Syed Zafar Mahmood PhDPresident, Interfaith Coalition for Peace (India)
New Delhi www.icpindia.org. [email protected]
One Reality SymposiumHonolulu 10 September 2011
Interfaith Conversation in India Status, Problems, and Opportunities
Centuries old underlying principle of Indian social order
Sarva dharma
sambhava
All faiths are harmonious
Says Islam
La nufarriqu baeena aeedeehim mir-rusulih
Do not differentiate among the
Messengers of God
BLESSEED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
FOR THEY WILL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
EVERYONE THEN WHO HEARS THESE WORDS OF MINE AND ACTS
ON THEM WILL BE LIKE A WISE MAN WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE ON
ROCK
BibleMatthew 7:24-27
DUBIDHA CHHOD BHA-AI NIRANKARI
O MAN ! SHED DUALITY
AND YOU ARE GOD
Guru Granth Sahab
coming from
Different Directions
Throughout the millennia of history
Indian Subcontinent has kept it's
Portals Wide Open welcoming the
India's spiritual belief
Human Interest is more important than
Time-guided Geographical Considerations
Indians are blissfully aware that the
Creator & Sustainer of the Worlds
is
Timeless and Spaceless
Timelessness & Spacelessness
are manifestations of
His Being
He belongs
to everybody
Never commitBlasphemy of identifying
The One Reality with
a given section of humanityliving at a given piece of
earth at a given point of time in
history
God's purpose of creating humanity
Not only performing Daily Rituals of Worship
But .....
God's purpose of creating humanity
To test each one of us,
the human beings, as to
who among us is more righteous
As per different yet converging exegetic analyses
Here
Righteousness denotes
Selfless Service to the Fellow Creatures
Human beings are God's most blessed creatures
While many other created species including the
angels, jinns and animals have been given many human faculties,
yet
'Conscience' has been bestowed only on the
HUMAN BEINGS
What is
Conscience
Capacity to differentiate between Right and Wrong
Coupled with the Discretion to choose One of the two paths
To know what is theRight Path
Evaluate whether What I am going to do will please my fellow
creatures ?
God has graciously instilled
in each human being a bit of
His own soul
Let us learn to differentiate between
SEEING
and
PERCEIVING
Piety of soul
is the essence of
Religion
Kuchh aur hi nazar ataa hai kaar-o baar-e jahaanNigaah-e shauq agar ho shareek-e beenaaee
Poet of the East, Dr Sir Mohammad Iqbal
This universe begins appearing an altogether different affair,
If we start looking around using Godly attributes within us.
For centuries, India has been a
Crucible of Interfaith Coexistence
Intermittently, it has been Enriching itself with
Additional Ingredients
At
Interfaith Coalition for Peace
At all levels, the numerically major faiths of India
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhismare equally represented
People of all other religions likeZoroastrianism, Judaism, Budhism, Bahaism
also enthusiastically participate in the deliberations and programs
Our Vision
APPRECIATION OF
COMMON DESTINY
LET US SEEK MUTUAL HELP AND FRIENDSHIP AND
STAND FIRM IN CONSTANCY AND
PATIENT PERSEVERANCE
Our Motto
We carry out Research
and
Find commonalities in Precepts and Practices
We take these to the masses all over the
country and elsewhere
We have Local Resource Groups in
24 Indian states,in South Asian Region
and inOther countries
Interfaith Gathering held at Vrindavan (Mathura) Birthplace of Lord Krishna who, according to many enlightened Muslims is among the prophets refered to in the holy Quran (2:285). Same is true for Lord Rama, Lord Mahavir, Lord Budha and many others.
Our current academic projects
Two Books1. For Primary level
childrenand
2. Glossary of Religious Terminology
We sponsor youth
We organize Women's Journeys
Our teams visit Areas of possible
conflict and
Try to preempt and diffuse the situation
Jammu & Kashmir Intervention Program
We organize Group Discussions on
Topics of common interest like
Fasting, Light, Environmental Protection,
etc
We also participate in Praxis
ICP hosted Sri Lankan Interfaith Delegation
ICP hosted the visiting Metropolitan of Russian Orthodox Church
Christian visitorsjoined Ramadan Iftar at Delhi’s Jama Masjid
ICP Interfaith Women – at Sea
Discussion with the visiting Mr Eboo Patel, Member, White House Interfaith Consultative
Committee
Audience at an Interfaith Cultural Gathering
LET’S LIGHT OUR CANDLES TOGETHER
Please do visit us atwww.icpindia.org
Thank you