India is a multi-religious society. Muti-religious society is one where people have to live with differences. Now, difference is not simply a part of religion. In fact it is an essential part of nature. It is a part of God’s creation plan itself. So we have no option other than to live with differences.
To deal with this problem we need a formula for difference management rather than a formula for eliminating these differences.
I have studied almost all major religions. I found that every religion including Islam provides the art of difference management. Every religion tells us how to live in a multi-religious society with peace and harmony. We find this formula in the famous words of Jesus Christ: “Love your enemy.”
Love your enemy means: to manage the problem of enmity by the power of love.
The same principle is given in the Quran in these words:
“Do good deed in return for bad deed and you will find that your enemy has become your dearest friend.” 41:34
There is nothing mysterious about it. It is a well-known law of nature. It means that everyone is your potential friend. We have only to turn this potential into actual.
This Islamic principle was best represented by the Muslim Sufis in India. One Sufi poet has described this principle in this line in Persian:
We don’t know the stories of kings and generals. We know only the stories of love and compassion.
Muslim Sufis have devoted themselves to spreading this universal message of love and compassion for centuries. Due to these peaceful efforts on the part of the Sufis and saints this spirit of love and compassion was so deeply embedded in our society that it became part and parcel of our value system.
The social integration we find today in India owes greatly to the efforts made by our Sufis and saints.
In every field of life in India people of different faiths are working together in a peaceful atmosphere. This owes to a large extent due to the religious and spiritual spirit the Sufis and saints inculcated among the Indian people.
According to the Indian experience multi-religious or multi-cultural society is not an evil. Rather it is a blessing. For, trying to eliminate differences destroys the very fabric of our own interests. So we have no way other than to adjust with differences.
It means that mutli-religious society leads us to necessary adjustment. Consciously or unconsciously this principle has been adopted on a large scale by the Indian people. We can see its effects all around us.
We have a great lesson in India’s experience in this regard. As we know India sub-continent was divided into two parts in 1947—India and Pakistan. After the partition the two countries adopted two different systems. Pakistan chose religious political system, that is, theocratic state while India opted for non-religious system, that is, secular state.
Now after passing of more than half a century, we are in a position to judge both the systems on merit. It is an unavoidable fact that India is progressing very fast, while Pakistan is lagging behind in every field of life.
This difference in result gives a very important lesson. India’s successful experiment shows that secular system is a better choice for a multi-religious society. While theocratic system results in fundamentalism, extremism, and sometimes even in violence, whereas secular system always brings about peace, tolerance and harmony.
To deal with this problem we need a formula for difference management rather than a formula for eliminating these differences.
I have studied almost all major religions. I found that every religion including Islam provides the art of difference management. Every religion tells us how to live in a multi-religious society with peace and harmony. We find this formula in the famous words of Jesus Christ: “Love your enemy.”
Love your enemy means: to manage the problem of enmity by the power of love.
The same principle is given in the Quran in these words:
“Do good deed in return for bad deed and you will find that your enemy has become your dearest friend.” 41:34
There is nothing mysterious about it. It is a well-known law of nature. It means that everyone is your potential friend. We have only to turn this potential into actual.
This Islamic principle was best represented by the Muslim Sufis in India. One Sufi poet has described this principle in this line in Persian:
We don’t know the stories of kings and generals. We know only the stories of love and compassion.
Muslim Sufis have devoted themselves to spreading this universal message of love and compassion for centuries. Due to these peaceful efforts on the part of the Sufis and saints this spirit of love and compassion was so deeply embedded in our society that it became part and parcel of our value system.
The social integration we find today in India owes greatly to the efforts made by our Sufis and saints.
In every field of life in India people of different faiths are working together in a peaceful atmosphere. This owes to a large extent due to the religious and spiritual spirit the Sufis and saints inculcated among the Indian people.
According to the Indian experience multi-religious or multi-cultural society is not an evil. Rather it is a blessing. For, trying to eliminate differences destroys the very fabric of our own interests. So we have no way other than to adjust with differences.
It means that mutli-religious society leads us to necessary adjustment. Consciously or unconsciously this principle has been adopted on a large scale by the Indian people. We can see its effects all around us.
We have a great lesson in India’s experience in this regard. As we know India sub-continent was divided into two parts in 1947—India and Pakistan. After the partition the two countries adopted two different systems. Pakistan chose religious political system, that is, theocratic state while India opted for non-religious system, that is, secular state.
Now after passing of more than half a century, we are in a position to judge both the systems on merit. It is an unavoidable fact that India is progressing very fast, while Pakistan is lagging behind in every field of life.
This difference in result gives a very important lesson. India’s successful experiment shows that secular system is a better choice for a multi-religious society. While theocratic system results in fundamentalism, extremism, and sometimes even in violence, whereas secular system always brings about peace, tolerance and harmony.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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