THE ROAD TO RELIGIOUS HARMONY

Islam achieved astonishing success in its first phase. Within a century after the Prophet’s death in AD 632 (the early generations of Muslims), it had brought a large part of the globe—from Spain across central Asia to India-under a new Arab Muslim empire. Despite these astonishing achievements other religious groups enjoyed full religious autonomy. Although the necessity to bring about harmony among different religions is not a newly-felt imperative, endeavours towards that end are still only in the formative stages. If progress towards that goal has been slow, it is because of the established positions which ancient religions have secured in the hearts of their followers, simply by virtue of their antiquity. Trying to bring about changes in these religions per se has never brought about harmony, because instead of old religions being brought closer together by this process, they have developed rather into new religions, a process which has either left the problem of disharmony unsolved or further aggravated. There are many examples of such abortive efforts in the past. In view of this historical reality, it is clear that the suggestion made by Islam on producing harmony among different religions is the only viable solution. Any alternative suggestion, however attractive it might appear, would be either impracticable or counterproductive. A religious scholar said, ‘We have been attempting to bring about interreligious harmony for the last one hundred years, but the results have been quite dismal. It would seem that there are insurmountable obstacles in the way.’ The goal we want to attain is certainly a proper one. It is simply that the strategy we employ is impracticable. Religious harmony is without doubt a desirable objective. But it cannot be achieved by attempting to alter people’s beliefs—a policy advocated by more than one scholar in this field. The only way to tackle the problem is to encourage people to show respect for others’ beliefs and to be compassionate at all times in their dealings with adherents of other religions. It is very much possible to inculcate this attitude without in any way tampering with long-cherished credos. It should never be conceded that the goal of It is evident that in the past as well as in the present, wherever religious harmony has existed, it has been based on unity despite differences, rather than on unity without differences. It is not based on agreeing to agree, but on agreeing to disagree.