Almost six months have passed since that fateful morning of September 11 when several thousand innocent civilians of the United States were mercilessly massacred by a team of suicide pilots. The ghastly incident landed like a bolt from the blue and left the world shell-shocked. This time it was not the ‘Japs’. A band of ‘aggrieved’ Muslims had gone on rampage. Besmeared with the blood of peaceful citizens, these pilots or the masterminds behind them could never have imagined the extent of the carnage they were ultimately able to pull off.
The affects produced by this incident are far reaching and have influenced almost every domain of life. One such domain is the sphere of international relations. Of particular mention in this regard, is the question of Islam’s relationship with other religions and polities of the world. This question assumes great significance when it is taken into account that the perpetrators of this terrorist activity have put forth religious arguments for the mass murder they committed.
In my opinion, when we look at the arguments presented by these diehards and at the general Muslim stance regarding Islam and its relationship with other religions of the world, we find that there is something desperately wrong with the Muslim approach.
As a student of Islam, I have tried to ascertain in my humble capacity what exactly is ‘that wrong’. In the following pages, my findings appear in the form of a research article that spans the whole of this journal. I would request the serious reader to critically and carefully go through this work and send me his/her observations. I would specifically ask activists engaged in interfaith-dialogue to spare some time for this article.