AN INTERVIEW
UNITED Religions Initiative, North India and Afghanistan, in association with UNESCO Chair for Peace and Intercultural Understanding and Banaras Hindu University, is seeking to develop a compendium on Inter-religious/Interfaith Dialogue, Good Practices and Future Directions.
This project aims to collate and analyze innovative narratives and good practices of inter religious/interfaith dialogue from across cultures and regions to supplement the expanding and deepening scope and outreach of UN engagement with religious entities. The project also aims to weave together the remarkable narratives, aphorisms and stories of interfaith dialogue, less accessible resources of religious peace-building, faithinspired and interfaith social action.
Tanya Sablok is a social development and peace-building professional with a Master of Arts focused in Peace and Conflict Studies from Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia. She is currently working as the Cooperation Circle Liaison Officer, URI North India and Afghanistan.
She interviewed Ms Shabina Ali, a CPS member on July 17, 2021. Ms Shabina joined Centre for Peace and Spirituality International in 2015. She works in Kolkata and participates in programmes of peace and spirituality.
This is a selection from the interview.
While giving a brief history of CPS, please share your story by telling us about the amazing work thatHonourable Late Maulana Wa hiduddin Khan had been engaged in, and the contribution of CPS to the interfaith movement. Do share the various dimensions (how have scriptures become the tool of peace, how many people are connected, how do you involve diversities, etc.) of the work as you focus more on interfaith dialogue.
You would be surprised that the foundation of CPS International began on interfaith note when three youths came to meet Maulana and of the three, two were Hindus and one Muslim. They came to discuss spirituality and God. This was way back in 2001. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, being a spiritual master, immediately recognized the call of God and decided that today’s youth need to be addressed for their spiritual starvation. He saw that youths are more receptive to the rational approach of religion. So he started CPS International as a platform to connect the hearts of people with one another.
The journey began with more people joining and by word-of-mouth it spread far and wide. Then, Maulana’s talks began to be live streamed. It brought together people from different cities and countries. This resulted into chapters and affiliation coming into existence in various cities in India and abroad. Islamic religious scholars joined this divine mission of peace, spirituality and interfaith. Maulana and his team travelled extensively to Asia, Middle East, U.S. This outreach led to an increase in the members of CPS team across the world.
Maulana then felt the need of making the revealed Islamic scripture, i.e., the Quran easily understandable to the people of all faiths. Along with his team and fortified particularly by his daughter Dr Farida Khanam, he began the gigantic task of translating the Quran in contemporary language. The result was miraculous. This translation was well received all over the world with millions of copies already circulated. Today, CPS has more than 30 translations. Noted writer Mr Khushwant Singh said about the English translation that not only non-Muslims but Muslims should also read Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s translation. Today people of other faiths take large number of copies of Quran. It is widely distributed across public places like hotels, museums, mosques, etc.
It is difficult to provide an exact number of CPS members as this is an informal set up and the condition to become a CPS member is simple, i.e. don’t harbour hate for anyone and be a well-wisher for one another. Therefore, I would say that you are interviewing me today and you are an ambassador of peace. For me, you too are a CPS member. At CPS, everyone is welcome to attend the sessions and it is not Muslim centric.
How has the CPS contributed to building cultures of interfaith peace, and establishing interfaith dialogue?
CPS International is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organization established in the year 2001. CPS members come from all walks of life. Being spiritually and intellectually trained, they have taken it as their life’s mission to become ambassadors of peace for the world. Many of CPS activities focus on engaging in dialogue with people of other religions in the spirit of mutual learning. They facilitate the production of translations of the Quran in different languages. They convey its message globally through interactions, addresses, researches, online activities, seminars and conferences, publication of books and articles, magazines, websites, live video feeds, Facebook Live, blogs and podcast. These activities are not confined to India alone. CPS has a commendable presence globally.
If you talk to any CPS member across chapters in India and abroad, you will find one thing common among them. They have genuine respect for people for other faiths and eagerness to learn something new. This is because through his talks and writings, Maulana inculcated in every member that the key to coexistence lies in respecting and learning from one another. There is a verse in the Quran which is very relevant in this regard: ‘For you your religion, for me mine'. In other words, it means “Follow one, respect all” He always cited sayings from the Prophet that entire humanity is one, and Prophet as mentioned in the Quran was sent as a mercy to humankind. So how can we differentiate between people of different faiths?
Maulana would travel to different countries to participate in the programmes convened by Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Jews. Thus, he demonstrated through his life and actions that if you want a peaceful society, then the key lies in interaction, dialogue, exchange and well-wishing for one another. The same culture now runs across CPS chapters and In Sha Allah, we will keep this spirit alive which Maulana fostered.
Can you share some remarkable success stories that highlight the existing good practices of interfaith dialogue and peace-building?
