Authors: Patrick Kamau and Daryll Stanton
Africa Nazarene University
Email: pkamau@anu.ac.ke
This paper addresses the WTD conference theme question: Are there borders which should separate Christians from people of other faiths? Notably, there some barriers separating Christians and Muslims, nonetheless interfaith dialogue is necessary and possible. Biblical and Qur’anic teachings on interfaith dialogue are addressed. Secondary and primary data is integrated to identify biblical and Qur’anic teaching on interfaith dialogue. Biblical teaching related to Christian-Muslim dialogue is looked at first, broadly examining issues such as socio-religious values, socio-economic dialogue as well as leadership and governance. It is noted that there is provision for explicit interfaith dialogue in the Bible. Thereafter it proceeds to exemplify Qur’anic teaching related to Muslim-Christian dialogue, also taking into consideration socio-religious values, socio-economic dialogue, and leadership and governance ideals. It is seen that in the Qur’an, Christians are presented as partners in interfaith dialogue. This is followed by a more focused discussion on divergent irreconcilable issues in biblical and Qur’anic teachings as they relate to interfaith dialogue. A survey of some cross-cutting issues in biblical and Qur’anic teachings on interfaith dialogue is also presented. It is revealed that Christian and Muslim informants in Kenya appear to agree that dialogue should not be confined to the corridors of persuading or interfaith competition, but accommodating each other. Furthermore, it is pointed out how impractical and insufficient it is to read other religious systems in the light of the assumptions of one’s own. Similarly, Muslims and Christians could expand distinctive paths towards accommodation and dialogue by drawing inspiration from their specific interests and conditions taught in the Bible and Qur’an. Interfaith dialogue should transcend the hallways of academia and spread to the masses through education and other possible means of diminishing the Christian-Muslim border.
Keywords: socio-religious values, socio-economic dialogue, socio-religious grace, socio-religious peace, socio-religious trust and reconciliation, socio-religious holiness, socio-religious compassion and love, Socio-religious ummah, sharia, muslim border, bane or blessing, christian and muslim, christian education and interfaith dialogue
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation (APA):
Kamau, P., & Stanton, D. (2020). Christian and muslim borders: bane or blessing? African Journal of Religious Studies 1(1), 2020. Available online at http://writersbureau.net/journals/ajrs/christian-and-muslim-borders-bane-or-blessing.pdf
