an effort to bring peace between different faiths,beliefs and lifestyles

(In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)

format_quote Originally Posted by piXie

About Interfaith dialogue, do the Muslims that promote this idea understand what this actually means today, it's guidelines and the connotations it implies?

(And peace be upon you)

I can't speak for everyone, sister, but I have had chances to participate in interfaith dialogue/discussion and also observe such events. The first time I participated in it, the format was simple and involved me explaining Islam. For example, we as Muslims believe in One God. And it also included answering questions like do we believe in a Holy Ghost? And the answer was of course no. The same chance was given for adherents of Jewish and Christian denominations (Catholics and various Protestants) to answer questions about what they believe or what they don't believe. I have also had chances to observe such interfaith dialogues/discussions; and it has been this same basic format, usually held at a university or school or within an event hall at some place attached to a church.

dear sister

The Prophet did Dawah. There is a difference.

I think some people misunderstand what interfaith dialogue is. Interfaith dialogue is not promotion of all religions being on equal footing; that is not interfaith dialogue but a promotion of some New Age ideology perhaps; that is not the purpose of interfaith dialogues nor would it be appropriate to do because interfaith dialogue does not involve making false claims.

Rather, what interfaith dialogue involves is precisely discussing what the specific religion teaches and what its adherents believe. I consider interfaith dialogues the easiest level of dawah available to Muslims in terms of access available in today's climate in which non-Muslims misunderstand Islam due to Islamophobic undercurrents waving across the globe; most people who are amenable to participating in such events are already people who are willing to try to understand what Islam teaches or what Muslims believe because they accept to be part of hearing what Muslims have to say.

For example, I have already mentioned that once I had been a participant in interfaith dialogue. However, I have also been fortunate to observe other interfaith dialogues. And again, what it involved is Muslims explaining what Muslims understand of their faith or what Islam teaches. It has, at least to the best of my knowledge, from my previous participation and also observation of other events never advocated in any way univeralism nor taught or advocated any un-Islamic matters.

I think Muslims in the West should participate in interfaith dialogues most as the average Westerner's exposure to Islam is limited to sensational headlines on television about "radical Islamic terrorism" or the Internet from anti-Muslim and anti-Islam sites and they hasn't had opportunity to either see Muslims or observe Muslims talking about their faith; I think if the Muslims in question are quality Muslims, non-Muslims can be inspired to look either deeper into Islam or have the seed planted of Islam being a beneficial spiritual vehicle to gain closeness to God or at least appreciate Muslims as human beings just like them who live ordinary lives and have ordinary concerns. I remember when I participated in the event, I was thanked by the sponsors for attending and for explaining Islam; of course, I will never know if I made a difference or inspired any person to look into Islam, but the thought that I could have is a humbling one to this day. And therefore, of course, I am an advocate for interfaith dialogues. Muslims shouldn't fear participating in such events, because these events should be taken as not even merely dawah opportunities but a chance to stand proudly and beautifully up for Islam.

(And peace be upon you)

so i had coffee last week with someone who has left islam.

his grievances were with "asian" culture
ignorant neighbours and relatives
lack of love from family and community
oppression of women
the usual stuff

ill repost this

why did they leave ........the dire need for an altruistic and pragmatic approachim sure many have heard by now about the recent itv programme about apostates/atheists however its phrased
.i only have questions,they are genuine and also for reflection for the communities which they left.
some observations and assumptions first. yes ..i could be wrong
1 :it appeared the issues and grievances were with retrogressive culture and bad parenting primarily and not religion..i could be wrong
2 :vulnerable and lonely people were looking for love and support..i could be wrong
3parents and communities in their ignorance overreacted and in fact made the situation worse..i could be wrong
4:self righteousness and lazy cultural parenting along with an ignorance of the spiritual aspect of islam may be to blame..i could be wrong
5:the inability and refusal of the muslim community ,to address its own failings and rot constantly shoved under the proverbial carpet came to the surface..i could be wrong.
the carpet itself has now rotted away,and no new carpet will be able to cover the rot we constantly try to shove under it..of course...i may be wrong
murdering people on the streets makes things worse,
calling for murder makes things worse,
shunning people and not listening to them makes things worse.
ignoring people with doubt and confusion makes things worse.
over reaction and ignoring the voice and feelings of those in deep pain and dilemmas makes things worse.
shunning and excommunicating makes things worse.
mocking and hunting and dehumanising someones daughter,son makes things worse
islam is a way of life which makes things better,it heals,it manages,it comforts.it draws people near and embraces humanity without prejudice.am i right?
AND ALLAH TAALA KNOW BEST

Yeah, I believe this is a good thing and there can still be a lot of way for us to do good dialogues.