Religious Belief and Social Harmony

RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND SOCIAL HARMONY Efforts for inter-religious dialogue must be undertaken for mutual learning and sharing. Furthermore, we need to adopt the tested formula of peaceful coexistence for social harmony. The principle for inter-religious dialogue from the Islamic point of view, is neither religious uniformity nor interreligious debate but, rather, mutual learning between people from different religious backgrounds based on mutual respect. We are all seekers, in some way or the other. We need to try to find the truth about life and the universe. This seeking is a continuous process. In the course of this journey, we seek to achieve a conviction. For this, we have to study and interact with others. Inter-religious dialogue is important for mutual learning and sharing in seeking truth. Dialogue participants can freely share their experiences regarding truth, and others can try to learn and benefit from them. It is a healthy interaction. Interaction, dialogue, and exchange of thoughts are very important. However, they are not meant to establish claims of superiority over others. They should be only for learning. Learning has no end. There are limitless things that we can learn. The universe of facts is limitless: it has no end. Thus, our learning process can continue throughout our life. As far as social harmony is concerned, we need to adopt the tested formula of peaceful coexistence. Moreover, as far as