily, Great is the Glory of the Divine Creator.” This is not a verse from the Qur’ān, but from the Rig Veda 5:81:1. In every respect it is similar to “Prise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds. The Qur’ān: 1:2. When Arjun preferred not to fight, having his conscience burdened with the prospect of killing of his relatives, Lord Krishna advised Arjun to strive for Yoga, which is the art of all work. There are several verses in the Bhagvad Gita where Krishna advises Arjun to fight the enemies even though they were his relatives. Fight for Dharma is thus promoted and such fight is what is termed in the Qur'an as Jihad, which nowadays is totally misunderstood or misinterpreted by many.

The fundamental virtues do not differ in religions. Those who believe in the Great Creator of the universe and of the best creation, the humanity, cannot live in enmity, as the Creator orders them to be kind to others. The reason for the feud among the believers that may crop up at times is not the difference in belief. Poverty, underdevelopment, unjust treatment, discrimination and corruption when manifest towards a particular group in a locality, are fertile grounds for the rise or growth of extremist religious tendencies. In such societies those who reject the status quo or who oppose the government in power, may find it easy to gather the support of the suffering poor who are the vast majority in that group, by making appeal to extravagant religious claims. The social or economic reasons for such impairments never come to light to address solutions. The resources of the State will have to be deployed for maintaining law and order. Building up of common platforms to address the problems in its real perspective will be the better option to outlive such outbursts.

In pre-independent India, when the soul of the country was against colonialism, all rose to the occasion to fight for swaraj with the different flags along with the then tri-colour. That historical feeling of oneness shall be nurtured again to fight the common enemies like poverty discrimination and other vices in the society. Relations between various religionists will make more progress if there is increased attention on all sides to the true spiritual dimension. Knowledge of other religions, religious freedom, meetings and common projects are important aspects and have to be promoted by all. But they alone are not enough. Greater attention to God is necessary. The true spirits of all religions call for egalitarianism and justice. So they can jointly fight against all types of injustice, whether social, political or economic. Statistics reveals that 20 per cent of humanity consumes 80 per cent of the earth’s resources, leaving only 20 per cent to four-fifths of humanity. Moreover, certain rich countries restrain food production for the sake of balancing market prices, while there are poor countries whose inhabitants do not have enough to eat. And no one needs the experts to know that the earth’s resources can be devastated or slowly depleted by greed, carelessness and war.

The money spent for purchase of weaponry world over can very easily eradicate hunger from the earth. Here is a rich area for collaboration in a world in which people realise more and more their interdependence. Islam makes it incumbent upon every Muslim to respect other religions. And Muslims feel that Islam should also be understood and respected by the others and vice-e-versa . The people of the east have also to work along with those in the west agreeing to fight the common enemies of the men on earth.

In the present day world of global warming, interfaith cooperation should agree on the need to protect the environment, a principle which no religion disputes. Religions, organising for dialogues have to find out new understandings and areas of agreement, where immediate interventions are required, whether it is local, regional, national, or international issues.

To understand each other and to know that another’s faith does not revolt mine is an important aspect. Today a large majority among us are guided by notions and not knowledge, to judge others. Our understandings are far from the truth and reality. Many even do not know the fundamental principles of their own religions, in the right perspective. When misgivings govern us, misunderstandings lead us to misdeeds. Interfaith dialogue helps us to understand ourselves as well as others.

We have attained greater technological progress, and yet we are faced with worldwide poverty, hunger, unemployment, misery and the destruction of nature at more levels than before. Many peoples are threatened with economic ruin, social disarray and political marginalisation. In such a critical situation humanity needs not only political progress and actions, but also a vision for a peaceful life. Laws, prescriptions and conventions, which are in plenty everywhere, alone cannot promote justice and peace. Of course, religions, by themselves, also cannot solve the economic, political and social problems. Religions, however, are able to provide people with a meaning for their lives, ultimate standard of life. For this they have to eliminate the conflicts which spring from the religions themselves and dismantle mutual hostile images and prejudices, fear and mistrust.

Let us therefore chalk out plans for cooperation among our religions focusing on common issues staring at our folk and thus build bondage, knowing more about each other through meaningful dialogues and fruitful interactions. We shall reaffirm “That we all have a responsibility for a better global order; that involvement for the sake of human rights, freedom, justice, peace and the preservation of the earth is reasonable and necessary; that our different religious and cultural traditions must not prevent our common involvement in opposing all forms of inhumanity and working for greater humaneness.”