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FOCUS ON AWARENESS TO PROMOTE
INTER-FAITH CONCEPT, DIALOGUE
BY JAVED ZAHEER, FREE EXPRESSION AWARD
WINNER
TORONTO:
People, communities and countries could only be brought closer and together to
love and respect each other and live and work together in the best possible
ways through promotion of the concept of interfaith relationship based on
sensible dialogue, proper awareness, understanding, tolerance and constructive
approach and positive attitude.
Only
people of conscience, character and good nature, who respect commitment and
promises and remain committed and determined, are capable of taking this important
responsibility and performing this great job in the best possible manner.
At
the same time, people must remain fully alert against hypocrites or others
trying to fool, exploit, mislead, divide and harm people. This is what is harming
most the efforts to promote interfaith concept, dialogue and relationship. Such
elements must be exposed, avoided and isolated through proper monitoring.
They
are mostly planted ones and extremely dangerous for people, communities, system
and society. They are the ones who work on a specific agenda to create confusion,
differences, division and promote hatred, racism and discrimination in order to
achieve their vested interests and nefarious designs. So it is important to
keep the eyes and ears fully open to identify them.
United
Nations too supports and promotes the interfaith concept. It says:
"Interfaith dialogue is absolutely essential, relevant, and necessary. The
first week of February, every year, has been declared a UN World Interfaith
Harmony Week. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre released a document
which summarises the key events leading up to the UN resolution as well as
documenting some Letters of Support and Events held in honour of the week.”
The
Pakistani community too is very active in this connection and many Pakistanis
worldwide are engaged in promotion of interfaith dialogue, events and
activities. The Canadian people and government greatly encourage and support
interfaith dialogue and the people promoting the concept.
Allama Inayat
Ali Shakir, a distinguished personality and community leader and a highly
respected and prominent priest and religious scholar from Pakistan, who moved
to Toronto, Canada, in 2010 and has been very active since then, says: “I am
dedicated, committed and determined to promote interfaith concept, dialogue and
harmony in Canada and getting tremendous support from leaders,
community and people of all faith.”
On
August 19, 2010, he organized Interfaith Eid Celebration Dinner at Shaheen
Restaurant. A large number of prominent leaders and distinguished personalities
of various communities and faith were present on the occasion.
Allama Inayat
Ali Shakir, in his welcome address, said: “I would like to welcome and thank
all of you from different faith and school of thoughts for participation on
this occasion of Interfaith Eid Celebration Dinner. Everybody knows that every
religion has different kinds of festivals in which they enjoy the beauty of
love and happiness.
“Eid-ul-Fitr
is also same kind of festival in which we celebrate at the end of the holy
month of Ramazan and on the first day of next Islamic month of Shawwal. Eid is
an Arabic word derived from Awd, which means something which returns and recur
at certain period of time.
“Eid
day bonds and helps one another and spreads happiness all over the globe. On
this day we thank Allah. Eid teaches us to learn tolerance, peace, interfaith
harmony and respect of all humanity.
“Today
I thank God (Allah The Almighty) for giving me the opportunity to be with all
of you, who are my most honorable friends from different respected faiths. I
hope that we all will make collective efforts to spread the message of peace,
respect of common ideas and provide guidance to the community regarding our
moral duties towards each other since we are all children of Adam and Eve and
we love Prophet Abraham.
“With this I thank all of you for sparing your
precious time and honouring me by attending this event and making it successful
and meaningful. I also offer my sincere thanks to Imran Mehdi Gondal, a real
estate agent, for supporting me by sponsoring this event.”
Allama Inayat
Ali Shakir said: “I have found Canada as one of the best role models of
multi-faith and inter-faith. There is religious tolerance here. Ever since I
came to Canada, I met important people of various multi-faith organizations and
other distinguished personalities and leaders and was greatly impressed by
their approach, attitude and support.”
He
said: “In my religious lectures, I focus on inter-faith. I engage myself in
research works, read most holy books including Bible, meet religious scholars
and leaders and discuss issues including inter-faith with them.”
Allama Inayat
said: “There is an urgent need to promote the inter-faith concept. For this we
need to create awareness and understanding in Muslim community in general and
Pakistani community in particular so that they can join and help. They are
interested in the inter-faith concept but need encouragement and support to
come forward and act. “
He
said: “People of different faiths should respect each other and visit each
other places of worship and other centres, attend festivals and greet each to
know and understand each other and promote love, respect, peace and
understanding. This will help inter-faith concept and dialogue. The Inter-Faith
Eid Celebration Dinner too was organized with this very purpose. Festivals of
all religions are celebrated to spread such messages.”
