Changing the present and dreaming the future

by Tariq Ramadan

London - It is my perception that we have continued the process of interfaith dialogue among ourselves without taking into account the reality of our present world. Our world has changed tremendously, especially during the last 10 years. We are going from one crisis to another: social, civilizational and cultural.

As we represent the faiths of the people, we have to deal with this reality and we have to face up to our responsibilities in dealing with these crises. If we are speaking about hopes, we have to start by being realistic and face up to the responsibility. If we want something to happen, we should try and change not only the way we are dealing with each other but also the way we are dealing with the world we are living in. When we speak about hopes and dreams, there is the Prophet's peace upon all who are dreaming the future and transforming the present. It should not be the other way around. By dreaming the present you are not helping me to deal with my problems. Therefore, dream the future, change the present and this is the way we have to deal with our values, with our teachings.

If I, as a Muslim man, try to share my views with fellow citizens of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or indigenous spiritual traditions, I, and others like me, are very often perceived as naive people, dreamers, far from reality. Is this true? If many perceive us like that, elementary psychology is telling us that we have to ask ourselves if there is any truth in this perception. I think there is. Our discourse is sometimes far removed from the reality of people's lives. We speak about love but as soon as we seek to promote love in this world, it becomes difficult. To love is difficult. We speak about peace, but to get peace, inner peace and collective peace, that is difficult. We speak about the importance of family. But people want concrete answers on how to build a family in this world, today, within this reality of social and psychological crises. We are living in a world where we need to give answers.

We are not secure and we do not feel secure. In the United States, there is a great deal of fear after 9/11. In Israel, Palestine, India and other parts of the world, fear is everywhere. It is not only a state of mind which we are witnessing. Fear is also used by politicians and by religious people, people of faith. If we are true and understand the meaning of faith, we will have to deal with fear. Then we can begin to understand that we live in a world where emotions are promoted, and emotions have nothing to do with spirituality -- in fact they are its opposite.

Emotions are superficial reactions. Not superficial in a bad way, but the first reaction surfacing when something happens. Spirituality is something different. It is about effort, about something that you experience deep in your heart. Spirituality is the way to master your emotions, not to be, or to submit yourself to, your own emotions. It is of vital importance to talk about our spiritual teachings. What do they tell us of mastering emotions?

Why is it so important to go beyond our emotions? Because they put us in a position where we perceive "us"? versus "them" and where we have to defend our identity. That mindset is perverse, it is vicious in the world that we are living in to see each other as separate, always protecting myself from you and you protecting yourself from me. It makes dialogue quite impossible.

Spirituality has nothing to do with naivety. Spirituality has nothing to do with dreaming. It has to do with a critical mind enabling us to make an effort, a spiritual effort to maintain a distance from our emotions and to try to understand the world. It means to learn to listen, and it is not easy to listen when we are emotional.

I was in Sarajevo a few weeks ago and there, ten years after the war, an Eastern European was asking a Western European: "Let me ask you one thing: after what happened and us being Muslims, how can I trust you?"

This question of trust is essential. How are we committed to promote this mutual trust? We must network at the local level to understand this global strategy and ideology of fear, and we must create spaces for mutual trust.

When we do that, we are changing the present and dreaming the future.

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Tariq Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies and senior research fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford University and at Lokahi Foundation,London. He is also President of the European think-tank, European Muslim Network (EMN), in Brussels. This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org. The full text can be found at www.tariqramadan.com.

Source: 31 October 2006, www.tariqramadan.com
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

date: 2006-11-07