ISLAMABAD, May 3: Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq has said the time had come for the Muslims “to show the real and tolerant face of Islam” to erase the erroneous perception that they have earned as violent people in the wake of 9/11.

“We must do that by changing our attitude. President Pervez Musharraf’s message of enlightened moderation can do that,” the minister told an interfaith seminar on tolerance arranged here on Wednesday by two NGOs and the Pakistan National Club for the United Nations.

Norwegian diplomat Alf Arme Ramalien said that such seminars would be adequate answer to the bogey of clash of civilizations and should be held in important centres of Pakistan and elsewhere in the world.

Linguistics professor Dr Anwar Dil, who presided the first session of the seminar, observed that the concepts of interfaith and tolerance belonged to the realm of ‘good and beautiful’.

“People show off their differences, but we should appreciate these differences and not just tolerate them. That is how we could come out of the groove of intolerance,” he said.

Sardar Ranjit Singh, who heads the Guru Nanak Gurdawara at Hassanabdal, concentrated on the respect for all religions and humanity that the founder of Sikh religion Guru Nanak had taught his followers.