Author(s): Ali Yıldız MUSAHAN
The phenomenon of interfaith dialogue, with suggestion that members of various faiths should coexist with peace and toleration in the globalized world, was supported ambitiously by some Muslims theologians, historians and sociologists. Like previously happened in Turkey, today, Muslims in the Central Asia, the Caucasia and Russian Federation were told that the interfaith dialogue is peace and toleration, and probably this discourse will spread in the Middle East too in a short term. Islam invalided previous religions, so, as a monotheistic religion and as an everlasting religion until the judgment day, how does accurate is that reducing Islam to level of other religions? And also, according to Islamic creed, how accurate is that treating Islam like it is equal to other invalidated religions by Allah? Moreover, arguing that interfaith dialogue is a command of Islam, and giving examples of Prophet Muhammad’s relations with non-Muslims based on toleration and respect, and culture of coexistence as clear samples for interfaith dialogue, making the issue more inextricable, and cause confusion of inter-person relations with inter-faith relations. While in Islam delivering the message of Allah to all humankinds through preaching with civilized and scientific methods is a fundamental, accepting Islam as equal to outdated and invalidated religions, and propounding the interfaith dialogue nothing else than blocking Islamic preaching path. Islam attaches importance to consciousness of monotheism-moral-faith and principles of responsibility and these will be passivated with activities like interfaith dialogue, and it is within the bounds of possibility that the Islamic consciousness will be weakened through creating contradictions in terms with equations like the moderate-radical/fundamental Islam.
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