Hundreds of religious, intellectual and cultural personalities from across the world met in Bahrain this week to encourage dialogue as a way to foster unity in diversity and peaceful co-existence.
Representatives of a variety of beliefs and cultures, in addition to regional and international organisations such as the Arab League and the UN, met May 5th-7th to call for moderation and solidarity at the “Dialogue of Civilisations and Cultures” conference.
At the conclusion of the conference, participants issued a document of recommendations titled “Bahrain Declaration”.
“Dialogue is the foundation, tool and leverage that carries the responsibility of establishing the unity of humanity in all its diversity and plurality, in order to achieve peace, security, justice, development, equality, freedom and democracy,” the document said.
Cultural, educational, and media policies must promote a spirit of moderation and a culture of coexistence out of respect for the safety of nations and to strengthen relations among all human beings, it said.
Meanwhile, the political exploitation of religion and civilizations by encouraging factional, violent and intolerant mentalities, disrupts dialogue, leads to interference in the internal affairs of communities and sovereign states, harms development efforts and slams the door on the natural political advancement of communities, the document said.
The Bahrain Declaration also rejected “all forms of hate speech” as contrary to human rights and said such discourse leads to exclusion, discrimination, intolerance, extremism and terrorism.
On the side-lines of the conference, Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments signed an agreement with Al-Azhar calling for the formation of a new committee to promote dialogue among civilizations and to ensure the implementation of conference outputs with permanent institutional work.
‘Without dialogue there is no way to peaceful co-existence’
The conference came at the right time in the Arab world given the surge of extremism in all religions, said Archimandrite Ephrem al-Toumi, deputy Greek Orthodox bishop of Baghdad, Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf.
“Religious fanaticism has made holding such meetings between all religions necessary so they may communicate with each other, align their viewpoints to reach a dialogue that leads to peace and tolerance among all,” he told Al-Shorfa.
“Engaging in ideological or theological discussions would send us down the wrong path,” he said. “The way to develop common ground among religions is to look for common denominators, such as faith in one God, advocacy for amity, goodness, peace and convergence, and rejection of extremism, terrorism, violence and killing.”
Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani said divine books such as the Qur’an call on peoples and tribes to come to know each other and conduct dialogue in a manner that shuns violence, murder and extremism.
The Bahrain Declaration sets out standards to govern relations between the world’s civilizations based on ethical and harmonious co-operation, he told Al-Shorfa, calling for unity in the Arab world.
“Humanity is the common origin that brings human beings of all colours, races, languages, and ideological, cultural, religious and spiritual orientations together,” he said.
Without dialogue there is no way to peaceful coexistence, said Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda.
Events such as the Bahrain conference help create mutual understanding on the human, intellectual and religious levels, he told Al-Shorfa.
“The meeting of hundreds of clerics and intellectuals dressed in diverse clothes in a manifold of colours under one roof is a testament to Bahrain’s success in sending a powerful message: that peaceful coexistence is an existential demand that cannot be reversed among peoples and communities, and that there must be acceptance of the ‘other’, regardless of his faith or beliefs,” he said.