KARACHI, Aug 7: The need for inter-faith dialogues has grown manifolds today than in the past as clash between civilizations could be checked only through such activities because all religions call for respect to humanity and for tolerance and peace.

These views were expressed at an inter-faith conference held under the auspices of the Binoria University International, SITE. The speakers at the conference were president of the Board of International Center for Religion Diplomacy (ICRD), Washington, Dr Douglas M. Johnston, members Harold Jacobi, John Sandows, Azhar Hussain and Rasheed Bokhari.

Quoting from different verses of the Holy Quran, Dr Johnston said that God had divided human beings in different countries and tribes for the sake of identity as religion taught us justice, peace, brotherhood and welfare.

He said if religion was made basis of diplomacy the objective peace and reconciliation could be achieved in the world. “There is need to find out common points from the Holy Quran and the Bible and make efforts to take the peace process forward.

Dr Johnston felicitated Mufti Mohammad Naeem, Shaikhul Hadith of the BUI, for his peace efforts and said “we could resolve our problems on the basis of religion through mutual meetings.

He said the reasons for most of the contentious issues were wrong interpretation of religion and it was the mission of the ICRD to strive to resolve issues through religious farsightedness of religious scholars.

Mufti Naeem criticised attacks on Muslim countries and hostile international policies against Islam and said that it was the right of Muslims to defend themselves against such hostilities.

Speaking about the misconceptions regarding Islam in the West, he said it was due to the lack of knowledge on Islam. Dispelling the impression that Islam was spread by using force, he said during the two initial centuries Islam was spread in Spain, Central Asia and the subcontinent due to the teachings of saints. He added that there were many countries including Indonesia and Malaysia where Islamic forces had never landed but there were followers of Islam, which was a proof that Islam did not spread by using force.

He regretted the shortage of such scholars who could represent Islam during inter-faith dialogues and who had command over western philosophy, language and literature.

He said that this situation called for an immediate attention and for this purpose western philosophy had to be included in the syllabus of Madaris and in our Jamiat.