The Broken Dialogue
Jews and Muslims have been tied together by culture and history for centuries. For over a thousand years both peoples have contributed to the Middle Eastern civilization. But this relationship has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Blood, tears and violence has marked these relations. Both sides continue to blame the 'other'.
The 'other' and the problems they create - have been used as an excuse to hide behind the ignorance that has shaped our views about each other. The mass media - in most part- has dehumanized the 'other' and has played a significant role in perpetuating the distrust, misperceptions, skepticism, fear, hatred and violence against each other.
Islam and Judaism - the two monotheistic faiths, have lost their identities in the political chaos of today. The distinction between religious identities and that of political one has been blurred to a point where Islam equates to Arabs and terrorists and to be a Jew means to be an Israeli. Neither all Muslims are Arabs nor all Jews are Israelis and neither do all adhere to the same political philosophies.
Most of us today, emphatically defend our political positions but have lost focus on creating and having a constructive dialogue between Islam and Judaism. Not only have these two Abrahamic religions shared the same roots and ancestry through Prophet Abraham, they are joined together by faith in the One God.
The Muslim testimony of faith--la ilaha illa Allah, "There is no god but God" - has been narrated in the Torah by: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). While the latter words are not found in the Muslim testimony of faith, they are found in the Quran: "Truly the believers are those whose hearts quiver when God is remembered." (8:2). Islam has a deeply universal spirit. Its message for all humanity is one of peace and mutual respect. It has built into it respect for Judaism and Christianity.
As Muslims and Jews, we have a responsibility to create a world where we can live together in peace and with dignity. Many of us believe that Jews and Muslims cannot co-exist because of the political divide. But both religions emphasize the need to live peacefully with others. Prophet Muhammad (May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) - once said: "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." The Torah says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18)
Even in the contemporary world, France and the United States are examples where the Jewish and Muslim communities live together in harmony, despite their religious and political differences.
Its not that Muslims and Jews cannot co-exist but words like 'Jewish lobby', 'Jewish conspiracy', and statements like 'Jews are the main cause of most problems in the Muslim world' keep not only reappearing in our discussions but it adds fuel to the fire of ignorance. The imagery of Jews and their nefarious plans against the Muslims are portrayed in the Muslim media as much as Muslims being terrorists and hating the freedoms of the west in the western media.
Among the Muslim world, it is still rare to hear Muslim voices that encourage dialogue. Mostly, this attitude is explained as an outcome of deep rooted frustration. Muslims in most parts of the Islamic world have been disillusioned by their governments, and they blame the west for keeping those governments in power and hence their reluctance to a dialogue.
What as Muslims we overlook is that nothing in Islam allows us to reject or harm a human being due to his/her religion, language or ethnicity. The message of Islam requires respect of Jewish faith. Jews have been called "The People of the Book", in the Qu'ran. Prophet Mohammed (May Peace be Upon Him) constantly taught respect for all human beings, with all their differences. One day, he stood up out of respect when he saw a funeral procession nearby. When someone told the Prophet that it was that of a Jew, he replied "Is it not human soul?"
During the initial phase of the Prophet's time in Medina, the Prophet Muhammad said: "He who is unjust with a contractor (Christians and Jews of Medina), I shall bear witness against him on the Day of Judgment". Later, during a period of conflict between Jews and Muslims, eight Qur'anic verses were revealed to absolve a Jew who had falsely been accused of a crime by a Muslim.
The recognition of Moses and the Torah is as much a part of Islamic teachings as the belief in all the other Prophets and the divine Books. In the light of these teachings, we, as Muslims cannot continue to perpetuate the negative image of Jews in the name of Islam.
It is the responsibility of all Muslims and Jews to recognize the link between Islam and Judaism. From the Muslim perspective, it also means that we must respect the pain and suffering of the Jewish people during the Second World War that has had long lasting effects on the Jewish way of thinking. This is not to say that the Palestinian issue should be overlooked. From a Jewish point of view, they need to understand that Islam is not their enemy; it never was and will never be. Those who use Islam as tool to propagate hate and violence must not be taken as the voice of Islam.
