Int'l conference in Tunis tackles religion as force for peace

2009-10-14

Scholars from a variety of disciplines met in Tunis this week to discuss how religion can lead to a greater commitment to peace.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 14/10/09

[Jamel Arfaoui] A recent international conference in Tunis addressed religion as a catalyst for peace.

Achieving peace through religion was the main topic of discussion during a three-day international academic conference that began on Wednesday (October 7th) in Tunis.

The Higher Institute of Theology of Tunis and the German Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation held the event to coincide with Tunisia’s observance of International Peace Day.

Scholars from Arab, Maghreb and European nations tackled the impact of religion on the culture of peace, education, civil society, immigration, international law and international challenges to peace.

"A closer look at the core of … religions shows that … differences and conflicts are in contradiction to the essence of those faiths, which all urge dialogue, tolerance and co-existence," said the head of the Higher Institute of Theology, Laroussi Mizouri, with reference to conflicts in Northern Ireland, Kashmir, and Palestine.

Conference attendees agreed that an important component of creating peace was to embrace the notion of "peace education" for children and young adults.

"It is high time we included education on peace and non-violence pedagogy in our education policies and programmes, as recommended by the UN General Assembly in 1998," said Iqbal Gharbi, professor of anthropology at Tunis' Zituna University.

Gharbi encouraged the audience to create peace by "laying down the values of cooperation, rather than rivalry, and passing down the principle of solidarity, rather than competition, to younger generations, because the pedagogy of peace calls for dissolving the culture of violence".

Conference participants should push for the inclusion of peace education in their children's formal schooling, she said. "Peace education trains children in the techniques of serious dialogue, i.e., the necessity of listening to the Other, and placing oneself in the Other's place so as to understand the Other's perspective," she added.

Jordan's Prince Hassan Bin Talal, who chairs the board of his country's Royal Institute of Inter-Faith Studies, made a televised address to conference attendees.

"Minds and souls have become obsessed with rage, alienation, separation and confrontation, both in relation with one another within our community, and in our relations with the outside world," he said.

He asked Muslims to address these violations of the Islamic faith, and urged the faithful to revert to the basic tenets of the faith, which include mercy, justice and calm debate.

Participant Sami Brahem, an expert on Islamic theology, offered his thoughts on "the reasons why religions fail to act as a means of spreading peace among nations, even though they preach love, peace and salvation".

"[T]he biggest problem hindering religions from spreading the culture of peace is their failure to engage in a dialogue amongst themselves," Brahem added.

Brahem concluded by quoting the famous poet Jalal Addin Rumi, who said the truth is like a mirror that fell from heaven and broke into a thousand pieces. Individuals pick up one piece and believe it is the entire truth.

"To arrive at the truth, we will have to put all the pieces back together," Brahem said.