Empathic Dialogue among Followers of Different Faiths

Imad : “Peace be with you”
Balian : “Alaikum salam” 

This dialogue is part of the film titled Kingdom of Heaven. Imad (Alexander Siddig), a close aide of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, greets Balian (Orlando Bloom), a Crusader. With a peaceful smile, Balian returned the greeting customarily expressed by the people of Jerusalem. It reflects the mutual understanding of these warring identities.

Director Ridley Scott purposefully inserted this empathic message. Some critics see Scott’s elevation of Islam as an exaggeration. “It is people like these who make it impossible for the world to be at peace,” commented Scott on such criticism.

Such exchange of peaceful greeting may not have taken place during the history of the Crusade. But then again, establishing peace may indeed require struggles beyond the annals of history. Anguish, tears, blood and lost lives which breed vengeance should instead be put behind and we must move forward by constructing a better future with a positive mind-set and contemporary interpretations.

We need to draw from the empathic stance of Imad and Balian for today’s context. Although friction between Muslims and Christians (or others) may not be as ruthless as during the Crusade War, the tendency towards intolerance today has intensified. We who care will surely not allow this to continue.

 

Empathic Greeting

In Indonesia where the people live by the national motto of Bhineka Tunggal Ika or Unity in Diversity, religious conflict remains commonplace. Tolerance among believers has recently waned. The forced closure of the HKBP church is a form of intolerance legalized through the Joint Ministerial Decree on the Establishment of Places of Worship. In Bekasi, the misunderstanding of a portion of local Muslims towards Christianity led to the belief that sculptor Nyoman Nuarta’s huge statue dubbed “Tiga Mojang” or Three Girls is a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The sculpture was displayed at a Bekasi residential area and has now been removed.

Under such circumstances, other ways should be initiated to build and maintain inter-faith relations. There are indeed numerous possibilities amid such a complex situation. A common understanding among us however is that Indonesia’s unity in diversity is in fact entirely separate from each other. Tolerance which should bond believers of different faiths together is simply understood as to not cause trouble with each other, hence lack of mutual understanding. Coexistence among followers of different religions means only to tend to their respective affairs. There is no effort to understand each other.

In order to ease potential religious conflict, we must change this indifferent attitude. Empathy becomes crucial in interactions among believers of different faiths. We must instill in us the desire to learn and think about the feelings and thoughts of others (who are different). It is necessary to have the initiative to understand varying religious traditions and teachings around us. The willingness and ability to interact actively and empathically with followers of different religions and act in an active and responsive manner in addressing existing diversities and differences found outside of our own religion.

Some of us may attempt to act upon this by wishing others well during their annual religious celebrations. This empathic attitude however, is not being realized, maintained and preserved in our daily existence. As a consequence, empathic interactions among believers of different faiths appear to be a form of annual formality noticeable only during major religious celebrations.

Greetings play a pivotal role in building, maintaining and preserving inter-faith relations. We should allow symbolic or even theological greetings such as assalamu’alaikum, shalom, om swastiastu, namo Buddhaya or namaste to remain applicable and deeply rooted in the respective communities, yet through empathy we shall greet and approach each other and develop social relations by making use of such symbols. Referring to Chumaidi Syarif Romas, symbols are gentle and as such can easily “influence”.

 

Greeting: Between Culture and Belief

Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid’s more popular nickname)  had once spoken on his viewpoint concerning the salutation of assalamu’alaikum. According to him, normative and cultural forms of expression do not have to go hand in hand. Assalamu’alaikum as recited during prayers cannot be replaced because it is in the normative form. However, when it is used as a greeting, it takes the cultural form which can be substituted with other phrases such as ‘good morning’ and other salutations (Tabayun Gus Dur, Yogyakarta: LkiS, 1998).

Based on this viewpoint, Gus Dur associates assalamu’alaikum within two different realms: private and public (social). The former is a ritual expression of belief while the latter relates to culture. Saying the salam within the context of belief is permanent in nature while within the cultural context it can change in line with differences and shifts in a local community. In other words, Gus Dur considered it permissible to replace assalamu’alaikum as a form of salutation with “salam”, “good morning/afternoon/evening/night” or other forms of greeting normally used and understood.

Gus Dur’s opinion however, is rejected by certain Muslims. Although such resistance is mainly due to media distortions on the complete statement of Gus Dur, it is an indication that a significant number of believers regard such salutation as a religious greeting closely related to one’s belief. This is evident in the fact that such symbolic greeting within the religious community is still firmly held on to in people’s daily interactions.

It is most regrettable that Gus Dur’s candidness is negatively responded to by (some) religious leaders and the public. Gus Dur’s desacralization of the Islamic salutation is vital to distinguish between Islam (Islamic syari’ah law) and culture (Arab). The religious understanding of Muslims in Indonesia who equate Arab with Islam makes it difficult for them to grasp the meaning of Gus Dur’s inclusiveness.

This clearly shows that religious understanding in today’s society remains symbolic. We recognize, accept, respect and avail ourselves to the diversity of salutations in each religion but with an empathic attitude we must make use of such plurality in greetings as a bridge to develop mutual understanding among people from different backgrounds and religions.

From what we learn from school and society around us, our understanding on coexistence among followers of different faiths is merely at the stage of recognizing the presence of religious diversity. It has yet to move beyond this narrow scope into a broader frame of pluralism where followers of each and every religion willingly and capably interact in a compassionate manner. Life among followers of different religions remains confined to the recognition of diversity. We are unaccustomed to make the first move and be responsive in dealing with issues related to religious diversity.

It is time for us to greet each other not only as a standard salutation but should be meant as a sincere prayer, recognition and respect of faith, and manifestation of a person’s religious identity. Say assalamu’alaikum (peace be with you) to Muslims. Say shalom (peace) to Christians. Say namo Buddhaya (I pay homage to the Buddha) or namaste (I bow to you) to followers of Buddhism. Say om swastiastu (May We be Under His Protection) to Hindus. And the same goes for the believers of other faiths.

We must have firm belief and understanding in using empathic salutations as a way for us to interact amid existing diversities among followers of different religions. This is the first step towards building, maintaining and preserving life among believers of different faiths coexisting within a friendly and peaceful atmosphere. Empathic greetings serve as a platform for us to leap out of religious exclusivity which tends to be narrow-minded and rigid, into the broad-minded and flexible embrace of religious inclusivity.

From religious exclusivity to religious inclusivity. From passive to active initiation and responsiveness. Let us try to be empathic in greeting others. In the future, there shall never be any more inter-faith conflict, let alone the recurrence of a Crusade War. []

 

*Student of the Department of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia. Writer at jurnalperempuan.com