INTERFAITH DIALOGUE IN THE ISLAMIC CONTEXT

Abstract

Religious diversity has often led to problems and clashes including racial cleansing and violence. Among the approaches to reduce or overcome religious misunderstanding is through effective dialogue, which enables religious adherents to hold on to their views and beliefs while continuing to exchange ideas and live in a multi-religious society based on mutual respect and understanding. Dialogue is, thus, viewed as a religious and social pre-requisite. This research discusses the concept, the need and legitimacy of interfaith dialogue. Moreover, it is believed that interfaith dialogue faces several challenges and difficulties, such as misunderstanding of the concept of interfaith dialogue, hence, this research sheds light on these challenges and problems with the aim to clarify the misunderstanding and to correct the distortive and negative images and stereotypes associated with interfaith dialogue. In addition, a discussion of the forms of interfaith dialogue will be brought forward alongside the legitimacy of each form as well as their right context and time for use. Later, the research will provide illustrations of interfaith dialogue in Muslim Practice including the prophet Mohamed PBUH, pioneer scholars and Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) a leading organization in the field of interfaith dialogue.