FOREWORD

FOREWORD We live today in an age of information, an age of knowledge explosion. Today, everyone wants to know more and more about everything, including religion. At the same time, we live in a world of differences—multi-religious, multicultural, and multi-ethnic societies. Some people fight amongst themselves to remove differences, not realizing that some differences cannot be removed. It is rightly said that Nature abhors uniformity. It means that ‘difference’ is part of Nature and exists in every aspect of life, including in the sphere of religion. There may be differences in religion and culture among people, but no difference should be made between people in respect and honour. This formula of mutual respect is given in the Quran in these words: “You have your religion, and I have mine” (109:6). In this verse, the Quran is giving master advice for establishing a peaceful society, i.e., “To follow one and respect all.” There are more than a dozen major religions in the world. Religions have two basic types of teachings—one related to theology and the other to ethical values. While there are significant differences in the theologies of various religions, there is no basic difference in many of their ethical values. The most important ethical values taught in various religions are peace and tolerance. This is because authentic religiousness seeks to make a person a spiritually developed human being and a person who has elevated his spirituality