Asghar Ali Engineer
Increasing inter-religious and
intercultural conflicts throughout the world has made it very necessary to
promote inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. The reasons of these
conflicts are many. The world has been divided into north south poles, north
being highly developed and south afflicted with underdevelopment and mass
illiteracy and poverty. The educated youth in the South does not find jobs to
fulfil its aspirations. It looks to the North for better paid jobs. Also, most
of these underdeveloped countries were once colonies of the North and hence
people from these former colonies are attracted towards the metropolitan
countries. When large number of people migrate the native white people resent
and racial tensions intensify, specially when there is economic downturn in the
metropolitan countries and available jobs are few to go around. Though the
underlying causes may be economic or political, the conflict expresses itself
through religious or cultural channels. Though ultimately tensions could be
reduced only by addressing economic causes, its religio-cultural tensions also
need to be tackled effectively. The religious and cultural expressions do great
deal of damage and spread misunderstanding even among others who are not
affected directly by the economic downturn. Due to high pitched propaganda by
extremely vocal sections of fundamentalists, cultural and religious prejudices
spread like wild fire.
The media also plays very important role in
spreading these prejudices. The media, needless to say, is more interested in
sensational news than sensible constructive news. Repeated negative reportings
in the media leads to widespread prejudices against certain religious or
cultural groups. It is well known fact that Islam bashing goes on in the western
media. It is very important to understand that the western countries led by the
USA adopt extremely hostile attitude towards certain Islamic countries like
Iran, Libya, Iraq who dare defy the USA authorities. The USA not only punishes
them severely (as for example bombings on Iraq or on pharmaceutical factory in
Sudan etc.) but also starts a propaganda war against Islam and Islamic countries
in their media. Also, out of sheer frustration, some militant youth carry out
violent attacks on some American establishments (for example, explosions on the
World Trade Centre a few years ago). As a result of all this an average American
has terrible prejudices against Islam and Muslims. Islam is thought to be a
religion of fanaticism and violence.
Similarly the internal extremist violence
in Algeria has spilled over to France. The Algerian extremists carried out some
bombing attacks in Paris too as it believes the Government of France
collaborates with the Algerian authorities in wiping out Muslim militants.
Naturally this leads to strong prejudices among the French against Islam. The
Germans are facing a severe economic recession these days and there is wide
ranging unemployment touching as high a level as 12%. But during the sixties
when German economy was booming and foreign labour was needed large number of
Turks were brought to Germany. Now with economic recession the Turks are looked
down upon and tensions between the Germans and Turks has increased.
Due to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka a large
number of Tamils have also migrated to several European countries including
Germany. In last few years quite a few attacks have taken place on Tamils by
neo-Nazis. It is strange but true that it is in East Germany which was formerly
under the Communist rule that neo-Nazi movement is spreading and the East German
Youths are involved in the attacks on the Tamils and Turks. This is because the
levels of unemployment among the East Germans is far higher than the national
average. It is supposed to be as high as 20-25%. And hence like an average
American, an average German is highly prejudiced against Islam and Muslims as
well as against Tamils. The migration of Muslims from Bosnia has further
aggravated this religio-cultural conflict.
Apart from the religious and cultural
conflict in the west there is increasing conflicts among different religious and
cultural groups within the developing countries in Asia and Africa. Hindus and
Muslims in India (and now Hindus and Christians too), Muslims and Christians in
some African countries like in Nigeria and Sudan are embroiled in conflict.
Similarly various ethnic and cultural groups within these countries are involved
in mutual violence for example Bodos versus other tribals in Assam, Nagas and
Meitis in Manipur, Bengalis and tribals in Tripura and so on. There are also
prejudices against South Indian in North and Western India. The Shiv Sena is a
militant Maharashtrian Hindu organisation in Bombay which attacks both Muslims
and South Indians. It has spread militancy among the Maharshtrian youth.
There are various reasons for such
conflicts mainly political and also economic in some cases. The developmental
processes are quite uneven and leads to in-migration from rural to urban and
from less developed urban to more developed urban areas. Thus one finds
different religious and cultural groups jostling with each other in these urban
areas. Thus one finds more conflict in Urban than rural areas. Rural areas are
more homogeneous and less amenable to such conflicts. Many urban areas have
become real hotbeds of ethnic or religious or cultural conflicts. Each religious
or ethnic group wants to establish its own domination in a particular area and
wants to cleanse it of other 'polluting' groups. And to mobilise members of
their own group religious or cultural discourse is used thus creating strong
prejudices in the minds of the other religious or cultural groups.
It should, however, be noted that it is not
a new phenomenon. Throughout history there have been such migrations from one
country to another and from one area within a country to other areas. These
conflicts are also not new. The Christians and Muslims fought on the question of
control over Palestine and these wars in history are known as the crusades. The
zeal with which these wars were fought between Christians and Muslims made
'crusade' synonymous with zeal and a new phrase 'crusading spirit' came into
existence.
