Tha Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Bridging religious divides, 11 January 2009
Review by John Gurusamy(Coordinator of the Malaysian Interfaith Network (malaysianinterfaithnetwork.net)).
What the world needs now is more talk and less unthinking action based on negative stereotypes. This book suggests one way of encouraging that.
AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE COMMITMENT TO INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
By Syed Farid Alatas ( currently Head of Department, Malay Studies, and Assoc Prof of Sociology at the National University of Singapore)
Publisher: International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia, 63 pages
ISBN: 978-9834427405‘An Islamic Perspective on the Commitment to Inter-religious Dialogue’ is available at IAIS , Jalan Elmu, off Jalan University, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.
THIS book, comprising eight readable chapters over just 63 pages, is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in social harmony through dialogue and multiculturalism – something the world sorely needs now, surely.
Author Syed Farid Alatas begins by making the case for interfaith dialogue, explaining what it is and why it is important, and attempts to correct the general impression, particularly in Malaysia, that Muslims are not concerned with dialogue or are indifferent to it.
The author also stresses that dialogue and multiculturalism are necessary to maintain peace and harmony in society, and that Islam’s commitment to dialogue stems from a Quranic outlook as well as a prophetic tradition.
Syed Farid quotes verses from the Quran that supports this and gives examples of harmonious dialogues, such as the cooperation between Muslims and Christians in Najran (in present day Saudi Arabia) in 631CE. One striking case that is very relevant today was set down in the Sahifah, a document defining specific relations of mutual aid between the Prophet Muhammad and the Jews of Medina (also in present day Saudi Arabia) soon after His arrival in 622CE in what is now Islam’s third holiest city.
The author goes on to point out that, while there is a need to change the way the West negatively stereotypes Islam today, there is also a need for the Muslim world to take a multicultural approach in order to deal with stereotypes it holds itself about the West, and Christianity, Judaism, and other religions.
Syed Farid introduces three themes that, he argues, are essential in encouraging dialogue and the development of a genuinely multicultural outlook that is so badly needed in developing societies like Malaysia. The themes are: the multicultural origins of modern civilisation, inter-civilisational encounters of mutual learning, and the point of view of the other.
For people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds to develop trust, even compassion for one another, Syed Farid argues that it is vital that they are nurtured in an educational environment that stresses these three themes. Besides providing for a more cosmopolitan education, teaching children and youths about the multicultural origins of modern civilisation, and about the variety of world views, could help harmonise relationships between ethnic and religious communities.
For instance, it would be valuable to point out to students that violence and death were not the only consequence of the Crusades (the series of European military campaigns against Middle Eastern Muslims between the 11th and 13th centuries); they also led to inter- civilisational encounters, the author points out, as they were a time of scientific and cultural borrowings between Muslims and Europeans.
Another significant instance of the interaction between the Muslim world and the Christian West revolves around the origins of the modern universities, which can be traced to the Muslim world.
For example, when the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II (1194-1250CE), came into contact with Muslims in Sicily and during the Sixth Crusade (1228CE), he was so impressed with their culture that he adopted Arab dress, customs, and manners. He was able to read philosophic works in Arabic and, in 1224CE, founded the University of Naples which specialised in translating Muslim scientific works from Arabic into Latin and Hebrew.
Syed Farid then gives an inspiring example of the benefits of becoming aware of “the point of view of the other”: the meeting between the Italian St Francis of Assisi and Egypt’s Sultan Malik al-Kamil during the fifth Crusade (1217CE to 1221CE). This historic encounter enabled each man to pray for the other in a mosque, and to appreciate the positive values in their respective religions to the point of being mutually inspired. The case of St Francis and the Sultan, argues the author, clearly illustrates what can result from a realisation of the point of view of the other.
In discussing these three different themes, Syed Farid suggests that dialogue has to take place at civil society level – differentiated from theoretical and cultural levels – so that Muslims, Christians, and others of different faiths can form a common front to address global issues such as the ill-effects of unbridled capitalism and the consequent despiritualisation of life, the environmental degradation of the world, and the dangers of religious extremism.
Syed Farid ends with the remark made by a Protestant friend from Holland when asked about the “salvation” of Muslims: that she would not want to be in heaven without her Muslim friends. This, says the author, must be the supreme goal of dialogue, to get Muslims and Christians to feel this way about one another.
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