Mohammad Jamil
ON Tuesday, speakers at a seminar in Islamabad
stressed the need to promote inter-sect and inter
faith harmony and peace and tolerance in order to build an inclusive society in Pakistan. The seminar titled ‘Interfaith Harmony in Quaid-i-Azam’s Pakistan’ was jointly organized by Paigham-e-Pakistan, Air University and Islamic Research Institute. A large number of students and faculty members attended the seminar. In their speeches, the speakers maintained that Pakistan can be made strong and prosperous only through unity and brotherhood, adding that all religions and sects should stand together to foil the nefarious designs of the enemies of peace. They were of the view that only a tolerant society based on the principles of interfaith harmony can ensure social inclusion by providing all citizens equal opportunities to grow irrespective of their religion or faith, adding that interfaith harmony is the way forward towards peace and prosperity in the society.
In fact the religion brought by a Prophet always contained an ideology to arouse the slumbering masses against the status quo and forces of repression, but with time it lost revolutionary appeal and became a customary or classical religion with the distortional maneuverings of the clergy, reflections of customs and traditions, and instinctive inclination of the people towards dogmas and doctrines than essence and spirit. As a matter of fact all religions gave the message of peace and love. And all the Prophets were assigned with the task of making human beings kind and humane with a view to establishing a society where people could live in an atmosphere of peace and amity so that they could achieve intellectual, spiritual and material welfare. But there are enemies of peace everywhere. The pseudo-intellectuals from the West continue propaganda against Islam, thus provoking extremists to retaliate.
Some Islamic groups highlighted the voices to fight Islamic fundamentalism and retaliated finding justification to hate the West. There are flashpoints like Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Kashmir where Muslims have been subjected to oppression, repression and foreign occupation. In all these cases, Muslims had been pushed against the wall with the result that the world has become more violent, more radicalized and more dangerous to live in. The onslaught had gained momentum with Samuel P. Huntington’s article, which was published in the summer issue of Foreign Affairs journal in 1993. Given its intellectual and doctrinal nature, it helped formation of series of attitudes opposing Islam in the West. On 1st August 2016, international media carried the news about Pope Francis having said that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists; but extremists strands continue demonizing Islam.
Islam is the religion of peace and harmony, and stands for love and affection, moderation and enlightenment and respect for humanity. But with their shenanigans, the fraternity’s extremist strands have given a handle to the compulsive detractors of our noble religion to depict it as a creed of violence and bloodletting. Terrorists, who claim as true followers of Islamic teachings in fact negate the Islamic teachings of peace, love, humanity and kindness. It is because of those misguided elements that Islam is one of the most misunderstood religions of the world whose real spirit is being intentionally concealed and distorted. It is deplorable fact that some Muslims are also contributing to the flawed perception of Islam due to their ignorance and limited knowledge. The fact of the matter is that Islam is revealed for the guidance and betterment of humanity, which ensures the rights of all human beings.
Martin Luther king, Jr, once said: “I have decided to live with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear”. Love should be the only way to move forward and especially when it comes to interfaith harmony within an environment of Religious Pluralism. Harmony is about co-existence that means live and let live. It is a way forward towards tranquility and perhaps success, both urgently required in a world of growing political and economic dissonance. Such a condition calls for a global level of understanding that all religions are mutually acceptable in terms of their basic tenets as well as manifestations in human behaviour along with all ramifications of traditions and their progression to the contemporary life. Despite all pretensions, the civilisational development might still be some distance from that level; and further efforts for interfaith harmony is imperative.
Pakistan is the land where 95% of the total population is Muslim, while the rest five per cent are Christians, Hindus, Parsis, Zoroastrians, Bahais, Sikhs, Buddhists, and small portions Kalasha, Kihals, and Jains. This diversity signifies the need to develop a pluralistic society in which people with different beliefs can live in peace and harmony. The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan declares Pakistan as an Islamic Republic and Islam as the state religion protects rights of all citizens without any discrimination of faith and religion. The Articles 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 36 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan provide full protection and equal rights to all citizens including minorities to freely profess and practise their religion and culture. The vision of the father of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is obvious from his epoch-making speech of 11 August 1947 before the Constituent Assembly.
—The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