It was these crusades which caused great
deal of misunderstanding about Islam in western countries during the medieval
period. The image of Muslims Qur'an in one hand, and sword in the other', was
creation of these crusades. Similarly, the Muslim invasions on North India led
to image of Islam as violent religion in the minds of many Hindus (though quite
a few Hindus were collaborators in these invasions). These images are being
revived in the modern context to serve contemporary political interests.
However, due to propaganda hype an average Hindu thinks of Muslims as fanatic
and violent. The media again plays an important role in spreading such ideas and
images. The whole Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid movement drew its vigour and zeal
from such images. Muslims were seen as fanatical Hindu temple bashers by an
average Hindu. The BJP, itself a Hindu fundamentalist party, played an important
role for mobilising the Hindu electoral support. In medieval ages such
mass mobilization for political purposes was not required and the monarchs could
maintain inter-religious balance in their own interests. In modern times
compulsions of democratic mobilization has its own logic. Masses are sought to
be manipulated by political interests. This manipulation is made easy by the
might of mass media. Such medium did not exist in the old times. Thus we see
that need for manipulation of the masses and the role played by the media - and
now not only print but also electronic media - plays great role in spreading
inter-religious and inter-cultural prejudices.
The images about some religion or culture
built by media may not be true but can play absolute havoc by spreading strong
prejudices against particular group. The role of media has become extremely
crucial in modern times. Electronic media is even more so. But the media
can play very constructive role too provided it has interest in promotion of
better inter-religious or inter-cultural understanding. It should also be
pointed out that entire media is not responsible for sensationalising the
conflict. A section of print and electronic media does play a very positive role
in this regard. It is for those interested in inter-religious or inter-cultural
dialogue to make proper use of both print and electronic media. We have to do
everything possible to promote this dialogical spirit among the conflicting
groups.
INTER-RELIGIOUS AND INTER-CULTURAL DIALOGUE
Dialoguing is the only way out for
promoting better understanding between the conflicting groups. As the spread of
misinformation through whatever means is largely responsible for
misunderstanding dissemination of correct information is highly necessary to
contain the conflict. This can most effectively be done through dialoguing. We
would like to throw light on the rules and processes of such inter-religious and
inter-cultural dialogues.
The dialogue can take place between
different kinds of groups: 1) political groups; 2) religious groups and 3)
supporters of political or religious groups. Also, there are different levels of
dialogue and a comprehensive process of dialoguing will involve all these
levels. It can take place at the level of political or religious leaders; at the
level of intellectuals from different groups and also at the level of masses.
The nature of dialogue will vary at these levels.
At the level of intellectuals it will be
more of analysis of events and understanding of the nature of forces involved in
promoting conflict. At this level the dialogue will also deal with the
strategies of promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony. At the
political level the dialogue may deal with those politicians who believe in
secular politics and oppose based on ideological convictions, the politics of
religious or cultural confrontation. At political level the dialogue may
comprise strategies of bringing secular alliances to isolate the communal and
fundamental forces.
At the religious level, the dialogue, on
the other hand, will have to deal with religious and theological aspects. A
religion too has to be understood at different levels i.e. at the level of
rituals, theology, institutions and values. While rituals, theologies and
institutions might vary from religion to religion, values are bound to be
complementary. For example Hinduism emphasises non-violence and Buddhism
compassion; Christianity emphasises love and Islam justice and equality. It will
be seen that all these values are complementary to each other.
Rituals, theologies and institutions are
unique to every religion and this often leads to misunderstandings. Each
religious tradition emphasises importance of certain rituals and theological
dogmas as central to that religious tradition and also exerts superiority of its
own rituals and theology. For example the Islamic system of worship prohibits
worshipping or bowing before idols. Islam lays central stress on unity of God
and considers associating any other being with Him as a sin. The Hindus, on the
other hand, believe in idol worship and bow before idols. These differences
often lead to violent conflict between the two communities in India. However, it
is also to be noted that this conflict is not promoted by religious leaders as
much as by political leaders who hardly care for religious rituals and dogmas.
But that does not mean that religious
leaders do not differ. These differences, for a proper dialogue, have to be
understood and appreciated rather than fought about. Many sufis and bhakti
saints did precisely that. They not only tried to appreciate these differences
but also often tried to even reconcile them. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism,
for example, showed great respect both for Islam and Hinduism and worked out a
creative synthesis between the two. He had great regard for Sufis of Islamic
tradition and included the verses of Baba Farid, a great Sufi saint from Punjab,
into his Adi Granth.
