“Using the tools of Islamic Pluralism and Moderation as tools for Interreligious

Dialogue and a basis for a subculture of todays Muslim youth. Experiences,

realizations and conclusions.”

By Prof Yusuf Ali Morales

School Administrator, Asian Academy of Business and Computers

Manila Representative, Lahore Ahmadiyyah Islamic Society Usa-Philippines

Member, Tariqah Naqshabandi and Rifaiyyah Sufi Tariqah

Abstract:

The paper aims to use the experiences of the author when he was a resource speaker for
three Youth leadership summits in Cotabato City, Tubod and Polomoloc South Cotabato,
where he lectured on three topics respectively, “Islamic Pluralism as a tool for
understanding others”, “Moderation in Islam, A backdraft in reflection”, and “Pillars and
Fundamentals of Islam”. “Simillarities and Diferrences of Islam and Christianity”

The papers aims to dissect both the reactions of the youth participants from the inputs he
gave, the contents he presented, how they were adjucted to suit to the particular
audience, as well as his personal realizations that he has encountered in doing the lecture
tour.

The paper also aims to present alternative persepectives on how Interreligious and
intercultural; dialogue can be best done with todays youth as well as an analysis of how
this can be used as a model for creating a subculture eventually leading towards a culture
of peace.

Part of this paper would deal with the prime movers of our youth... the teachers..... as
experinecd by the authour when he presented the topics for the teachers themselves and
reflections and realizations he has gained from his workshop with the teachers themselves.

The paper may not be a definitive know-all albeit a work in progress but it aims to start
the ball rolling in presenting new paradigm shifts in this regard.

Introduction:

Bismillah Hirahman Niraheem

Alhamdullilahi Ladhi Allamal Bil Qalam

Allamal Insana Ma Lam Ya' lam

Wa salatu wa salmu alal Ashrafiyal Anbiya'a wal Mursalin, Sayyidna Muhammad

Wa alal alihit-Tahirin wa ashabi montajibin, wa awliayka Kareem, wa Mujadidoon al-

kareem, wa ummati wasiyeen.

My brothers and sisters in life.....Assalamu alaikum

In the Name of Gid most merciful and Most Compassionate

All Praises be to Him who has created Knowledge

Taught mankind what he knows not

All salutations and benedictions be unto the Beloved Prophet of Islam, Sayyidna
Muhammad, to his blessed family, to his righteous companions, to the Awliyah of Allah, the
Reformers of Islam and to the Muslim Ummah.

The common usage of the word interfaith Dialogie has in a way repeatedly used to denote
any activity where there is dscussion of religious experiences, comonalities, as well as
living in the midst of diversity.

The aim of this paper, however, is not to reinvent the wheel of interfaith dialogue but to
share experiences in using a new tool adapted in order to further ones activities in the
pursuit of mutual understanding, learning and travelling along the path, as a member of
the Naqshabandi Sufi Tariqah, as well as an active member of the Anjuman Ahmadiyyah
Isha'at Islami Lahore, a religious society that aims to propagate a peaceful and interactive
Islam that draws from the experiences of islam as well as the Awliyah and the reformer of
the 19th Century in Asia, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.Being a scholar known to espouse
intellectual exchange as well as inter-religious understanding, I was invited to deliver a
series of talks on Interreligious dialogue, among them were three topics respectively,
“Islamic Pluralism as a tool for understanding others”, “Moderation in Islam, A backdraft in
reflection”, and “Pillars and Fundamentals of Islam” as well as “ simmillarities and
differences of islam and christianity”.

Personally I believe that it is pluralism as a paradigm is one of the best tools for
interreligious dialogue as it as a concept allows other belief systems to co-exist and respect
each other.

For those who are not familiar with the concept allow me to describe it in brief as was
detailed in my presentation in Islamic pluralism in last years conference.[i]

What entirely is Islamic Pluralism?

Islamic pluralism is defined as the concept of maintaining peaceful relations between

different religions, that is manifested in a number of related ways:

Islamic Pluralism may describe the Islam's worldview that it is not only one's religion as
not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus recognizes that some level of truth and
value exists in at least some other religions.

Islamic pluralism often is used as a Basis for interfaith dialogue. At a minimum, This leads
promotion of unity, co-operation, or improved understanding between different religions,
or denominations within the same religion

This is normally a synonym for religious tolerance, which is a condition of harmonious co-
existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.......This
furthers inter-human understanding beyond an exclusionary and consequently intolerant
institutional religiosity.

Islamic revelation presents a theology that resonates with the modern pluralistic belief that
other faiths are not merely inferior manifestations of religiosity, but variant forms of
individual and communal responses to the presence of the Transcendent in human life. All
people are created in same divine nature (fitrah Allah) with a disposition that leads to the
knowledge of God, the Creator to whom all worship is due simply because of the creation.
[ii]

This universal knowledge of the being in creation holds equally for the believer or non-
believer, the worshiper of one being or of idols. More important, both a monotheist and an
idolater can understand God by inspiring faith in divine mercy and forgiveness, can guide
anyone who He wills to save.[iii]

This paper describes the experieneces and learnings that I have gained from both the
process of the seminars we have lectured in as well as the interaction that I have had with
the different Government agencies, the youth, the different sectors I have talked with as
well as the people there, whom I dedicate this paper. This paper is also dedivated to the
Scholars, the awliyah as well as the Mujadidoon.