As much as it is the responsibilities of the Muslims to take this message to their communities, it is as important for Jewish communities all over the globe to reciprocate. Both sides must understand that criticism of a regime either in the Muslim world or Israel does not mean disrespecting Islam or Judaism.
Muslims and Jews alike should work together to have a constructive dialogue to break down the existing prejudices and discover the 'other'. Continuation of keeping ourselves ignorant of the 'other' will ultimately have devastating consequences religiously, socially and politically. If we fail to have a dialogue, we may lose our generations to hate and violence.
Young people are not only the future, as the clich commonly goes. Young people are the ones who can change the world right now. It is they who are being mis-educated and they who are acting violently when they learn to hate.
Young people are the most fluent in the language of the Internet -- the language that is rapidly changing our world. They are in the best position to use this tool.
The question is whether this tool will be used for hate or for co-existence, for destruction or for respect. Groups that care about building bridges between Jews and Muslims must learn, unfortunately, from the model of White Supremacist groups and from Al-Qaeda -- who have brilliantly used the Internet to popularize their views. This medium needs to be taken back by those who wish to heal the world.
The young people of the world are the 'consumers' in the marketplace that every one with an agenda wants to win over. Educators for tolerance and respect and understanding must confront the reality that those with a far more sinister agenda are winning a game that the rest of us have hardly learned how to play.
Children of Abraham, an international non-profit organization, shares the same beliefs that youth dialogue is critical if we want to have a safer world. It is young people who commit the majority of violent acts and it is teenagers who are mature enough to take advantage of educational opportunities like Children of Abraham, while young enough to be transformed by them.
The organization uses the Internet as a subversive tool - bypassing many of the parents, teachers and clerics who would like to see our two peoples remain in mutual isolation. Teenagers are already online. Unmediated by adults with ulterior motives, youth forum on Children of Abraham provides a means for Jews and Muslims to communicate directly.
The four month, intensive online seminar known as the Discovery Program creates an opportunity for nine Muslim and nine Jewish teenagers from 18 different countries to participate in a wide range of discussions online four-five times per week. In future, the Children of Abraham will have a public forum for Muslim and Jewish youth all over the world to communicate directly with one another as little or as often as they would like.
The interaction between these students will result in a Jewish-Muslim educational guidebook.
If you are interested in applying for the Discovery Program 2006, click on the following link http://www.children-of-abraham.org/interns/application.php
The author is the co-executive director of Children of Abraham. You can contact her at : [email protected]
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5:63 is a description of a chosen option by the parties involved. Rabis and Priests could do exactly what they are suggested to do:"Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork." Those that listen are saved but persecuted for their truthfullness by their own kind that chose to continue in mischief. However, they would be true to their office,i.d.,spiritual leaders versus political stooges. The choice is theirs. Whatever Holy Script is there favouring the evil doing and the illicit gain? Are you tripping or what is your point? I agree with you, there couldn't be any dialogue between Muslims and Evil-doers. Still, a dialogue could be held between Jews and Christians, those that are honest seekers of truth and justice.
Doin, I don't believe that you are as stupid as you try to present yourself. 5:60 is allegorical, dah! I've seen people(irregardless of their original faiths) turned into monkeys. People that go to strip clubs and get themselves drunk then drool over dancing naked women and then have sex with whomever available, man or woman. Women that flaunt their sexuality in public places and pick up their monkey partners for a "quicky"! Oh, yeah, I saw pigs too. The pigs that entertain themselves in child pornography or child sex. The pigs that abduct young women for the purpose of forced prostitution,etc. H.A. told you that your mind was feable, I couldn't agree more. You cannot read the Holy Quran as you read the Bible.
5:63 Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork.
I don't believe 5:63 would help for dialogue either.
Also an extract from 5:60 "Allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols.", seems to make it alright to turn some none Muslims into apes and swine. That wouldn't help the dialogue would it now. However I don't know if it is meant for Jews and Christians or just people not of the "Book".
