With the kind of religious sentiments I see echoed in some of the blogs here, I thought it would be appropriated to talk about one of the finest gestures by a religious institution. A church here in Chennai has invited a Muslim scholar to deliver a speech on “Islam in the modern age” which deserves applause for its sheer boldnesss.
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“Talk” about being really secular. In a broad minded gesture, a church in Chennai invited a Muslim to deliver a talk on Islam on Friday.
A. Faizur Rahman, who is a student of comparative literature and an executive member of Harmony India, was invited by St. Louis Church, Adyar, to talk on “Islam in the modern age.”
Mr. Rahman, who says he has written a number of articles on Islam and Muslims, was particularly proud of his latest assignment. “It is quite broad-minded of a church to invite a Muslim for a lecture on Islam. I am glad to give the liberal view on Islam and the Quran,” he gushed.
The lecture, which went on for an hour and a half was followed by a rather intense question-answer session, according to Edward Aloysius, one of the parishioners of St. Louis Church. He adds that a group of senior citizens who are parishioners of the church banded together as the Wise Folks Forum struck upon the idea of inviting people from other religions to speak about the key features of their own faiths.
The first topic was Islam and other religions will soon follow, he added.
- The Hindu 21/06/2008
A. Faizur Rahman, who is a student of comparative literature and an executive member of Harmony India, was invited by St. Louis Church, Adyar, to talk on “Islam in the modern age.”
Mr. Rahman, who says he has written a number of articles on Islam and Muslims, was particularly proud of his latest assignment. “It is quite broad-minded of a church to invite a Muslim for a lecture on Islam. I am glad to give the liberal view on Islam and the Quran,” he gushed.
The lecture, which went on for an hour and a half was followed by a rather intense question-answer session, according to Edward Aloysius, one of the parishioners of St. Louis Church. He adds that a group of senior citizens who are parishioners of the church banded together as the Wise Folks Forum struck upon the idea of inviting people from other religions to speak about the key features of their own faiths.
The first topic was Islam and other religions will soon follow, he added.
- The Hindu 21/06/2008
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Let’s face it, today there are sections within every religion who preach religious fanaticism. They not only appraise their own religions( there isn’t much wrong in this) but also denounce other faiths. So it has all added up to create an atmosphere of mistrust amongst people of various faiths. The kind of mistrust that we are actually witnessing all over the country here. Hence this is exactly the kind of thing which would go towards eliminating it. Just imagine a Muslim scholar speaking about Islam and the Kuran to an entirely Christian audience. It would go a long way to removing the misbeliefs that plague the society of today.
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And this is not just an one-off but part of a series of guest lectures where the church has planned to invite scholars from other religions to talk about them and have a frank discussion with them. Ofcourse the entire outcome of the whole process depends on the kind of people handling the issues, but with a good rational dialogue it can only promote religious harmony. I would welcome if things like these were to be encouraged rather than denounced for religious sacrilege which it clearly is not. Yes there might be points argued and questions raised but there can be no better platform to resolve these issues than this kind of interaction. Air your comments on this. Would such a thing really work out in practice? Or am I just being too optimistic?
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