Editorial by the writer, published in The News, Nov 3, 2006

On superiority and shared values

The need for harmony and peace between the world’s faiths may have never been greater as it is today. There are many who think that the western world and the Islamic world are heading towards a so-called ‘clash of civilisations’. In fact some believe that this ‘clash’ is already manifest in the tragic events of 9/11 and its aftermath. Many Muslims tend to think that they are at the receiving end in terms of what they say are the western world’s overtly biased policies against those of other faiths, particularly Islam. On the other hand, many of those belonging to the west believe that they are unwittingly caught up in a struggle between two widely divergent religious philosophies. It is in this somewhat depressing context that one finds the speech that British writer/former nun/lay philosopher Karen Armstrong gave at a seminar in Karachi on Wednesday particularly refreshing.

The important message that seems to come across from someone who has written critically-acclaimed books on Islam, Judaism, Christianity and on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as well as Buddha is that there is much in common between different faiths, especially the Abrahamic religions. This is certainly something that many in Pakistani society need to pay greater heed to. There is much in different religions and faiths that binds people and yet we see in the twenty-first century persistent attempts by vested groups and individuals to divide people on the basis of religion. Regrettably, there is also this tendency among some in our society to get into some kind of ‘my-faith-is-better-than-your-faith’ mentality. This is exactly why intolerance, especially of those who have different religious beliefs and faiths, has risen over the years in Pakistani society.

Of course, the highly charged ideological stance of the Pakistani state itself has contributed in large part to this. The national curriculum taught in mainstream schools for a long time made those who studied in it think that their faith and their culture were the best, certainly better than those of anyone who was non-Muslim. Religion was made a marker of identity and other universal values such as ethics, integrity and honesty were either all relegated to the background or seen through religion. Along with this came increased religiosity — preference of form over substance in matters relating to faith — and a general view that the faith professed by the majority was superior to that believed in by the minority communities. Of course, all of this was rationalised by the ideological makers (manipulators) who were successfully able to advocate the view that the country was made solely in the name of religion and not, as believed by the liberals, to provide Muslims space to live life on their own terms without religion being thrust down their throats by an unrelenting literalist clergy.

The result, sadly, is before us; and it only seems to confirm Ms Armstrong’s fears, that when dogma takes hold of religion, there is strife and violence. There are some among us who need to shun the tendency to see themselves as superior to others merely because of their professing a particular faith. One need only travel to a country in the west and see how the so-called infidels there do a much better job of following the law, or not indulging in corrupt practices, of not labelling those who don’t subscribe to their religious views heretics deserving of death and do not force their religious views on others through coercion. If we can’t find the shared values in other faiths — in at least the Abrahamic ones — we should at least refrain from constantly believing ourselves to be superior. That is something not for us to judge in any case.