Inter-relegious Dialogue

Interreligiouns Dialogue First of all, it should become clear that the presence of more than one faith in any human society, be it the West or East, is not a problem insolvable. Religious pluralism, as a matter of fact, has been a living reality in every era of human history. Likewise there have been several dialogues of one or another kind between two or even more faiths. However interreligious dialogue was never as important an issue in the past as it is felt today. Among several reasons the most important is the reduction of the world, mainly owing to the scientific discoveries in the field of communication and aviation and because of economic interdependence and cultural interpenetration, to a global village where different faiths and ideologies are living together. In such a situation inter-religious dialogue becomes the most pressing of all religious communities to meet together to discuss and find out the ways and means to realize the ideal of a greater world community.

Not only religious pluralism some other factors, too, have contributed to the dispensability of inter-religious dialogue. Every religion, especially Christianity and Islam, are threatened today from within and without. The gap between profession and practice, the threat of scientific atheism, the rapid growth of secularization and people's increasing interest in materialism, Marxist and Capitalisitc, have put a question mark on the credibility of all spiritualistic ideologies and religions and even laymen have started questioning their utility in the modern age. As the threat is common, it is very much imperative on the part of all religions for find out a common response. One or another religion might claim to have potentialities to respond effectively to the challenges which are questioning its raison d'etre. Even if so, ti should not hinder - at least Islam must cooperate with the people of the other faiths in righteousness and piety.

Handing a situation on intellectual levels may be deemed an easy enterprise but never so on a practical plane. There is no denying the fact that al life and action-oriented programmes should have intellectual foundations, a raison of d'etre, otherwise they will cease to be meaningful and will prove short lived. An intellectual discourse to highlight the significance of inter-religious dialogue urging the followers of different faiths to bridge their distances, promote friendliness, mutual trust, to make possible the peaceful co-existence, in sum, to form and establish a harmonious world community is profoundly pleasant, even convincing and inspiring. However, the pursuance of such a programme in practical life where harsh realities are fully committed to frustrate any romantic, unrealistic gesture, requires an enduring courage, commitment, thoughtful planning and a determination to move forward with hope and imagination.

Christian-Muslim dialogue, though extremely needed, is not an easy enterprise to undertake. It is both pleasant and painful tedious and risky, yet desirable and promising. One must face problems.

Christian-Muslim relationship has a long history. It begins from the nascent days of Islam. Throughout this long period - over 14 centuries - they have been living side by side, especially in the Middle East. The relationship between the two has been one of mutual understanding and co-existence. Yet there have been unpleasant occurrences in the past, especially the crusades and colonialsim, which damaged the goodwill relationship and created a wide spectrum of differences and problems which are religious, theological, historical, socio-cultural and political. Today both communities have grievances against each other. They view and analyse the past from different angles and reach at varying conclusions. Like the past, present too, is not a happy one. However, today it is not religion but political and military injustices and economic interest rather exploitations which are the root cause of tension and disharmony between Christians and Muslims. Recent dialogues, however, have been taking more interest in theological and religious issues than political or economic.

[January, 2001]