The series of activities that I was invited to lecture was the Youth leadership summit,
which is a 4-day stay-in seminar that has the same workings of other trainings, workshops,
group dynamics, teach-ins as well as contests. But the meat of this activity was to create a
rather new persepective of attaining peace and order, it also encourages them to
rediscover their skills and talents to become better leaders of society. As of the moment
we have successfully conducted i three areas, Awang, North Cotabato, Tubod Lanao del
Norte and polomoloc South Cotabato, as of this wroting we are aiming to conduct in
Zamboanga, Basilan,Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Davao. It was an inter-agency project by both
the government, Local Government Units, the AFP and several NGO and CSO's.

For a young group of Community leaders, The seminar was quite unique in the sense that
it incorporated nationalism, patriotism as well as community building. Interfaith concepts
were incorporated to ensure that the community spirit transverse the bounds of tribe, race,
religion and culture. This was where I was coming at. My role was to ensure that they learn
the value of interfaith and interreligious dialogue. It was here that I decided to use the
paradigm of Islamic pluralism, teaching both as a paradigm to be emulated by Muslims as
well as making the christians and Lumds understand that there ias way to talk and still
keep the peace.

Being a young group that was of mixed persuasions and religious orientations, it was quite
a challenge how to create a presentation that would catch their attention. Muslims and
Christians coming from either very conservative families others who are familiar with both
city and rural lives. It was actually a challenge how to present to them.

Most of the apprehensions that they faced was: "How do we embrace the faith of the
others?" "Its easy to embrace our friendship with them but are they welcome in embracing
our diffrences in Religion?", "would they welcome us if we ask them sensitive questions?"
How are we simmillar and how are we different?". "how do we embrace diversity?"

What were the initial issues and impressions that the young people were concerned about?
Among the things they were concerned were the following: if indeed the seminar
organizers were conscious of gender sensitivity such as the proper billetting of the
genders;familiarity with the different traditions of Muslims and Christians, among them
prayer and dietary issues for Muslims so as not to offend the other people who were
participating in the seminar, doubts about the ability , sincerity and capacity of the
organizers,if they would ask the hep of organizers;who were the good guys?Christians?
Muslims? Their belief systerms;who were the real terrorists and why does the war in
Mindanao doesnt stop?

Normally the first day was getting to know each other and camp rules. The second day was
the inputs day, normally islam woyld be the first set of topics to ensure that
misconceptions and clarifications would be done in the first day.

Whenever I would come into a room I would always try to do a little assesment and
personal question stuff that would make them more comfortable listening, preparing a
powerpoint presentation as well as dressing up comfortably. Seeing a Islamic scholar dress
in a casual manner was the first surprise they got, getting a very simple down to-earth
lecture that delved more in to the practical side than the theoretical side made them more
comfortable to listen and ask questions. Although on other places I would only deliver two
lectures as the others were prepared by other scholars.

Honestly, from the faces and smiles I saw, they were all hopefull of some solution to the
conflict that afflicted their families and their lives, and that solution lay ahead of those who
were lecturing before them. Tough luck, because honestly, the solution actually lay before
their eyes.

When I delivered a talk on "Pillars and Fundamentals of Islam", I sincerely believed that it
was not the Muslims that I should focus my talk into, as every Muslim knows about these
things, I was structuring the lecture on how to present the general concepts and ideas why
these issues and concepts were created as guidance for Muslims as well as the
philosophical foundations for Muslims being requireed to believe in them.,

The next topic that I delivered, was "Simmillarities and differences of Muslims and
Christians," funny as it would appear, a lot of Christian children were surprised to hear that
Muslims loved, respected and cherished the Biblical prophets. This was a revelation for
them. Since Young Muslims were not that open to talking or discussing theological
concepts with their Christian friends, its was big relief for them to hear how to break
chunks of religious ideas into down to earth ideas that could be digested by both Muslims
and Christians alike.
When I delivered the talk "Moderation in Islam, a backdraft in reflection" I realized that
indeed although there were Muslims and that my main target audience was to make
Christians understand Muslims, it appeard that I also had to explain these concepts to
Muslims as well who were supposed to espouse this concept. Because, the very concept of
being moderate and not to be extreme in beliefs and the conflicts springing from the
contraditions was an experience not only confined to Muslims themselves, it was an
experience and paradigm that spread to other religions as well.This was mutually agreed
upon by Christians and Muslims as well. For them, the concept of moderation as the best
manifestation of faith was such a very attractive idea, that one can be Christian/Muslim
and be cool at the same time without compromising their religion.

