Islam and Global Dialogue

If there were ever a time that a book on religious pluralism and peace oughtto be required reading for politicians, public intellectuals, policymakers, andthe media, as well as a general audience, that time is now. Conceived as aresponse to the excoriation of Islam after 9/11, Roger Boase has put togethera remarkable book on the need for interreligous dialogue as the only way to“lay the foundations for a more peaceful world (p. xviii).” This need reverberatesthrough each chapter, be it written by a Jewish, Christian, or Muslimscholar. This means that, as in a symphony, even though each scholar writesgrounded in his/her own faith tradition (instrument), their collective voiceschorus the same song. It makes for very powerful reading.The book is divided into three parts, with a foreword on the importanceof bridge building between cultures by HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal, theformer crown prince of Jordan, a preface and an introduction by Boase, anda postscript by author Wendell Berry on the failure of war as a way to securepeace. After initially considering inviting scholars from all faith traditions tocontribute, Boase decided there was not space in a single volume to do thisin an adequate way. Therefore, the book focuses on contributions fromscholars from the three Abrahamic faith traditions: Judaism, Christianity,and Islam. He rightly says that this gives the book a tighter focus. Given theimportance of the West/Islamic civilizational divide these days, it is importantto have a book that focuses on these faith traditions. From a wider,global perspective, though, this may limit its potentially positive impactabout the need for interreligous dialogue only to those readers who identifywith one of the three Abrahamic faiths. Muslims in China, for instance,would need to appeal to whole different discourses in order to establish theneed for constructive Sino-Muslim dialogue for peace.Part One, “Defining the Issue,” has articles from three scholars who tryto set the terms of the discourse: John Bowden talks about the ...