The need for dialogue and how it must be

Dialogue is considered, in the current phase, to be a necessity and a means, perhaps a purpose. It requires forgetting religious differences, ignoring the erroneous practices and hostile stands. Yet, Moslems have suffered -and are still suffering- from these practices and stands at the same time that they are moving forward, in big steps, in the path leading to the establishment of a close relationship with the others. In so-doing, they ignore the distancing gap between them and the others and show complete readiness to close down the records of harsh treatment and enmity and to open up new leaves in which they take into consideration the future that is hoped for humanity. If this is done, this latter will face it by establishing a perfect and judicious equilibrium between the mechanical innovations of the epoch and its technical discoveries and religious values which are likely to curb their excesses or at least limit them.

Through these positive steps, taken for the purpose of allowing for a meeting with the others, Moslems have incessantly directed their call to focus on all that is common between the heavenly revealed religions and all that can be considered in them as intended vital means for the preservation of man’s existence, the protection of this dignity, and for helping him fulfill the mission that was assigned to him concerning the viceroyalty in the Earth granted him by Allah.

In taking this stand, the Moslems are not pretending or putting on studied airs; by taking it, they are being coherent with the spirit of Islam and with all that its all-englobing message - which incorporated all the faiths that preceded it- has called for.

So that dialogue reaches its objective, despite the negative aspects of the contemporary phase and the risks that surround man’s life during it, it must begin by taking a decisive initiative through which will be attained the following:

First: To spread the religious conception of man, the universe and life. This is owing to the fact that man is honored before Allah, Who created him in the best of shapes, blown some of his spirit into  him, graced him with some boons, made the universe -with all that it contains- be of service to him, favored him over many of His creatures by granting him the bounty of the mind and knowledge, charged him with the responsiblity of being His viceroy in the Earth, with all the rights and duties that relate to this function.

Concerning these rights and duties, man must watch over them and protect them from any abuse, so that life will continue in the way that Allah (the Exalted) wanted it to. In fact, this is a domain for testing the extent to which man does well in his job in order to attain goodness for him and for others. It is also the domain to test man’s care for the universe, which he must preserve and safeguard.

Second: To strengthen faith through the afore-mentioned religious conception, with all that this faith requires in terms of a doctrine based upon the unity of Allah, the acknowledgement of His greatness and His limitless capabilities and the power of His will. Another requirement concerns the canonical law that Allah (Praised be Him) has commanded that human beings follow. This is done so that the affairs of individuals and communities be organized in accordance with the commandments and the prescriptions through which Allah’s will and justice are realized.

So that the positiveness of the faith, with the doctrinal and canonical sides, crystallizes, a third aspect can not be avoided: it is represented by behavioral applications that must not be infringed upon or violated, in addition to their being neglected or disregarded. Faith revolves around the nobility of manners and commendable natural dispositions in many domains. The most outstanding of these manners and dispositions are: the lowering of the wing (in kindness), the liking of the other, treating him in a brotherly manner and cooperating with  him, fighting all kinds of fanaticism and racial discrimination, and deepening the feelings of tolerance.

An initiative for instituting dialogue, such as this first and essential one, is likely to make it (i.e dialogue) capable of attaining more in terms of understanding, coexistence and movement within the path of peace. It is understood that this peace must be preceded by the respect for the other and his recognition as he is. It must also be preceded by tolerance (which is necessary for self-fulfillment), be paralleled with a concession in the area of some features thought to be as particular as privately-owned possessions, and by an endeavor towards a close relationship through focusing on shared values.

So that dialogue attains its objective, it must be made to go beyond the exchange of discourses and views, which can be achieved from a distance, and be made to take shape in meetings in which direct contact is ensured, the presentation of different points of view -no matter how contradictory they are- is clearly provided for, so that common principles and values will be the outcome.

After this requirement is fulfilled, dialogue can proceed through phases and at a number of levels, as is indicated below:

1. Between the overseers of the believers’ interests in the heavenly revealed religions, this phase has started, in effect, with the repeated meetings between His Holiness the Pope and a number of leaders of the Islamic states, as the meeting that took place in 19 August 1985, during the papal visit to Morocco, between His Holiness and His Majesty Hassan II. The Pope gave a speech to a huge audience in a sports stadium in Casablanca.

2. Between religious scholars belonging to these religions for the purpose of determining areas of agreement and linkage which are many and basic.

3. Between the educated youth, for the purpose of imparting the unified divine teachings, and in so-doing not to show any prejudice against any faith. Regarding this question, Islam’s stand is sound and clear.

