Ethics in a Multifaith Society: Muslims and Christians in Dialogue

The conference “Ethics in a multifaith society: Muslims and Christians in Dialogue” [Tuesday-Wednesday, 22-23 November 2011] is held in honour of M. Fethullah Gülen, from whom the Australian Catholic University Chair in the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations, established in 2007, takes its name.

Fethullah Gulen

For Fethullah Gülen, dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims is imperative, not only because of what followers of these three monotheistic religions have in common, but also because of their shared responsibility to make our world a more peaceful and safer place. According to Gülen, the dialogue to which adherents of these religions are necessarily summoned offers “an alliance of the great worldwide faith traditions against the violent abuse of religion on the grounds that ‘Peace is better and is the name of God.’ More importantly, it is a call for a dialogical intellectual encounter among the great cultural and religious traditions to design a common path for a new humanism, consisting of a doctrine of love, humanity, tolerance, forgiveness and compassion.” In Gülen’s view, these values are central to Islamic ethics, at the very heart of which lies humility. For practising Muslims, therefore, dialogue will flow naturally as an ethical imperative from their living faith in God – a dialogue that will form an important stepping stone to a new world order of peace and justice for all.

This understanding of dialogue has its counterpart in the teachings and practice of the Catholic Church since Nostra Aetate (1965). To take just one example, Pope Benedict XVI at his address at the King Hussein Mosque in Amman on 9 May 2009 called upon Christians and Muslims to work together “to cultivate for the good, in the context of faith and truth, the vast potential of human reason.” For Pope Benedict also, as for Fethullah Gülen, dialogue is indispensable, not just as a matter of political necessity, but especially in that it derives from the core of faith itself.

The inspiration for this conference on ethics in a multifaith society derives from the vision expressed by both Fethullah Gülen and Pope Benedict XVI. The challenge to participants will be to put this dialogue into practice so as to enable a well reasoned contribution from Christians and Muslims, working together, toward the development of a durable and sustaining ethics for a pluralist society.

The conference begins with a consideration of the good life from philosophical and religious perspectives. On this basis it will move, in turn, to examine ethical questions concerning the beginnings and end of life, the identification of common ethical goals towards which Muslims and Christians can strive together, how business should be done in a global environment, war and peace, and the place of religious faith in public decision-making. The overall aim is not only to uncover emerging questions but also to recommend new directions for collaboration in promoting the common good of society.

Australian Catholic University - Last Update on 30 September 2011, Friday