Witnesses of Mercy for Peace and Reconciliation

11 THE FOUNDAT IONS OF MERCY more innumerable than those represented on this panel, it is by first looking to our own hearts as individuals that we can then move to bring mercy to other people. Mercy can grow to alleviate the suffering of the many only when it is shared – beginning with one’s own actions and self. In all faith traditions, the practice of mercy is expected to start from the self. Only then will the person be able to spread it to others around him or her. Most if not all faith groups have not limited mercy to their own fol- lowers, but mercy can be and is expected to be applied in relation to others beyond one’s own faith group. In several traditions, mercy is extended to animals, plants, and all creatures. Mercy implies a feeling of humanity – it is a human concept and practice. This is yet another challenge in conflict areas; if the Other is not seen as human, how can we access mercy? Today, with violent conflicts in many parts of the world, mercy is needed more than ever. Many people are dehumanised, making it difficult to persuade those living in such a context to employ mercy. We need to see each other as human beings and creatures of the same God in order to help one another and to be alleviated from suffering. This is a particularly difficult challenge in regions recovering from years of sectarian or ethnic conflict, where each party has experienced deep losses. It is important to humanise the Other to be able to rebuild an integrated society. Reaching out to the Other and extending a merciful hand to those who are perceived as our enemies requires risk taking and courage. The experiences that have been shared in this panel illustrate the power of interreligious peacebuilding as when a religious leader steps out of the social and political safety zone and extends his/her hand to the Other. Dialogue is one way to do this, providing a way of strengthening and adding a greater prospect of sustain- ability for peace and reconciliation processes. Dialogue helps make mercy possible again between individuals and groups who have suffered at the hands of each other. The following pages feature stories of mercy told by reli- gious representatives of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sarnaism and Sikhism, each in their own lan- guage, displaying how each of these faith traditions is full of theological teachings and stories that support the practice of mercy. Prof. Mohammed Abu-Nimer Prof. Abu-Nimer is a Senior Adviser to KAICIID and a professor at the School of International Service at Amer- ican University. ​At the International Peace and Conflict Resolution program he served as Director of the Peace- building and Development Institute, 1999–2013. Prof. Abu-Nimer has conducted interreligious conflict resolution training and interfaith dialogue workshops in conflict areas around the world, including Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Chad, Niger, Iraq (Kurdistan), the Philip- pines (Mindanao), and Sri Lanka. He also founded the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, an organization that focuses on capacity building, civic education, and intra-faith and interfaith dialogue. In addition to his numerous articles and books, Dr. Abu-Nimer is the co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development .