Doha conference calls for co-existence among all religions

21/05/2008

Scholars from three religions attended a recent conference in Doha to discuss the importance of interfaith dialogue. Participants stressed the need for education to bring people together.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 21/05/08

[qatar-conferences.org] Under the title "Religious Values: Perspectives on Peace and Respect for Life", the 6th Doha Conference of Interfaith Dialogue concluded last week with calls for working groups on education and building peace.

Participants in last week's Doha Conference of Interfaith Dialogue agreed that communication across religious lines has become a "necessity on all levels; whether domestic, regional or global". The conference, now in its sixth year, brought together more than 170 researchers, intellectuals and religious scholars from thirty countries, representing Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

In their concluding addresses, which followed discussions held on May 13th and 14th, participants called for the formation of work groups on education and peace building. They also underscored the need to reinforce higher values such as equality, human dignity, religious freedom, tolerance and respecting the sanctity of life.

Dr. Aisha Al-Mannai, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University asserted at the opening of the conference that dialogue among faiths "is the basis of peaceful co-existence and the tools with which God had distinguished man, as a discerning being, unlike other creatures."

Mannai said offences between religions stem from "not recognising differences or the freedom of religion and worship rituals and desecrating religious icons. We Muslims may commit the first two errors, but unlike followers of other faiths, we never defile icons of other religions because Islam unequivocally forbids it."

Jewish American researcher Ari Alexander noted that some American Jewish organisations had condemned the offensive cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed, and referred to the European Jews during the Nazi era "who suffered from drawings that offended and persecuted them."

Fellow American Richard Dean Love said the worst kind of torture is that practiced by religious individuals through the use of words. He discussed the important role of the media in the current era and criticised those who use media to exploit conflicts for their own ends.

Iqbal Gharbi of Al-Zaitona University told Magharebia that the latest conference laid sound foundations for the future of interfaith dialog. "I took part in the first founding conference and have noticed how discussions have made visible progress," she said.

Gharbi added that participants agreed to avoid the pitfalls of politics and existing conflicts, focusing instead on ways to advance the concepts of peaceful co-existence.

Participation from Maghreb countries has increased too, Gharbi noted. She said there were ten scholars from the region at this year's event, compared to just one at the first conference.

Participants also discussed ethical dilemmas facing today's world, such as suicide, human trafficking, selling of human organs, abortion, euthanasia, media, and the desecration of religious icons and places.

In his address, Cardinale Jean Louis Tauran of the Vatican said he expected the Doha conferences to bear fruit in the long run. Tauran transmitted Pope Benedict XVI’s interest in "an honest dialogue among religions, particularly among Muslims and Christians with a view to respecting man’s dignity, building bridges of peace, love and amity among followers of all religions, in addition to enhancing the culture of peace and dialog among youth."

French Rabbi Rene Gutman called for discretion and faith in looking at differences between peoples, urging "reliance on peace and love in pursuing the welfare of humanity in its entirety."

The closing statement issued by conference participants criticised the threat to peace "triggered by the defiling of religious icons and sacrilegious cartoons", calling for education on the "mutual respect of sanctities in all religions."