Interfaith Dialogue in Islam

to the Torah, Solomon’s Haykal can be re-built only by a prophet born in their midst. Jerusalem holds an important historical significance for the Christians since after being born in Bethlehem (Palestine), Jesus Christ, once came to Jerusalem where he lived and preached. Muslims attach importance to Jerusalem on account of the spiritual journey, Isra, that the Prophet Muhammad had undertaken and also due to his changing of the direction of prayer from the Kabah in Makkah towards Jerusalem for a temporary period while he was in Madinah. What bridges the gap between followers of these faiths is that they have common prophets. Hence, from a historical perspective, the Kingdom of Solomon and the birthplace of Jesus Christ are indirectly significant for Muslims. What are some things Muslims can learn from non-Muslims? Life is all about mutual learning. All of us should interact and learn from one other. Learning is a process and is not restricted only to some specific issues. This is the age of knowledge explosion and learning. One should imbibe the spirit of learning and must learn from one and all. By virtue of being different, each person has experiences to share and learnings to offer to another. Learning is to be had from everyone, it is not a question of Muslim or non-Muslim. Just as two stones create sparking when rubbed against each other, similarly mutual learning causes brainstorming and leads to emergence of new ideas.