Director of the Iranian Philosophical Society, President of the International Society for Islamic Philosophy, Chaired Professor and Former Director of the Iranian Institute of Philosophy; Major research field: Islamic Philosophy; Selected book: Philosophy and Spiritual Art (1976) [Persian].

Speech Abstract

The Rules of a Fruitful Dialogue

According to the Quran

Man by nature is a dialogical being. Being endowed with a Divine logos able to know and to enquire about the nature of things, he can enter into a meaningful discourse with his fellow human beings. That is why we see dialogues among scholars, philosophers, cultures, religions and so on, not to mention the humble and unpretentious dialogues, carried out by common people in their routine daily life.

Of course the philosopher who is considered to be the prototype of dialogical thinking and perhaps more than any other thinker we know has applied it in his philosophical discourse is Socrates who whether in the agora, in the law court, in the banquet or in the forlorn outskirts of Athens when meeting a comrade or incarcerated in a jail in the last moments of his life about to drink hemlock, he is engaged in dialogue with friends and disciples. Plato, no doubt has immortalized Socrates by making him the leading partner in almost all of his dialogues.  

But we should not nevertheless think that Socrates or for that matter, Plato was the innovator of the dialogue as a philosophical method to attain the truth. We can also discern it in the great sages of the past, such as Buddha, Confucius Lao-Tzu and other great sages of China and India who are virtually engaged in dialogues with their disciples or by their speeches or deeds communicate dialogically with them. One can also witness it in great scriptures and in the practices of the founders of the great religions. As an instance we try to analyze the principles and the rules of a fruitful dialogue as enunciated in the Holy Quran. Quran as is well-known is the sacred scriptures of Muslims and is considered by them to be the verbatim Word of God.

But before embarking upon our discussion it is essential to point out certain features of Islam which are congenial and conducive to an effective and productive dialogue.

First, Islam is by no means an exclusivist and monopolizing religion. The second article of the Islamic creed enunciates the universality of the phenomenon of the Divine religions. God has created human beings but it is not enough to create them and then to leave them with their own resources but also it is necessary that He should guide humans to their ultimate perfection. In other to realize this end He has sent thousands of messengers, prophets and sages to illuminate their path with the light of knowledge and wisdom and to save them from the tenebrous vale of error and ignorance. In various verses of the Quran it is stated that the Quran confirms the validity of all the previous revelations. Moreover Quran is described as the protector (Muhaymin) over the previous revelations. God has not decreed that there should be only one religious community. For each community He has appointed a Law and a Way. So members of different communities should vie with each other and try to surpass each other in doing virtuous deeds "For each among you we have appointed a Law and a Way. And had God willed, He would have made you one community but (He willed otherwise), that He might try you in that which He has given you. So vie with one another in good deeds. Unto God shall be your return all together, and he will inform you of that wherein you differ.".

Moreover, God has sent no messenger except in the language of his people such that He might make clear to them His message.  He sent His messengers to each community in succession, one after another,  so that mankind might have no argument against God after sending the messengers.  "Indeed we have sent messengers before thee and among them are those whom we have recounted unto thee, and among them are those whom we have not recounted unto thee. And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign save by God`s Leave.". This verse signifies that there are many messengers (and consequently religions) not mentioned in the Quran and in addition being the Divine Envoys, they were all the bearers of the Divine Message. Again numerous are the verses in which it is explicitly or implicity mentioned that belief in all Divine Scriptures and faith in all Divine messengers is incumbent on all believers. "The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from His Lord as do the believers. Each believes in God, His angels, His Books and His messengers. "We make no distinction between any of His messengers". And they say, "We hear and obey. Thy forgiveness, our Lord! And unto Thee is the journey`s end.". In my humble opinion, the above, and many other similar verses in the Quran enunciate some preconditions which facilitate a fruitful and constructive intercultural and interreligious dialogue.