Interfaith dialogue is a call of the times; what can we do together?

By Marites Guingona Africa
Mindanews

I BROUGHT a group of eight young Muslim leaders from the University of the Philippines (UP) to meet and dialogue with my students at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). This was a meet-and-greet activity for my class on “Muslim-Christian Dialogue for Nation-Building” that I organized as an alternative to the community visit that I had initially required but which not all of my students could make.

As I and my young friends squeezed ourselves together in the van on our way from UP, a proverbial phrase kept playing in my head: “If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.” How apropos that was, I felt!

We had a few minutes before my class so I gave them a brief tour of the campus. They were particularly impressed by the Interfaith Prayer Room located above the Office of Campus Ministry (OCM), and were also amazed by the fact that Muslim- Christian Dialogue is a subject that is actually being offered to college students at the Ateneo.

In class, my Christian students and their Muslim guests sat around in a circle to create a “common ground” and “safe space” at their center. No ice breaker was necessary as “fun” seemed to come naturally to them when they began to introduce themselves to each other. They warmed up all the more when Asmin Palo Abdullah engaged everyone in a lively greeting exercise of “Peace and Salam.” The interfaith chorus of voices seemed to awaken the spirit of dialogue among them, and I was heartened.

Brief though their meeting was, it was full of promise. One of my students (who mentioned her involvement in the student council) asked: “What can we do together? Ateneo de Manila University is the only Jesuit-run university in the country that has no interfaith dialogue organization. Interfaith dialogue is a call of the times. What can we do?”

It was a grace-filled moment for me. I have struggled these past years to try and address the challenge in this university where I teach. In this class another window has opened, and my soul is energized all over again by the many possibilities I see!

Sukran, Abdulrahman Talusan, Ahmed Saliddin, Fauzia Jimman, Midzra Ajijul Sonny, Gurham Anjalin Adan, Alrasid Mashal Absar, Asmin Palo Abdullah, Aifat Ali and our ever reliable coordinator at The Peacemakers’ Circle, Alan Berguia!

May this be the beginning of collaborative projects and initiatives on Muslim-Christian Dialogue at ADMU! Inshallah!

(Marites Guingona Africa, PhD, is founder and executive director of The Peacemakers’ Circle Foundation Inc., a non-profit Manila-based multi-faith NGO established in 2001. She organizes and facilitates various interfaith peacebuilding workshops, and teaches courses on Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Conflict Transformation among Religions at the Ateneo de Manila University. This piece was first posted on her FB page Oct. 1. Permission to re-publish this granted. -Mindanews)