Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 42 ] — INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FOR PEACE — raise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and I bear witness that there is no Allah but Allah, the Righteous, and I bear witness that Muham- mad is the Seal of the Prophets andMessengers, peace be upon him and them and his companions. Differences between people are a reality of life, whether they are born with these differences or choose them later on. Allah created people with different colours, races, languages, and minds, and made it a sign of His greatness and almighty ability. He said: “And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.” 1 Here, the acknowledgement of human diversity — black and white, Arab and non-Arab, educated and uneducated — is clear. Islamic Sharia forbids this difference to lead to divergence between different types of people. People are also different in their own choice of beliefs, ideas, methods and behaviour, but coexistence is neverthe- less possible. Allah sent messengers, peace be upon them, with books sealed with the message of Islam. This needs to be taken into consideration when dealing with followers of other religions or issues. Allah lays the foundation for this when He says: “To each among you, we have prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people”. 2 Allah does not want to eliminate the diversity between human beings or the multiplicity of doctrines and orienta- tions. Difference within creation is inevitable and has resulted in a variety of people with different doctrines. The Almighty says: “It is He who has created you; and of you are some that are non-believers, and some that are believers: and Allah sees well all that ye do.” 3 If Allah wants to give victory to some and not others, or even to get rid of his opponents, the Almighty says: “We can change their likenesses with [complete] alteration”. 4 One of the considerations in dealing with the difference between the religions is that no one is forced to change their doctrine and belief. Anyone who forcibly denies the free- dom of belief, opting instead for coercive oppression, leads us away from the real guidance and the real goal. This is contrary to the values and principles of Islam, since Allah Almighty forbade coercion in religion when he said: There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong”. 5 Allah, the Almighty sends His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, to say to non-Muslims who refuse to belong to his religion: “Say, O non-believers, I do not worship what you worship. Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship. Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship. For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.” 6 Other verses confirm that the differences between people in their beliefs and laws fall within the will of Allah: “And if your Lord had willed, He could have made humankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.” 7 And the Almighty also says: ” but to Allah belongs the affair entirely. Then have those who believed not accepted that had Allah willed, He would have guided the people, all of them?” 8 Since pluralism of belief is inevitable, people should deal with this issue from this point of view. Allah Almighty says: “And say, the truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe; and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.” 9 Islam does not only provide freedom for followers of other religions, but also righteousness and kindness to them. The Almighty says: “Allah does not forbid you, from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes, from being righteous towards them and acting justly towards them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion. And whoever makes allies of them, HE Sheikh Muhammad Hussein P The maintenance of freedom and diversity is a collective responsibility, but it is primarily an obligation of the state, because they have the power to impose public order and to administer the law