Islamic Insights | Inspired by the Holy Quran and AhlulBayt

Dialogue has become a tool that fosters a better understanding between different faith groups and promotes peaceful co-existence. However, dialogue needs to progress beyond negating misconceptions and understanding the beliefs and praxis of others. Dialogue is also interwoven with understanding in a fundamental way what it means to believe in a particular religious tradition and to attempt to enter the heart of the partner in dialogue. Those who engage in dialogue not only relate their tradition but also what is meaningful in it, how they experience and relate to the sacred within their tradition.

An essential component in dialogue is the willingness to reexamine one's faith in the light of how others relate to their tradition and the ability to strengthen or adjust one’s own engagement and interaction with the sacred based on the experiences of the other. Understanding the faith of others should strengthen rather than weaken a person’s commitment to his or her tradition.

For example, I recently read that when Professor Cantwell Smith was asked if he was a Christian, he responded, "Ask my neighbor." That short yet profound reply made me reflect on my social responsibilities. We become enriched in our own faith tradition by interacting with the other. Dialogue between religions does not only entail relating the intensity or depth of our own faith but also witnessing and growing in it while understanding and respecting the faith of the other. Students in the comparative religions class which I offer at the University of Denver have often remarked that their faith and commitment to their own religious tradition has been strengthened by learning about other religions.

In this context, it is important to note that the etymology of the word "dialogue" is dia in Greek, referring to the act of seeing through. Dialogue should empower us to "see through" the faith of others, and enable us to reexamine our assumptions of the other based on the other's definition of itself. Each group is able to better express what it believes and, in the process, to understand more deeply the meaning of what it means to be committed to a particular faith tradition. The process of self-definition also requires that each group express itself based on its own terms and for the partner in dialogue to accept and respect that self-definition. In the process, our preconceived notions of the other are challenged and often dramatically altered. This is the first step to moving beyond the stereotypes and misrepresentations of the past.

It is improper for Muslims, for example, to assume that their often-distorted image and understanding of Christianity is how Christians understand themselves. The ability to change one's views and perceptions about the other is an important component if interaction between people of different religious backgrounds is to lead to a more peaceful co-existence between them. The purpose of engaging in interfaith dialogue is not to reach doctrinal agreement but to increase sensitivity to others. As the Parliament of the World's Religions affirmed in Chicago in 1993, "The earth cannot be changed for the better unless the consciousness of the individual is changed first."

Dialogue provides access to windows of understanding of how others define themselves and challenges us to grow in our own faith through the experience of the other. It necessitates a shift in paradigm, asking us to embrace those we have previously excluded or demonized. We tend to exclude or marginalize others in different ways. These range from assimilation, abandonment, indifference, and domination of the other. Exclusion is also conjoined with the distortion of rather than simply ignorance of the other. As Miroslav Volf states, "it (exclusion) is a willful misconstruction, not mere failure of knowledge."

Exclusion often entails cutting the bonds of humanity that connect us as moral human beings and can generate a wide range of emotional responses, from hatred to indifference, and even the cursing of or killing of the other. The other emerges as an inferior being that either must be assimilated by being made like the self or subjugated to the self.

Dialogue is the first step toward accommodating or making space within oneself for the other. The challenge for both Muslims and Christians when they converse is to seek opportunities for interpretations that can make a community see the enemy in a new way. It is essential that we move away from defining ourselves over and above an enemy "other". This is an important measure in establishing a peaceful relationship. In this sense, I believe we need to go beyond tolerating or understanding the other. More than ever, there is a need to embrace the other. This suggests a different function of dialogue, one that can bring the hearts, rather than just the minds, of people together.

A professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, Dr. Liyakat Takim has written and translated many books and articles related to Islam and Shi'ism. His book Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi'ite Islam recently received the 2007 CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Title from SUNY Press.