Islam And Religious Dialogue: A Thematic Study - Part One
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
18 May 2022
Pluralistic
Aspects Of Religious Traditions Need To Be Cultivated Among Adherents To Enable
Them To Contribute To The National Development Through Mutual Collaboration
Main
Points:
1. Strategists
and policy makers are no longer able to ignore the role of religion in conflict
and peace.
2. Many
scholars of terrorism and national security have widely appreciated the role of
religion in guaranteeing peace and harmony.
3. Religious
engagement and dialogues make the social fabric healthy and firm.
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The world
is passing through very turbulent times. The global economic crisis continues
to manifest in newer and graver dangers almost every week. The similarities to
the period just before the Second World War continue to be cited and it seems
clear that events are moving the world at an unprecedented pace towards a
horrific third world war. Religion has become an important topic on today’s
policy agenda and global concern. Strategists and policy makers are no longer
able to ignore the role of religion in conflict and peace. New researches have
amply proved the critical role of religion in conflict prevention and peace
building. Although religion is always blamed for inciting conflict and
religious tensions obstructing the smooth growth of nation can also be used to
resolve conflict and enhance peace initiatives. In different capacities, faith
based actors have successfully contributed to peace building process.
Religious
engagement and dialogues make the social fabric healthy and firm. After
explaining in detail the ideological structures of religious belief, the second
part discusses the Salafism, one of the world’s most radical fundamental
religious sects among Muslim community. Ideological motives for violence,
textual literalism, various threats posed by Salafi creed and the mechanism to
counter the fanatical menace find detailed mention in the work.
Resurging
Positive Role Of Religion
In the modern era, where science holds
considerable sway over the conduct of people, religion and spirituality still
occupy prominent role in human life. Driven by the philosophical and methodical
tradition of Enlightenment religion was viewed as irrational and unquantifiable
phenomenon that cannot be studied from the point of view of reason and expected
the importance of the religion to recede as modernization and science triumph.
In the backdrop of French revolution and the commencement of European modernity
religion was identified as a perennial cause of social destabilization and easy
tool to demonize ‘the other’.
In the past when religions were blended with
the political ambition of the rulers, religious institutions inadvertently
assumed the gory face of retrogression and institutionalized violence against
the demonized other. Social reforms of 18th and 19th century advocated the
rigid separation of religion from state affairs given that religion was the
fountain of conflict and solution is impossible from the same source.
In contemporary age, tangible nuances are
conspicuous in the way people approach religion in various parts of the world,
especially Asia and Africa, because spiritual quest of the people is completely
unattended by the alternative scientific religion. Religion has double edge
function. From time immemorial religion has the inherent potential of mass
mobilization on shared collective identity. If this character was channelized
into positive construction, religions would possess immense strength for social
cohesion and a boon to progress and national development whereas it’s negative
summoning would open the Pandora’s Box of violence and conflicts.
Reformist
movements persistently eschewed the role of religions and faith based organization
in order to preclude spates of ethno religious violence promoted by fanatic
clergy and cunning politicians who sought legitimacy for their corrupt
practices in their mass religious appeal. Conceptual framework regarding the
conflict resolution mechanisms have been largely modified to consider religion
and faith groups sine qua non to address the recurring world problems from
violence to lumping economic growth.
Strategies to prevent violence have been
generously extended to incorporate religious institutions and appreciated the
untapped strengths of religions to maintain social and sustainable development.
Kofi Annan, former general secretary of United Nations Organization in a speech
made to over a thousand religious leaders who had gathered for the Millennium
Peace Summit of World Religious and Spiritual Leaders emphasized the importance
of religious agency in allaying specific problems like violence, poverty and
environmental concerns.
Dealing
With Differences: Process For Dialogue And Active Engagement
According
to Diana Eck what motivates religious violence are ardent beliefs in exclusive
truth, stern textual reading of scriptures, unflinching missionary zeal for
conversion, political ambitions of religions and outdated laws and that
consider the matters through the middle age etiquette and taboos. Peaceful
religious traditions would turn into worst beasts of destruction and communal
hatred when political motivations are fortified with fanatic world view that
makes one pitch one against another. Attempts by Hindutva forces to grab
political power in India using Hinduism spoilt the religious harmony in the
democratic nation by sowing seeds of mistrust and orchestrating communal
violence. Likewise, the aspiration to form a Caliphate for Muslims continues to
breed problems of religious tension in Iraq and Syria guided by misquoted
venomous Salafi ideology of ISIS. Thus problem is not religion itself but
radical interpretations and the exclusivist views of adherents are to blame
signifying the fact that religion identity could be tapped into far effective
peace advocacy tool.
A lion’s
shares of conflicts today are identity conflicts in which identity is defined
according to ethno-religious lines like Buddhist Sinhala people of Sri Lanka
and Yazidi Christians of Iraq. Religious traditions are used to incite and
justify violence demonizing the ‘other’. As explained by Johan Galtung,
religious, ideological or linguistic symbols that legitimize direct or
structural violence contribute to the continuation of the conflicts by
systematic traditional teaching and preaching. Religious affiliations along
with ethnic bonds often help to create the core of one’s identity. When
religion is practiced collectively or in congregation religion becomes the part
and parcel of collective identity of society that governs their everyday life.
Hence religious feelings embedded in the collective identity of society can
mobilize people more powerfully than any other identities of linguistics,
nationalism, regionalism and political inclinations. Due to this unique
strength to mobilize people easily towards spiritual and political goals,
religious traditions have often been abused to legitimize violence, define
exclusive identity and perpetuate particular ethnic and national objectives.
To sum up,
according to Swindler, religions are moderate, harmonious and peaceful in creed
but turn into violent institutions in practice due to the wrong strategies
applied to interpret the religion or external influences have corrupted the
fundamental concepts of religion heralding great human values. In the aftermath
of religions being hijacked by bigot elements, religious traditions were robbed
of the civilizational responsibility to accentuate peace through mutual
coexistence and inclusive active engagements. Bagdad civilization under the
Abbasid rulers of middle age that produced painstaking contribution to various
fields of knowledge and scientific innovations and the transmission of Greek
knowledge through voluminous translations is the great example for the fact
that if religious traditions are brought in harmonious cooperation human
resources could be used to the optimal level.
Many
scholars of terrorism and national security have widely appreciated the role of
religion in guaranteeing peace and harmony. Pluralistic aspects of religious
traditions need to be cultivated among adherents to enable them to contribute
to the national development through mutual collaboration. Religiously motivated
non-violence and pluralism are the real panacea to various problems plaguing
the world. Religious emotions and affiliations if exploited to mobilize people
into harmonious life and cultural assimilations it would be the best tool
conducive to diminish scourges of ethnic violence and bloody militancy.
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Grace
Mubashir is a journalism student at IIMC, Delhi
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/religious-dialogue-thematic-study/d/127032
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