Events & Issues

New Delhi, 16 August 2010

Inter-faith Dialogue

TIME TO TURN THE WHEEL

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

In the context of Islam and inter-faith dialogue, there are three categories of people to deal with. First, are those who have the will and inclination to understand the fundamentals of Islamic faith. This category of people tries to read, learn and understand about Islam through various means. They buy books, magazine and talk to Muslim friends and improve their knowledge about Islam. In the age of internet their task has become easier as they can browse the websites on Islam and even hold inter-active sessions there to clarify their doubts.  

The second category of people is those who have an allergy towards Islam. They have a closed mind, have fixed opinion about it, do not entertain invitations to know about it and nor do they not want to listen anything positive about this faith. 

The third category of people is blank about Islam. Since positive voices of this religion hardly reach them, they are influenced by anti-Islamic propaganda and fall prey to many misconceptions about Islam. Though they have a non-friendly attitude but are open to positive ideas and thoughts of Islam. 

The challenge before those working towards inter-faith dialogue between Islam and other religions in India is to engage all the three categories of people and reach out to them with the message of humanity and peaceful coexistence. 

An Islamic academy in Karnataka’s Bhatkal district has taken a lead in this direction and is trying to reach out to people with the intention of starting an inter-faith dialogue between Islam and other religions. The academy has various projects running very successfully and their initiative needs to be emulated not only in other parts of the country but also other faiths too can a lesson or two from them.  

The academy conducts regular college-level essay competitions regularly, where students of non-Islamic faith are asked to write an essay on ‘Islam, a religion of peace’ and other such themes. And gives prizes to the three best essays of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. This competition is currently being conducted in Karnataka, Kerala, UP, Jharkhand and Bihar. 

In the last competition it held, the academy received around 7000 entries. Some of the essays reflected deep understanding of Islam and quoted various Islamic sources to reflect their reading on Islam. The essays surprised the organizers as the articles forcefully articulated Islam as a religion of peace. Although the participants were asked to write a maximum ten-page essay, some of the participants wrote over 150 pages!

Seeing the success rate, the academy feels that this could be one of the many ways forward to promote inter-faith dialogue between Islam and other religions along-with reducing the misconceptions about this faith. By regularly changing the essays’ themes, the academy has set a target of 50,000 entries, plans to double the cash prize thereby reaching out to people all over the country.

Besides, the academy also prepares booklets based on stories from the Holy Quran that teach moral values. One such leaflet is based on stories of Abraham entitled ‘cold fire.’ It talks about how Abraham led a virtuous and pious life. Another is about Yusuf’s wonderful dreams. According to the Quran, Yusuf was a dream-teller who used to interpret dreams and tell the people their future. The third booklet is about Noah Ark’s impossible voyage. 

More. The academy distributes these multi-coloured booklets to school children who are asked to read the pamphlets and write a page or two on what they have understood and the best write-ups are given prizes. There is no gainsaying that the booklets have created a deep impact on the minds of non-Muslim children who have gained knowledge about Islam’s positive role.

Additionally, debate competitions are regularly among school, college, and university students. Wherein students are asked to speak on the theme Islam: as a misunderstood religion’, a religion of universal brotherhood, Prophet Mohammad a messenger of peace’ etc. This project is very successful as students have argued the topics threadbare. 

The academy’s fourth project is to conduct on-the-spot competitions for non-Muslims. Books on Islam are distributed and the competitors are asked to read them and answer two questions: One, what is their opinion on Islam as a religion of peace? Two, what are their misunderstandings that have been removed after reading the book? The best two answers get awarded Rs 5000 and the third Rs 3000.

The results were amazing. Not only did a large numbers of people voluntarily participate in these competitions, wrote lengthy replies but also refused to take the prizes averring that the fact they had won was an award in itself. Furthermore, the awardees requested the organizers to use the prize money for promoting the cause of inter-faith dialogue.  

In addition, the institute has selected over 300 non-Muslims top-rung Government official and political leaders to pen their thoughts on Islam. The comments received would be published in a book-form of a book in English, Arabic and other Indian regional languages. This venture’s response has been encouraging with contributors busy purchasing books on Islam prior to writing their comments.

Clearly, these experiments at the ground level will go a long way in turning the wheel of inter-faith dialogue and bridge the yawning gap that exits between Islam and other faiths in India. In fact, such trials should be replicated in other parts of the country as they help educate people about other faiths, lead to better understanding and respect for all religions. Thus, social leaders,’ non-Muslim peace activists and others should take part in such experiments and spread the message of peaceful coexistence in the country. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)