Doha conference backs religious dialogue centre

Gulf Times: Saturday, 2 July, 2005

Staff Reporter

THE third conference on religious dialogue has ended in Doha by endorsing a proposal of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani for establishing an international centre in Qatar aimed at broadening inter-faith knowledge and deepening dialogue.

Forum participants issued a set of recommendations for bringing about greater equality and sense of justice among nations.

They condemned the use of religion for political purposes.

Some 80 scholars of the three monotheistic faiths – Islam, Christianity and Judaism – ended a six-session marathon seminar spread over two days at Doha’s Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday.

The speakers recommended rejection of all attempts to link terrorism with any religion.

The participants called for promoting values of justice and equality and for restoring rights to those who have been deprived of them.

They “appreciated” HH the Emir’s proposal for the establishment of an international institute for religious dialogue in Qatar.

The delegates believed that hosting such conferences would increase understanding among the followers of different religions.

They suggested setting up of sections in Arabic and Islamic Universities for comparative religious studies. “This will help study religions in a scientific and objective way.”

They encouraged the exchange of visits of teachers among the institutions of the three faiths, and to boost the culture of dialogue among scholars, teachers, journalists and students.

Among the other proposals are: Publishing of pamphlets on religions, with social and political subjects, which represent the concerns of societies, and taking steps to counter the negative image and false information spread by the media about the followers of the three religions.

The head of the organising committee, Dr Aisha al-Mannai, who read out the recommendations at the final session, told reporters that they were “balanced”.

She believed that the conference was “successful”, saying that Doha is ready to host such events in the future.

Al-Mannai, also the dean of the Shariah and law faculty at Qatar University, hoped that such dialogues could close the gap among the followers of the three monotheistic religions.

Al-Mannai said the representatives of the three religions had demonstrated readiness to maintain inter-faith dialogue with a view to working out common grounds among their followers.

“Such an attitude has been consistent with the theme of the conference which was basically dealing with the role of religions in the building up of human civilisations,” she said in a statement to Qatar News Agency.

The participants deemed it proper to avoid all controversial issues, especially those relating to faith and religious practices, and to focus on the generally agreeable points, which all divine religions may share in common such as basic human values, morals and noble principles, she said.

In his inaugural address to the opening ceremony, HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had laid stress on the paramount significance of highlighting the points shared in common and avoiding controversial and disputable issues in order to allow different parties get familiar with one another, al-Mannai said.

About the participation of Jewish representatives in the conference, al-Mannai said that invitations were extended to moderate Jewish personalities, as “we have tried in the beginning to avoid inviting any one from Israel not to provoke neither the Christian nor the Muslim sides”.

She said: “However, they have been later on invited but they did not come, claiming in press and other media means that the State of Qatar had invited them to attend the conference but not to participate with a word.”

These remarks were untrue, she said, stressing that the State of Qatar would never invite people and prevent them from expressing their views in a conference specifically made for dialogue.

The first address to be made at the opening ceremony immediately after the inaugural address of HH the Emir was made by the Jewish side according to the chronological order of the three religions, she said.

“We have no objection to dialogue with Jews for being Jews and we have nothing against them as followers of Judaism, as individuals or intuitions. And we have no prejudice or rejection of Judaism as a religion,” al-Mannai said.