Finally I wish that you don't change what I say. I said I'm not your brother as we dont have the same parents, and that I'm not your friend because I don't know you. I never said that I wasn't a friend of Muslims, that is incorrect statement, and I would appreciate you correcting it. However If I gave you that impression I would like to apologise.
I bid you Peace, mon ami, a bien tot!
But, hey! according to even their own Holy Scriptures they dared to break the Covenant multiple times with Allah The Al-Mighty, what could prevent them from breaking or violating anything else with they fellow human beings?
But rest assured unlike your own brothers in Europe and other non-Muslim around the World, we do not hate the Jews because they are Jews, that would be definitely stooping very low and a grave sin by showing contempt toward God's creatures; we only hate the injustice, the treachery and the betrayal you have so far championed.
The Zionists are not peacemakers. Muslims can have a dialogue with the Jews and co-exist with them, but not with the Zionists.
I would suggest if you are trying to promote dialogue, do not misinform the young generation. Beside what are you going to tell the ordinary suffering Palestinians ..."Let's us start a new life ! and forget about the limb you lost or child you lost or father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister you lost the land you lost .. come on ... have big heart " ??????????????
Unfortunately, we muslims lost the Land of Palestine primarily because of our own fault. We the the muslim people deviated from our Deen, compromised our ethics & values and as a result Almighty Allah has punished with the most horrible & throughly corupt leadership accross the muslim world and thereby He has increased our sufferings.
Your endeavour is a good one in theory & it can not be put in practice for one & only one reason ... we are not dealing with Jews here. It is the blood thirsty Zionist you have deal with, who also have powerful support from fellow anarchist .. the Bushies of world.
We should be very careful in giving in ot the notion that Jews and Arabs have the same patronage.
Ashkenazi Jews are Caucasian by race who converted to Judaism during the crusades to avoid being crushed by the crusaders or the Muslims.
I wonder why it's easy to call arab terrorists but hard to call jewish the Zionist nazists? at least somebody who shoot with American missiles an old blind disabled man, worth to be called nazist.
there is no Identity called Israelis!!! even the people who live now in Israel, agree that the old name is palistine.
for Islam and moslems, there is no problem that jew or others live in peace is they seek it. Submiting to Allah(Islam), since Adam, came to establish the right. it's the corrupted version of that submition who gave birth to what people name christianity or jewdaism. if the right belongs to jewish or whoever, the last message of submition insists on giving people their rights . in the other hand, the zionist nazists never ever believed to something called right or wrong. they believe just to their myths and the way they got lock up in the Ideology of "chosen people".
the history full of examples of ideologies similar to zionism. the 20 century witnessed 4 of them: the Italian fascism, the German Nazism, the zionism and the Imperial totalitarian japan. the 21 century still under the mercy of zionism and the hijacked American democracy who gave birth to what we can call Americanism.
from the Islamic side, the Dialogue is always open. anyone seeking justice has the right, according to Islam, to fair dialogue. there is something better in Islam than just dialogue: you can refuse dialogue and stay away from fighting Islam and moslems, respect the treadies AND you still have peace. your submition to God comes thru your free will.
the war waged by the oppressors, who invaded Islamic land for oil or to destroy Islam, had 90% of the world's media backing it with lies to demonize Islam and moslems. but the wrong, by nature, disintegrate with time.
If Islam advocate killing jew like what the news try to make you believe, why when christians were genociding them, they were welcomed in Islamic land!!!?
Last October I was doing a training in Thailand for RYS, Religious Youth Service, last day of the training one of the participants grandmother died in Indonesia-so the participant was very sad and upset, at that time all the 65 participants from seven different religions backround offered prayer for the departed soul, The grandmother was practicing Confucious religion, but youths from Islam, Buddish, Hindu, Taoism, Christian, Unification and Sikh did not see any different they all felt like it was their family member.
Wish you and organization in this noble cause.