The
prominent and distinguished personalities of various faiths and communities,
who attended the Inter-Faith Eid Celebration Dinner, included Joe Daniel, MP, Rob Oliphant, ex-MP, Imam Dr
Abdul Hai Patel, a renowned Muslim religious scholar and leader, Maulana Abid
Hussain Naqvi of Madinatul Ilm, Imam Ali Centre, Yosi Behar of the Behar Group
and a Jewish Community leader, Zenji Acharya, a Buddhist community leader and
scholar, Re. Earl Smith of Church of Scientology, Didar Singh Khokhar, Khalid
Mehmood, President of Asian Canadian Association, Syed Muhammad Iqbal,
President of Pak Seniors Forum, Mazhar Shafiq, Masood Alam, Masood Haq, Rashid
Chatta, Tariq Malik, Muhammad Talha Javed
and Akbar Cheema.
The
leaders including Joe Daniel, MP, Rob Oliphant, ex-MP, Imam Dr Abdul Hai Patel,
Zenji Acharya and Maulana Abid Hussain Naqvi also spoke on the occasion and
highly praised Inayat Ali Shakir for organizing the event and promoting the
inter-faith concept and dialogue. They assured full support to him in this
connection.
Allama Inayat Ali Shakir is also Founder/Chairman of Tehreek-e-Akhuwat
Islami and Inter-Faith Dialogue Committee in Pakistan. He has a VIP status and
impressive following in Pakistan. The purpose of formation of both was to bring
leaders and people of all parties, religions, sects and sectors closer and
promote peace, love, harmony and solidarity in the interest of humanity.
He
strongly discouraged and condemned all sorts of terrorist and criminal
activities and boldly spoke against the suicide bombings and attacks on places
of worships of minorities including Christians. Because of this he started
receiving serious threats to his life and finally had to move to Canada.
In
Canada, he is highly respected because here too he engaged himself in promotion
of inter-faith dialogue and activities and found the environment best suited
for him. Allama Inayat Ali Shakir encourages people to contact him as he needs their
support for this purpose. He could be contacted in Toronto, Canada, at Cell:
(647)710-2076. Email: inayatalishakir@yahoo.com..
Zenji
Acharya, the Buddhist leader, is an acclaimed self-help expert who uniquely
combines Eastern philosophy with Western motivational speaking. Reverend Zenji
Acharya has been described by media pundits as "the foremost Buddhist
expert in the world from the oldest and highest lineage in history".
Reverend
Zenji has also given more inspirational lectures on Buddhism than any other
scholar in Canada and he has been praised by many national and international
leaders as well as a United Nations report. Reverend Zenji also serves as the
Chair of Media for the RCMP Commanding Officer's Diversity Council and Head of
the World Buddhist Council.
ISLAM:
Islam has long encouraged dialogue to reach truth. Dialogue is particularly
encouraged amongst the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Muslims) as
Qur'an states, "Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that
is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not
associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah
." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims
[submitting to Him]."[3:64]".
Islam
also stressed that the supreme law of the land should be Islam and that Islam
regulates all life affairs and therefore regulates how non-Muslim and Muslims
live under an Islamic state, with historical examples coming from Muslim Spain,
Mughal India, and even starting as far back as Muhammad's time, where people of
the Abrahamic Faiths lived in harmony.
Many
traditional and religious texts and customs of the faith have encouraged this,
including specific verses in the Quran, such as: "O people! Behold, we
have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and
tribes so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you
in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God
is all-knowing, all-aware." [Qur'an 49:13]
In
recent times, Muslim theologians have advocated inter-faith dialogue on a large
scale, something which is new in a political sense. The declaration A Common
Word of 2007 was a public first in Christian-Islam relations, trying to work
out a moral common ground on many social issues.
Relations
between Muslims and Jews remain quite difficult, exacerbated by the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are inter-Muslim issues in between Sunnis
and Shiites that are very much unresolved in the Middle East. Also, relations
between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan could theoretically be much
better if interfaith efforts were more successful.
MUSLIM THEOLOGIANS: According to
Council of Muslim Theologians of Jamiatul Ulama, KwaZulu-Natal-South Africa, on
the subject “What Exactly Is The Inter-Faith Dialogue?”
(http://jamiat.org.za/blog/what-exactly-is-the-inter-faith-dialogue/):
“(O
Muhammad!) Follow what has been revealed to you from your Rabb. There is no God
but “He (Allah), and ignore the Mushrikeen.” (Qur’aan)
“What
is ‘Inter-Faith Dialogue’? A grave misconception exists regarding this concept.
The shallow-minded Muslim merely looks at the words and concludes that
inter-faith dialogue is a friendly discussion of different religious groups
which provides an opportunity for propagating Islam. This is a fundamental
error which Shaitaan has adorned and by means of which he ensnares Muslims to
initially ‘tolerate’ shirk and kufr, and ultimately to subscribe to the supreme
kufr of the unity of religions which is the fundamental goal to which the
Inter-Faith movement aspires.
“It
is this fundamental doctrine of the Inter-Faith ideology which is the very
antithesis and death-knell of Islam. But Shaitaan operates in subtle ways,
adorning kufr and shirk with even ‘Islamic’ hues to beguile unsuspecting and
unwary Muslims whose short-sightedness blurs their mental vision due to the
lack of Roohaaniyyat (spirituality on the basis of Tauheed), and Firaasat
(spiritual wisdom and insight) which are wholly dependent on Wara’ and Taqwa.