I will begin with the example set by the Prophet of Islam when Prophet Muhammad migrated to Madinah. At that time, Madinah was a multireligious society. When he became the political head of the city, he issued a declaration called Madinah Charter (Sahifat-ul-Madinah). This charter reaffirms his acceptance of the religion of Muslims for the Muslims, the religion of Jews for the Jews and the religion of the Christians for the Christians. This principle formulated by Islam is best described not as ‘religious harmony’ but rather as ‘harmony among religious people’. So, Islamic formula is based on this principle ‘Follow one and respect all’.
One extremely revolutionary example of the principle of ‘Agreeing to Disagree’ is found in the life of Prophet Muhammad. It concerns the conference of three religions which was held in the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. A 60-member Christian delegation from Najd had come to Madinah to determine the situation there. A congregation of Jewish scholars followed suit. The followers of three faiths (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) gathered in one place. They carried out dialogues and discussions on various religious topics for many days. The three scriptural religions thus met in a peaceful atmosphere in Madinah. This was a truly great congress which the city of Madinah had witnessed.
The fact that today Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and people of other faiths consider themselves as CPS members shows that the effort of CPS has yielded positive results and transformation has started. One example is a team of Islamic scholars who first met Maulana. One scholar from the group said he had no hate for anyone. After scrutinizing, Maulana found out that he harboured hate for Jews. Maulana then told him that there is a Hadith that a person who has an iota of hate would not enter Paradise. Maulana then spoke to the person about the teachings of Islam and this changed the person and today he is one of the advocates of interfaith. CPS gets invitation from all faith groups and CPS literature is distributed and read by all faiths as Maulana’s focus was on universal teachings and universal learnings. This is what Quran teaches and Islam stands for.
Kindly speak about the intersections in the interfaith dialogue that CPS has been working on, for example gender, culture, spirituality, conflict, etc. Are there any challenges? How can they be overcome?
CPS International participates regularly in the interfaith programmes. A unique aspect of CPS International is that it is spearheaded largely by women members. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan used to say that Islam gives equal status to men and women contrary to what many people think. There is a Hadith which says men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. ‘Equal in Respect and different in role’ is what Islam says. Having said that, I would like to tell you that we have many women members who participate in interfaith programmes, and are devoted to the mission.
The chairperson of CPS International is Prof Farida Khanam. Some other pivotal members who can be called pillars of the mission are Dr Naghma Siddiqui, Dr Maria Khan, Ms Stuti Malhotra. These are just a few of the women who are actively involved in this peace mission. I too participate in many programmes. I am a part of the Kolkata team.
We have produced ample material on conflict-resolution This is a theme for which Maulana worked his entire life. There is just no space for politics in religion. Maulana has created vast treasures of writings which demolish political interpretation of Islam. His writings offer principles of conflict-resolution with emphasis upon unilateral adjustment.
Maulana talks about peace for its own sake without equating it with justice. Unilateral peace is what Maulana has presented. Whatever be the situation, peace should be maintained. Otherwise, nothing can be achieved. While maintaining peace, one should pursue other matters.
His approach towards spirituality is mind-based. He talks extensively about Marifah which is realization of God, our Creator. The concepts of deep thinking and contemplation are the highlighting aspects that should be followed by a spiritual person.
Another very important teaching of Maulana is about converting material events into spiritual lessons.
He gives the example of how a cow converts the grass it eats into milk. Milk is a wholesome food for human beings. Maulana compares it to the phenomenon of how we should learn from this to convert negativity into positivity. There is a lesson to be learnt from the honeybee. In spite of the presence of so many different things, it just takes the nectar from the flowers and ignores everything else, thus teaching us to concentrate on the higher purpose we are born for and ignore other trivial distractions. These are some examples which are mind-boggling concepts on becoming a spiritual person.
Talking about India, Maulana said that India is a spiritual country and he envisioned India as a Spiritual Superpower.
What are the challenges for the interfaith/inter-religious dialogue/ movement in the contemporary world? What are the future prospects/ opportunities to connect the vision and mission with more and more people?
Future prospects and opportunities are many such as widespread distribution of peace literature in both international and national languages, engaging more people through dialogue, seminars. We believe that technology and social media is a boon for reaching out far and wide.
There is openness among people. Now, people seeking truth are in favour of communal harmony. Maulana said that every human being is a friend either potential or actual. Everyone has right to practise one’s religion, and one is free to peacefully convey the message.
Covid-19 has taught an important lesson to the whole world and that is, how helpless we are as human beings. Covid-19 did not discriminate between age, gender, income group or faiths. It impacted everyone and caused a massive realization among humankind that what is the real purpose of our life. When people saw their loved ones pass away and they could do nothing, they realized that how short our lifespan is and if in this short lifespan we waste our time fighting, then we truly are eternal losers.