Whenever I would deliver my talk on “Islamic Pluralism as a tool for understanding

others”,it always makes them realize that indeed this is a new paradigm shift in dealing
with each other, that indeed there are possibilities of making this happen and indeed it is a
very practical solution for them, to mutually respect and accept each others views and
opinions, whether they may agreee with each other or not. Initially they were at a loss how
to accept the idea of agreeing to agree and agreeing to disagree. I explained that it is like
an issue of having simmilar things you like and some things that you dislike in people, only
in this situation these are concepts and not people that you may not agree with, but you
may still respect and agree with other things that a person may believe in.

Inputs given during the seminar:

Topic General concept Philosophical value why it is

taught
Fundamentals It is a guide to theIt shows them both how to deal
of Islam belief system ofwith both the intrinsic and
Muslims and a guideextrinsic issues as a Muslim.It
for them as a way ofshows how proximate their
life belief system is to Christianity
Commonalities It shows how proximate their
of Islam and belief system is to Christianity,
Christianity it also showed that Muslims and
Christians have a lot in
common.
Moderation InTo expalin theModeration allows people
Islam theological basis ofenough space to interact with
Moderation and thesociety withour having to be
danger of extremismafraid of the theological
as a sign of deviancelimitations that is imposed upon
and misunderstandinga believer. It ensures that he
of the Teachings ofknows that he is acting along
 Islam the rules set by religion.
Islamic This concept providesIt enables Muslims to be
Pluralism as athe theological basisparticipative and interactive with
basis forfor interfaith dialoguepeople of other religions without
understanding as well as thebeing in the mindset that they
others philosophical basis forare the only ones worthy of
dealing with peoplesalvation.
who differs in beliefs
and perceptions.

At the end of the presentations, both Muslims and Christians realized that both as
individuals and Community leaders, they have a lot to share, understand and relate with
each other. The inputs gave them a more bigger persepective on how to deal with people
from another religious orientation and have a long and lasting friendship with them. In fact
it has made them realize that at the end of the day, they may have to subsume ,
peripheral issues and focus more on the welfare of the communities they serve for the
better interest and welfare of all.

What was also good, was that Teachers from Tubod, lanao del Norte also requested for
such a training and orientation, I was able to conduct a summarized presentation like this
for some teachers of Polomoloc South Cotabato and They really appreciated the cultural
and religious sensitivities that I was able to highlight and make them understand these
issues.

Personally I have realized a lot of things myself. First, the paradigm of interreligious
dialogue must not be confined to either the religious people or clergy and separated from
the regualr masses. It must be understood that the religious people/clergy must bring and
explain actively to their jama'ah/flock the need of interreligious dialogue as well as
undertake community wide steps to ensure the success of these endeavours. I have
realized that both Chistian and Muslim religious scholars need to inculcate this concept
among their very own clergy/lay people. As most of the young people who have fears
regarding this concepts normally attribute their justifications from their very own scholars
and clergy regarding the inapplicability of inter-religious dialogue. Perhaps in Metro Manila
this may not be that case, but in isolated areas, this has been mostly the case as I had
experienced in all of the three areas that I have done my trainings. And thus I believe that
efforts must be done so that these concepts trickle down to these areas and be eventually
be a paradigm that would be shared by all.
It is important that in order for the younger people to adpot the paradigm of Interfaith
dialogue, particularly adopting the tools of Islamic pluralism, the religious people must
have an active part in understanding and cultivating this intellectual legacy that is
manifested in both the Qur'an and hadith. For it is the opinion of the key formators of
these youth that may eventually be impressed in their minds; and if the formators
themselves are not open to these paradigm shifts, then indeed we need to do extra efforts
to be able to let them embrace this paradigm. Such a subculture in out youth may indeed
be the impetus of a renewed thrust for Peace.

Who should we be involving in this paradigm shift?

Other than the youth themselves, we must involve the community leaders, the teachers
who are with them them during the day, as well as the scholars who advise them on
religious matters. By involving these three key groups, with support from both the local
government and national initiatives, rest assured this paradigm of Islamic Pluralism being
adopted by Muslims as well as pluralism from a Christian persepective would be embraced
as a way fo life ensuring mutual respect and peace for the coming times.

The Author would also like to acknowledge and thank the Inter-Agency task force that
organized the Youth leadership summit, jointly headed by Sec. Mesa chief of the,NCTU
and Commmissioner Mohammad Camid of the National Youth Commission, for allowing me
to be part of that activity as well as use the inpuits from the seminar/trainings as the basis
of my conference paper.

References:

• Islamic Pluralism as a tool for understanding others, conference paper

presentation,”Theories and Practices of Interfaith Dialogue in The Philippines,April24-
26, Dela Sale University ,Manila
• Sachedina, Abdulaziz, The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism,Center for Strategic
and International Studies,2001, Oxford University press
• document: Assessment, Youth Leadership Summit Evaluation: Mindanao Caravvan,
AFCOC,September 15,2009
•
 [i] Islamic Pluralism as a tool for understanding others, conference paper presentation,”Theories and Practices of Interfaith
Dialogue in The Philippines,April24-26, Dela Sale University ,Manila

[ii] Sachedina, Abdulaziz, The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism,Center for Strategic and
International Studies,2001, Oxford University press. pp14

[iii] Ibid p14