Unlike other faiths, Islam is not intolerant to other religions. It preaches its followers to give common respect to, to be tolerant of, and to have conversation with people of other religions.
This can be clearly seen from the following example of the Prophet. When the Prophet came to Medina, it was also populated by some idolaters and Jews. The Prophet decided that some form of law should be established so that there would be no misinterpretation or aggression of any sort due to the religious outlook between them and the Muslims. To solve this trouble, the Prophet of Islam issued a contract, commonly known as the Covenant of Medina. Since the Muslims were in the majority, the Prophet’s position became that of a person in charge, or a head of state. He confirmed in this contract that all the populace of Medina would enjoy equivalent human rights. Everyone would be liberated to follow the religion and culture of his or her choice: the affairs of the followers of each religion would be determined according to their belief.
This confirmed that Islam preaches familiar respect. Considering that religious dissimilarities have always existed between people, Islam also preaches us to have open conversation with people in spite of their religion. Fourteen-hundred years ago, the Prophet Mohammad (sallala o alaiehe wasslam) held the first inter-religious conversation in Medina. It was a three-faith conference to swap views on matters related to religion that take place between the followers of different religions like Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
The Quran says: God forbids you not, with regards to those who fight you not for [your] faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for God loved those who are just. (Quran, 60:8)
Such attempts have frequently been made in history. The state of affairs that spread following the Second World War led the Christian Church, in particular, to pay great attention to this subject. Dialogues of this nature are frequently being held in a variety of countries, between Muslims and Christians in particular. I too have had the opportunity to contribute in several of these dialogues. The hard work is often worth it. For instance, a mosque was built in Rome for the first time in history.
Although, some contrasts do still exist. For example, the living conditions of non-Muslim societies living in Muslim countries far exceed the conditions of Muslim minorities living in non-Muslim countries. Whether it is the present or the past, we still see a massive dissimilarity regarding this. More dialogue between all cultures will hopefully one day result in peace for all religions.
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