4. Between the believers in general, that is at the level of public opinion. This can be achieved through the means of the media. The purpose is to spread the spirit of tolerance  and to urge people to coexist with each other in security and peace.

It is a well-known fact that the heavenly-revealed books and the heritage that springs from them are rich in terms of subjects that are suitable for serving as the starting point for a reflection and exchange of views on them; that is, the starting point for dialogue.

These subjects increase in richness within the framework of dialogue when they are put on the carpet of the reality of life, which is full of troubles, contradictions, struggles and problems. This reality may be related to the individuals’daily life or big problems from which suffers humanity in many parts of the Earth.

The adherents to the heavenly-revealed religions - as believers - are capable, through their commitment to their faith and its values, of confronting the problems of the contemporary world and finding appropriate solutions for them. They are also capable of meeting all the challenges. As such, they are entrusted with a common human message which they must carry and convey, in a world dominated by a disorder resulting from the weakness of religion in people, the spread of heretic laic orientations and careless transgressing trends. The point of departure for this message is for its carriers to transmit the divine values to the young generations to reach, through these values, an  awareness of the significance of their existence, the essence of their selves, their role in the universe, of what their relationship with Allah should be and the duties springing from it.

As for the basis for dialogue, it is manifested in the following equations :

1. Whatever you want the other to know about you, you should know it about him.

2. Whatever you want the other(*) to do for you, you should do it for him.

The point of departure, in the dialogue between the believers belonging to various religions, consists in understanding the magnanimity which characterizes all these religions. It leads to a tolerance that must urge people to disregard errors that were committed - and are still being committed - for accidental reasons that, for the most part, lie outside religion or that result from a bad interpretation of its scriptures. This has led to the suspicion that there exist problems and dangers.

There is no doubt that, through this suspicion, it is possible to explain many struggles that have taken a religious coloration and different external forms, starting from sanguinary wars to civilizational and cultural conflicts.

Whoever reflects on these conflicts will be surprised to find many shocking books about which the least one can say - concerning what is published in them about Islam -  is that it comes from an erroneous understanding. This incorrect understanding has as its ends the distortion of its image and the attainment of, largely, political, military and economic goals. A third end is to prepare for smashing it as it is considered to be a mortal enemy and the only enemy.

In an endeavor to convince people of the well-foundedness of this plan of action and of the necessity to implement it, most of these writings focus upon phenomena whose features are arbitrarily stuck to Islam. The most outstanding of these phenomena are : extremism and terrorism. We disregard here whatever reasons that may lie behind the occurence of these phenomena, some of which may - very likely - have to do with a random reaction geared to confront the inimical practices to which Moslems - and even others - are subjected. One proof of this can be found in the many violent incidents for which are responsible oppressed minorities or (political) movements, in some European countries, for example.

As was mentioned above, it is possible for dialogue to start in the domain of belief in Allah, living in accordance with His law, applying the behavioral values derived from it to understand the true nature of religion. Disagreement is not permissible concerning what can be considered truth (or great truths), even if the ways to express it differ.

The ability to engage in dialogue, deepen it, and derive some usefulness from it correlates with the strength with which one can hold on to the belief in Allah, His law, and religious morals. This usefulness is manifested in the ability to grasp what the other party to the dialogue has. Of course this grasp requires abandoning withdrawing within oneself or selfish and individualistic reasons. In case this holding on to the belief in Allah is weak or inexistent, obstacles arise and impede the engagement in dialogue. This leads to the spread of ignorance, fanaticism, the absence of awareness of truths. As a result, grave mistakes, of which the consequences are very serious, are committed.

Dialogue, in its best situations, must lead to engaging in give and take; that is, learning from the other after accepting that there might be disagreement with him. If these conditions are not present, the other must be left alone. One must not interfere in his affairs, engage in skirmishing with him or provoke him, let alone struggle against him or fight him.

The nature of dialogue that some Eastern countries, whose population is made up of Moslems and Christians (even when these latter are a minority), seek to engage in differs from that of a dialogue which can take place in a country like Morocco. With the exception of the Jewish minority, this country’s population is all Moslem; Christians are not part of the national population. In the first case (i.e that of the Eastern countries), dialogue aims at finding ways of coexistence within the context of a multiplicity of religions which governs one community and controls its institutions and organisms, ranging from school education to the system of government and its machinery. In the second case (i.e that of Morocco), dialogue is required to afford opportunities likely to lead to more contact with the other, a contact which aims to span the bridges of understanding and to strengthen the commitments for mutual knowledge.