ISLAM for peace


	Interfaith Dialogue The Quran instructs us to be acquainted with other nations and have good relations with them. 49:13 O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). According to this verse it is imperative to know other cultures and communicate with them. This verse establish an important concept: that it is God Himself who "made us into nations and tribes," and so it is the will of God to have human diversity. We, as humans, have to look at this diversity as we look to flowers of different colors. Each one adds more beauty and complements the others. In this section we will implement this Quranic commandment by learning more about the various cultures and beliefs that coexist with us. We will learn about the following aspects of other cultures: Food Art Scriptures & books Miscellaneous Some examples of wise and useful words as found in other cultures: The Quran: Quran {3:190-191} Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,- those who remember God, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Quran {18:109} Say: "If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) for the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we (God) added another ocean like it, for its aid." Quran {22:18} Seest thou not that to God bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth,- the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals; and a great number among mankind? But a great number are (also) such as are fit for Punishment: and such as Allah shall disgrace,- None can raise to honour: for God carries out all that He wills. Quran {24:41} Seest thou not that it is God Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And God knows well all that they do. Quran {39:21} Seest thou not that God sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? Then He causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours: then it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then He makes it dry up and crumble away. Truly, in this, is a Message of remembrance to men of understanding. Quran {35:27-28} Seest thou not that God sends down rain from the sky? With it We then bring out produce of various colours. And in the mountains are tracts white and red, of various shades of colour, and black intense in hue. And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colours. Those truly know the power of God, among His Servants, the scientists: for God is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving. Sufi teaching O Marvel! A garden amidst the flames. My heart has become capable of every form: It is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba, and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran. I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith. Ibn al-Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, from The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson Saiidna Isa (Jesus) said (Injil): 5:46 We sent him (Jesus) the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God. Saiidna Isa (Jesus) said: "What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and loses his own soul" Ancient books of the prophets of the Children of Israel: His eternal strength that could not be described- Even if the forests were parchment....and the forests Quills, If all the oceans were ink as well as every gathered water, If the earth's inhabitants were writing only the initials of the chapters that describe God's greatness, All of this is still inadequate to describe the glory of the Master of heaven and the Ruler of earth Saiidna Dawood Quran 34:10 We bestowed Grace aforetime on David from ourselves: "O ye Mountains!Sing ye back the Praises of God with him! and ye birds (also)! And We made the iron soft for him;- (Note: the last expression in the verse "And We made the iron soft for him;" is metaphoric as if even the metals themselves melted from the beauty of the praises of Saiidna Dawood (David) PBUH) One of the praises and prayers of Saiidna Dawood to God is below. O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.