Abstract
Islamic Sufism is a spiritual approach that seeks to draw closer to God through deep personal experience, and it represents one of the important aspects of Islam that focuses on asceticism, humility, and love. Interfaith dialogue, on the other hand, concerns the interaction between different religions, aiming to achieve mutual understanding and foster tolerance and respect among believers. Sufism as a Bridge for Understanding: Sufism is a quest for spiritual truth that can intersect with similar spiritual concepts in other religions. Many Sufi concepts, such as divine love, humility, and contemplation, can find parallels in the spiritual ideas of Christianity, Buddhism, or other religions. Sufism can help enhance interfaith dialogue by focusing on shared human values such as mercy, love, and inner peace. Common features between Sufism and other religions include the search for truth, tolerance, and spiritual experience. In the face of the challenges that interfaith relations encounter in the modern age, Sufism can play a role in facilitating dialogue between different religions. By emphasizing the common personal spiritual experience, Sufis can help build connections based on mutual understanding rather than conflict. In this context, one might refer to certain Sufi figures who have worked to promote values of tolerance and coexistence, such as Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Ibn Arabi who wrote many poems and books conveying universal human messages.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Commonalities and Differences
KEYWORDS
Sufism; Love; Interfaith; Dialogue; Mutual understanding; Tolerance; Coexistence; Rumi
