News

Comment: Muslim - Christian clashes create havoc on all sides.

3 February 2010

Over the last week or so, The Humanitarian Forum's partner the ICRC has been working to tackle the effects of religious clashes in the Nigerian city of Jos. These outbreaks of violence between young Muslims and Christians have seen nearly 500 people killed and many more injured.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, reports are surfacing of churches being burned, on the grounds that a Catholic newspaper recently won a ruling to allow it to use the name of Allah in its national language section. The attacks are a grim echo of similar incidents in Egypt last year.

It is saddening that our beliefs, which have the potential to bring mercy, justice and peace to the world, are so often used as a reason for divisions, disharmony and hatred.

Humanity is about belief. Belief is a highly personal motivation, as much as it is a unifying presence. The message of all the prophets is a message of God's love; to bring love to our neighbours; to our enemies and to all beings in His creation. It is a message of respect: for each other and for all living creatures.

I firmly believe that no prophet ever brought a message of hatred. It is the very fact that their messages are of love and peace which have ensured that they have endured throughout the centuries, long after the Prophets themselves passed from this life to the life hereafter.

God wishes us to be unified in love; that is the message of the prophets. It is the devil who twists this message, who causes us to be divided and to bring hatred to the world.

We must sever violent acts from the heavenly teachings of the prophets. But more than that, we must reach out to those who perpetrate such acts, and work with them to forge a new path of peace which we can all follow in unity. No one can live alone in this world. We are all part of the same nature - the same creation. It is vital that our faith is an instrument of reconciliation and unity, not of hatred and division.

Whilst we are saddened by the news from Egypt, Jos, Malaysia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other countries, we will not lose hope. We hope that in 2010 we will be able to move forward on a new path of fellowship and shared understanding.

Please keep in your prayers or your thoughts: