June 10, 2005
by Peter Kenny
Ecumenical News International

GENEVA – Interfaith dialogue that does not deal with the harsh realities of life but only with platitudes can only fail, a well-known European Muslim scholar told a large multi-faith gathering hosted in Geneva by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

"It is easy here to trust one another ... but in our daily life it is not," Tariq Ramadan, a lecturer and scholar in Islamic studies, told about 125 Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian and other religious leaders.

Last year, the University of Notre Dame in the United States, a Roman Catholic institution, invited Ramadan to teach Islamic philosophy and ethics at its Kroc Institute for Peace Studies. But shortly before he was to start, the U.S. government, without elaboration, revoked his visa on the basis of national security.

"We can assess the present situation as a critical moment for all religious communities," Ramadan said on the final day of the June 7-9 Geneva conference. "There is a great deal of mistrust and suspicion on both sides. Christian-Muslim relations often start from a perspective of competition, as both proclaim a universal message."

The conference sought to shift inter-religious relations from dialogue to common action, including new education and training programs and exchanges fostering a culture of dialogue.

The Rev. Samuel Kobia, the WCC general secretary, told Ecumenical News International: "This conference will help us to go beyond dialogue and enter into a stage of cooperation and coordination of interfaith and multi-faith work."

Ramadan said, "Very often we (people at a gathering like this) are perceived of as naive." He noted that, in order to "spread spaces of mutual trust," a "critical mind" must be built, which means that people must confront difficult attitudes in their own spheres.

Another Muslim speaker, Heba Raouf Ezzat, an Egyptian political scientist and writer for the "Islam Online" Web site, had earlier noted that more people are returning to faith, but not necessarily to institutional religion.

The real conflict is not between civilizations or religions, she said, but between humanity and anti-humanity. All people share a common human condition, and the role of religion is "to preserve, foster and secure civility" in an age that is hostile to it, she said.

Ezzat noted that all faiths share common values and live within the same modern conditions. She concurred with other speakers in rejecting proselytizing.

The conference organizer, the Rev. Hans Ucko, a WCC specialist on interfaith issues, said: "This event was unique because it sought to assess dialogue, and looked at ways of fostering relations which are more realistic and less idealistic. We confirmed the commitment of those involved, and this adds impetus to our own Christian engagement in dialogue."

Presbyterian News Service