IMAM & BISHOP PROGRESS DIALOGUE

On Sunday (25th Feb) hundreds of people gathered to hear Imam Qasim Ahmad and the Bishop of Southwark, Nick Baines, enter into dialogue about the co-operation between their communities. The event in Croydon was entitled "Imam & Bishop - two faiths, one world, where do we go from here?" and provided a positive step in the process of continued dialogue between the Muslim and Christian faiths. Both the Imam and the bishop highlighted that there were differences between the faiths and that their distinctiveness made them the people they were, but there were issues in the world today that meant dialogue between the two communities was essential and could be a good example to wider society. In an informal and humorous discussion between the two men, Bishop Baines commented that British politicians liked to clump all religions together under the banner of "faith communities" in the hope that they would pretty much believe all the same thing, but it was important to recognise the differences, why they existed, and how the two communities can move forward in respect of this. Imam Qasim said that it was also important to note that for every issue that the two faiths disagreed upon there would be ten issues that they could agree upon.Bishop Baines said that Christians should live out the biblical principle of loving our neighbour as we love ourselves, noting that many Christians are quick to call for freedom of speech to criticise others and complain when laws do not accord with their faith, but they do not appreciate that other people wanted to express their faith without fear. Baines also noted that, according to the latest consensus, although Britain today was predominantly nominally Christian, the reality was that practicing Christians were also a minority in British society today.Imam Qasim Ahmad said that the UK was the best place in world for him to practice Islam, although Muslims were still trying to work out how Islamic law could be worked out in British society, for example, with finances. Both men agreed that elements of British society today were in conflict with both Christian and Muslim values. The Imam also recognised that although he had freedom to worship, many Christians were being persecuted in Muslim countries and that Islam needs to be able to take a more critical view of how it treats others.