“If
the question is asked: “What is Islam? Its answer is not obtained from the
literal meaning of the word in the dictionary. The literal meaning, viz.,
‘submission’, does not expound the doctrines, practices and the entire system
of life which the ideology of Islam connotes. To understand Islam, a study of
its belief and practice system is necessary. Similarly, to understand
‘Inter-Faith Dialogue’, the literal meanings of the words are inadequate.
Inter-Faith
is an ideology. It is a new concept and belief system which has fundamentals,
just as all other religious concepts and ideologies have cardinal articles of
faith.
What
are the fundamentals of the Inter-Faith ideology? The Institute of Interfaith
Dialog (IID) outlining the fundamental basis of the Inter-Faith ideology
states:
“The
premise of interfaith dialogue is that all religions are equally legitimate.”
“No
religion possesses absolute truth.”
“Both
these doctrines of kufr are violently in conflict with the Qur’aan’s concept of
Tauheed and Islam. Islam can never condone the propagation of Tauheed from the
premises of ideologists of this ilk. Islam simply does not tolerate shirk, kufr
and baatil.”
CHRISTIANITY: Pope John Paul II was a major advocate
of interfaith dialogue, promoting meetings in Assisi in the 1980s. Pope
Benedict XVI took a more moderate and cautious approach, stressing the need for
intercultural dialogue, but reasserting Christian theological identity in the
revelation of Jesus of Nazareth in a book published with Marcello Pera in 2004.
In 2013, Pope Francis became the first Catholic leader to call for
"sincere and rigorous" inter-belief dialogue with atheists, both to
counter the assertion that Christianity is necessarily an "expression of
darkness of superstition that is opposed to the light of reason," and to
assert that "dialogue is not a secondary accessory of the existence of the
believer" but instead is a "profound and indispensable expression ...
[of] faith [that] is not intransigent, but grows in coexistence that respects
the other."
JUDAISM: Modern Orthodox movement allows narrow
exchanges on social issues, while warning to be cautious in discussion of
doctrine. Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism and Conservative Judaism
encourage interfaith dialogue.
BUDDHISM: Buddhism has historically been open to
other religions as Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda has stated:
“Buddhism
is a religion which teaches people to 'live and let live'. In the history of
the world, there is no evidence to show that Buddhists have interfered or done
any damage to any other religion in any part of the world for the purpose of
introducing their religion. Buddhists do not regard the existence of other
religions as a hindrance to worldly progress and peace.”
HISTORY: The history of interfaith dialogue is
as ancient as the religions since men and women when not at war with their
neighbours have always made an effort to understand them (not least because
understanding is a strategy for defence, but also because for as long as there
is dialogue wars are delayed). History records many examples of interfaith
initiatives and dialogue throughout the ages.
Since no good religions or people of
the world encourage, support and promote hatred, racism and discrimination and
focus only on love, respect, peace, solidarity, harmony and humanity therefore
it is in the best interest of humanity, communities and world to learn to live
and work together peacefully and respectfully. An environment be created for
proper awareness and understanding. Our enemies are common---The enemies of
humanity and mankind. We must remain alert against all such evil people, forces
and plans.
JZ’S PROFILE: Declared by Judges as one of 75 Finalist Best
Canadian Immigrants, an Honour for the Pakistani Community. Joined Journalism
Profession in 1974 (Daily `SUN’, Karachi) and still serving as a professional
journalist (2014). Javed Zaheer, Free Expression Award Winner (Awarded by
National Ethnic Press & Media Council of Canada—NEPMCC. Award presented by
Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, Canada), Desi Idol Recognition Award Winner
(Presented by North American Desi Idol), Member/Honorary Director of NEPMCC,
Veteran Active Member (VAM) of Toronto Press Club, Ex-Member of The National
Club and The Ontario Club, Honorary Editor of English Weekly `Pakistan Abroad’,
Canada, ex-Chief Editor (Honorary) of English Weekly `The Ambassador’, Canada,
ex-Chief Editor (Honorary) of English Weekly `DAWN', Canada, ex-Senior
Sub-Editor of English Daily DAWN, Pakistan (From 1986-1999), Chairman, CANOPI,
Director of Children Dignity Foundation (CDF---Canada & Pakistan) and
Honorary Director, Canpak, Chamber of Commerce, and Honorary Director
Information, Pak Seniors Forum (PSF), is contributing purely on Voluntary and
Honorary Basis in order to serve all people and communities. Contact:
(416)696-0981/jazamedia@hotmail.com To read more JZ’s exclusive articles,
please visit: www. nepmcc.ca and nationalethnicpress.com (Editorial Sections.
Scan years from 2004). Visit www.javedzaheernews.blogspot.com for latest
exclusive articles.
JZ'S
MOTTO: SERVE HUMANITY IN REALITY
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