Dara Shikoh, the Moghul prince who was
greatly interested in sufi traditions had deep appreciation of Hindu religious
traditions and he wrote a treatise called Majma' al-Bahrayn (i.e. meeting of two
great oceans Hinduism and Islam). He compared, in this treatise, the
terminologies of both the religions and showed striking similarities between the
two. He also believed, and believed so on the basis of comparative study of
Islamic and Hindu scriptures that Hinduism though apparently polytheistic, was
not; and quoting Upanishads, the sacred Hindu scriptures, showed that basically
Hinduism too is a monotheistic religion.
Another Sufi saint of eighteenth century
India, Mazhar Jan-i-Janan believed that idol worship among Hindus is not
essentially polytheistic as idols are a way to reach God, not God by themselves.
Much earlier, Muhiyuddin Ibn Arabi, an 11th Century Sufi Saint from Spain laid
central emphasis on love of God and considered his heart as centre of love and
hence centre of God. According to his doctrine of wahdat al-wujud entire
creation is the manifestation of God and hence all barriers between human beings
following different religious traditions are artificial and needed to be
demolished. His was truly a universalistic approach. These sufi saints laid more
emphasis on spirituality rather than rituals and hence they could visualise the
basic unity among all faith traditions.
The Hindu scriptures also talk of equal
respect for all religions and religious traditions. The Bhakti saints in the
Hindu tradition laid great emphasis, like the Sufis, on intense love in the form
of bhakti i.e. devotion to God, the Supreme Being. For them too rituals were
secondary and it is spirituality which was fundamental. In the Christian
traditions too, the mystics stressed spirituality and devotion to God.
But this does not mean that rituals and
theologies do not matter for the people. There are millions of people who give
great importance to their respective ritual and theological systems. An
inter-religious dialogue should, as the very basis of the dialogue should accept
the central importance of the ritual and theological systems. Here I would like
to lay down some ground rules for inter-religious dialogue. The following rules
would be of great help in carrying on inter-religious dialogue:
 | 1) Those who enter into dialogue should be firmly rooted in their faith
tradition and should have inner conviction. It is true conviction without
being sectarian which becomes the firm ground for dialogue.
| 2) There should not be any feeling of superiority of their respective
traditions in the minds of dialogue partners. The feeling of superiority can
mar the very spirit of dialogue.
| 3) Dialogue should never become polemics. Polemical style is he very
anti-thesis of dialogue. Polemics try to prove the other wrong while
dialogue is conducted to understand the other.
| 4) Dialogue should not only be conducted to understand the other but
also should respect the integrity of the other. No dialogue can be conducted
if there is no respect for integrity and convictions of the other.
| 5) The idea of dialogue should be to explain ones point of view and
not to convert the other to ones own point of view. Even a slightest attempt
to convert the other to ones point of view will destroy the spirit of
dialogue. It will then be an attempt at conversion and this will lead to
resentment. Attempt at conversion also implies that the person sought to be
converted has belief system not as good as that of the convertor.
| 6) The dialogue partners should be prepared to recognise the
uniqueness of the others belief, ritual or theological systems. It is this
uniqueness which makes it different. It is not the question of right or
wrong, but rather of uniqueness and diversity.
| 7) The dialogue partners should also recognise that diversity is the
very basis of life. Without diversity life will become drab and would loose
all its charm. The Qur'an not only accepts this diversity but also
legitimises it. It is Allah's desire to have diversity (5:48; 2:148). Lack
of diversity and enforcing one faith system or one ideological system can
ultimately lead to fascism and authoritarianism. Thus theological states,
like ideological ones, tend to be highly authoritarian.
| 8) Dialogue should promote the spirit of accommodation and
adjustment to minimise conflict in the society. The dialogical spirit
consists in appreciating others difficulties and complexities of their
situation. Accommodation is the very essence of dialogical culture.
| 9) One has to understand the difference between dialogue and
monologue for effective dialoguing. The desire to dominate in the dialogue
leads to monologue. Each dialogue partner should get equal opportunity to
explain her/his point of view. Dialogue can take place only in true
democratic spirit recognising the rights of all concerned in the dialogue.
| 10) Lastly one must understand that an effective dialoguing is
possible only when not only listens to the others point of view but
understands and appreciates it in the given context. Even the scriptural
text has to be situated in a particular context unless it be a
value-statement. Criticism of the text is often based on ignorance of the
context. | |
Lastly I would also like to refer to what is called the dialogue of life and this dialogue is continuously taking place at the level of the masses. The dialogue of life consists in living together with all its problems and stresses and strains and sharing each others joys and woes in human partnership. We witness this living in togetherness and celebration of life at the level of masses. There are no theories, theologies and concepts to quarrel about; there are only problems and difficulties to be shared together. This is real dialogue of life, a dialogue through living together and sharing together.