ASK MAULANA

learn their language and will be able to be sensitive to their culture and traditions. What role does the fact that madrasa students and the ulema who teach in madrasas have very little social interaction with people of other faiths play in there being very few traditionally-trained ulema who are engaged in interfaith dialogue? All the madrasas, not only in India, but everywhere else too, were established on a common idea—that is, the preservation of the identity of Muslims. It is this widespread concept that is mainly responsible for the phenomenon that few Muslims take part in dialogue with other communities. This concept has created a ghetto mentality among Muslims. No Muslim community throughout the world is an exception in this regard. Malaysia, for instance, is said to be a ‘modern’ Muslim country. But recently, there was this news of a Malaysian court issuing a decree that sought to prevent others from using the word “Allah”. How absurd! But this is the case with all other Muslim countries as well today. What role might feelings of supremacism or Muslim exclusivism or looking down on other people or the fear of being rejected by people of other faiths have in explaining the perceived lack of enthusiasm for interfaith dialogue among the ulema? As per my experience, the word ‘supremacism’ is the most appropriate term to explain the present Muslims’ mentality. Previously, such communal supremacism was considered to be a Jewish phenomenon, but now Muslims have monopolized this concept. I think that Muslim supremacism is the greatest reason for all kind of problems that are seen in the Muslim world. May be one reason that the ulema may not be enthusiastic about interfaith dialogue is that some of them might think that interacting with people of other faiths might negatively impact on the Muslims’ identity. Some ideologues refer to a Hadith in this regard which warns Muslims against copying the ways of others. May be they think that if Muslims interact closely with others, including through and for dialogue, it might weaken their commitment to their own faith and identity. How do you see this argument? There is no single Muslim cultural identity, just as there is no single Hindu cultural identity or Christian cultural identity. This notion of completely separate communal cultural identities has been used as a ploy to keep communities apart from each other and to minimize interaction between them.