With the help of digital media, CPS reached out to millions carrying out the message of well-wishing, positivity, helping people understand the creation plan of God, introducing humankind to their Creator and explainig what is His expectation from us. All this was well received because they had a receiving mind after the shock of Covid-19. We realize now that today there are only opportunities and no difficulties if one does not adopt a confrontational approach. There is a verse in the Quran (41: 34) which says ‘Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.’ So, choice is not between enemy and friend, but between friend and potential friend.
Yet another vector of this study is to explore the role of inter-religious/ interfaith partnerships amid the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this pandemic, many faith-based organizations and houses of worship have joined hands across religious boundaries to create strength through joint action. Would you please share some stories in this regard? How did CPS battle the challenges of the pandemic, while strengthening community relations? Were any new initiatives taken in this regard?
CPS members worldwide started using more technology as the physical movement was completely restricted. We converted our English magazine Spirit of Islam, and Urdu magazine Al-Risala into digital magazines. We undertook more translations of Maulana’s work, and started participating in online meetings, launching women’s WhatsApp groups, requesting all Muslims to join the peace initiatives and to follow the government directives strictly, appealing to them to know the true Islam from the scriptures.
We broadcast strong recommendations to follow social distancing and staying away from the hot-spots. People were asked not to move away from the place of an epidemic and stay put. There is a saying of the Prophet in this regard:
If you hear about an outbreak of plague in a land, do not go to it, but if the plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it.
During the time of Umar Farooq, the second Righteous Caliph of Islam, there was an outbreak of Bubonic plague in which thousands of Muslims died.
Caliph Umar came to know of some administrative lapses in Syria. He decided to visit the area himself and discuss the matter. So, he set out for Syria, as he got close, his companions came there to meet him.
They informed him that the plague had broken out in Amwas, a village in Palestine, which spread very fast to Syria, Iraq and Iran and had killed people in thousands. Umar then consulted his elders and an opinion was sought. It was decided that they would retreat.
Hearing this decision a Companion, Ubaidah said to Umar “Are you not fleeing from the decree of God”. Umar without showing any displeasure said firmly, “Yes, we are fleeing from the decree of God to the decree of God’.
Firstly, when the Covid-19 started, during the first wave, Maulana started doing daily video sessions to tell everyone to stay at home and follow the law of the land and advice of the doctors. He also sent out his message that people should not go to mosques but pray at home. He turned every one’s attention towards God and made people realize that we should focus on the blessings of God.
Continuous writings, talks, Zoom interactions instilled feelings of hope among all followers. We all took this catastrophe in the sense that God has given a reminder to humanity that we should be taking one another as being a well-wisher and at the same time acknowledge God as our Creator. This continuous dose of spirituality not only gave hope to everyone but we stepped up our reach through digital push. Our magazines, social media pages and Zoom sessions had a tremendous reach. People were at home and had time at hand.
Acknowledging the great work that is being done in this interfaith movement, is there scope to do more especially after the pandemic? What has changed and what is the way forward?
Pandemic has taught us that a new world order has emerged. This has taught that the concept of ‘we and they’ is no longer viable. ‘We and they’ approach will not work. Problem can be solved together and a peaceful world can also be built together. We have seen so many stories of faith-based organization coming forward to help people and not only to their communities. There is tremendous scope to work together and promote the universal teachings of each other’s faith and learn and grow. Youths of today are the hope of tomorrow as they do not believe in being categorized under a faith denomination. We should work more on youths and that is a great scope. At CPS, we are focussing on that segment as we feel they are lot less conditioned.
The pandemic has sort of brought people to think about the reality of life, the purpose of our existence, opened our eyes towards being responsible citizens, an alertness in us and brought lessons on how to be sensitive to the issue of taking care of the environment and not to exploit its resources in an irresponsible way, contribute to taking nature seriously and making people aware of our role. Maulana always emphasized on the harmony and how nature works at tandem with human beings.
What are the future directions in the work being done to further the goal of interfaith peace, dialogue and spirituality?
Our Ideology is based on:
• Win the mind and you have won the battle
• addressing the individual because after all a group of individual constitutes a society
• promoting our peace literature in every way possible
• Conducting one-to-one session to help people understand the importance of peaceful coexistence
Often the problem occurs when the so-called religious leaders misinterpret the scriptures and mislead people. Their motto is usually “Bulldoze them all”. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan gave us the future direction by giving the right slogan “Impress them all”.
His approach is to present the teachings of religion with the positive and right perspective. Just like UNESCO dictum says ‘violence begins from mind’, so, peace also begins from mind. Similarly, the same scripture which these so-called leaders twist to mislead, we use the same scriptures to bond with people of faith by presenting its true interpretation.
All we have to do is to address the minds of the youths and across gender to inculcate it in their daily life. Once a person transforms oneself, then they automatically begin to exude interfaith qualities and become giver members of the society.
