UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, during the Regional Summit on Inter-Religious and Inter-Ethnic Dialogue in Tirana, Albania in December 2004, stated: “We should bear carefully in mind that all faiths convey a message of peace, justice and human solidarity and that religious leaders, like all other community leaders, have the potential to exercise a positive influence on how people in society understand each other and interact.”
Thus, the ecumenical spirit must be forged among the brotherhood of men.
The Muslims and the Qur’an
In Arabia in the early 7th century, Muhammad, a trader from Mecca received divine revelations, which were later collected into scriptures known as the Qur’an (Koran). This formed the basis of the religion called Islam (“submission to God”), a faith that regulates all aspects of people’s lives, from eating habits and dress to education and economics.
Within 30 years of its founding, those who submit to the will of Allah expanded to an empire of 860 million in the Middle East, northern Africa, Central Asia, and Indonesia.
The cornerstone of Islam is the belief in one God or Allah to uphold the oneness of God. Muslims regard their holy book, the Qur’an, as the final, unchanging word of God. However, they also believe that the Jewish Torah and Psalms and the Christian Gospels are important too, being God’s revealed word. While Islam insists that God is the creator of everything, individuals are nonetheless free and will be judged according to their deeds.
The five pillars of Islam
For Muslims, there are five main observances, known as the pillars of Islam. The first is a profession of faith (shahada) in the oneness of God (Allah): “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger.” Muslims are to perform the second pillar, compulsory prayer (salat), five times a day, facing toward the holy city of Mecca: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, evening and night. Muslims attend communal prayer at the mosque on Fridays, which is preceded by ablutions (wudu) to ensure bodily purity. The third pillar, giving alms or charity to the poor, is also regarded as an act of worship. It may be legal (zakat), alms assessed at one-fortieth of a person’s income or voluntary (sadaqa).
Fasting (sawm), the fourth pillar, is intended to foster obedience to God and unity among Muslims. This is done from dawn until sunset for 29 to 30 days (depending on the length of the lunar month), during Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic year. The Qur’an is recited daily.
Ramadan ends with the Eid Al Fatr, on the first Shawwal, the 10th month of the Muslim year.
The final pillar of Islam is the pilgrimage of hajj to Mecca, which all Muslims are expected to make once in a lifetime.
The western apprehension of Islam
Modern western apprehension of Islam began after World War II with the rise of Egypt’s Gamel Abdel Nasser as the leader of the Arab world in 1952 and his nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 in defiance to the wishes of Britain and France.
A sign of Islam’s reassertion occurred 17 years later with the massive increase in oil prices by the Islam-dominated OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) States in 1973. However, any hope Muslims might have of building a united Arab and/or Islamic front on this stronger economic foundation capsized in 1979 with the Camp David Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel – the “old enemy”.
In 1979, the Shah of Iran was overthrown and replaced by a militant Islamic leadership under Ayatollah Khomeini. For the west, Khomeini’s rule (1979-89) epitomized an ideology that emphasized living by Islamic law, and condemned western influence and its godlessness.
In late 1991-92, the emergence from the ashes of the Soviet Union of mainly Muslim republics, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in possession of nuclear weapons was also alarming to the west.
Hinduism – the eternal way of conduct
The Hindu religion can conjure up a wide variety of images, from cross-legged ascetics and richly carved temple-towers, to the cremation fires by the side of the Ganges and animal-headed gods. Hinduism is difficult to grasp; It has no founder, no single scripture or creed. There are many gods – Vishnu and Shiva among the most prominent. Perhaps the only way of describing Hinduism is the aggregate of practices and beliefs of some 1.4 billion Hindus living in the Indian subcontinent and other parts of the world today.
The term Hindu comes from the word coined by ancient Persians describing those who lived opposite them on the other side of the Indus River. Modern Hindus prefer the phrase sanatana dharma to describe their religion. This can be translated as “the eternal way of conduct” – eternal because it is divine in origin, and way of conduct because it covers every aspect of life.
The Dharma
Some Hindus believe that their sacred law or dharma can be practiced only in India; if they crossed the kala pani, “the black ocean”, it would render them impure and unable to live as Hindus. Others do not share this view, and during the last 100 years, many Hindus most of them economic migrants have migrated to Britain and countries of the British Commonwealth, including the Caribbean, Canada, and eastern Africa, as well as in the United States and Europe.
The cultural impact of Hinduism in the west in the modern era can be dated to 1893, when the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago was attended by a Hindu ascetic named Vivekananda. He so impressed the gathering with his spirituality and view of Hinduism as a great universal faith that afterward there were many westerners who questioned the wisdom of continuing to send Christian missionaries to India.
Buddha – the Enlightened One
About 2,500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince, dissatisfied with his spiritually barren life left his home, his wife and his son, and set out to find enlightenment. After a period of six years spent in constant searching, Gautama finally reached enlightenment or Nirvana, while sitting under a tree in a long, profound state of meditation. He became known as the Buddha – the Enlightened One – and his teachings and the example of his life form the basis of Buddhism.
Taking the universal experience of change and suffering in life as a starting point, Buddha taught that suffering can be overcome by following a path to nirvana. For Buddhists, there is no belief in or worship of a personal creator god. To reach nirvana involves the development of morality, meditation and wisdom – the very essence of Buddhism.
After the Buddha’s death, his followers carried his teachings to other parts of India, adapting it to local cultures.
The different Buddhism practices
Buddhism developed into different schools which evolved two main traditions. In Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, the main tradition is called Theravada, the “Way of the Theras” or senior monks or elders. Conservative in its approach, Theravada holds that its tradition reflects the earliest and most authentic Buddhist beliefs and practices. Its scriptures written in the ancient Indian language of Pali and known as the Pali Canon are believed to contain the actual words of Gautama Buddha.
At the heart of the Theravada society lies the interdependence between monks and lay people or “householders”. The latter make offerings of food, clothes and dwellings to the monks and try to live a moral life based on generosity. Their motivation is to make merit for a better rebirth – future rebirth as a monk or a nun will bring them closer to enlightenment.
The other main division of Buddhism, Mahayana or “Great Vehicle” or “Great Way” emphasizes the variety of paths it provides. Its scriptures are written in the Sanskrit language, thus it is also called Sanskrit or Northern Buddhism. Buddhism reached Japan in its Mahayana form from China via Korea in about the middle of the sixth century. This include Tibetan Buddhism whose spiritual leader is the Dalai Lama; chan (Japanese zen); and pure land which began in China and developed in Japan. New religious movements, such as Rissho Kosei Kai and Soka Gakkai started in Japan and are growing fast in other parts of the world.
That all may be one
Europe and Asia have suffered from the ravages of the wars of the 20th century, also as a consequence of inter-ethnic and inter-religious tension, hatred and violence. As most of these regions are still experiencing the wounds of the past, there is a deep desire for reconciliation, exchange and cooperation, especially among the youth.
(Reference: The World’s Religions – Understanding the Living Faiths by Dr. Peter Clarke)
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