The Indian subcontinent has symbolized a composite culture for ages. Even before Partition, religious communities had stridently asserted that communal antipathy was illusory ~ a mere creation of the British Raj, allegedly following the old Roman maxim of “divide and rule.”

History since independence has shown with tragic clarity that antagonism between Muslims and Hindus is much more deeply rooted than in an oppressor’s stratagem. Several misconceptions which used to ignite sporadic fuses earlier seem too often to lead to conflagrations. Every human being is essentially a bundle of emotions and no one knows how various social signals spark violence.

Skeptical accounts of religious diversity undermine the religious grounding of tolerance and threaten the very diversity they wish to preserve. We need to deepen the sincerity of our efforts for shaping a mindset that is conceptually very essential for tolerance. Despite the many superficial differences, all our deeper and more permanent values are similar. The respect for knowledge, justice, compassion towards the less privileged, healthy family life, and the need to improve the here and now are commonalities that can be explored. We are all ambassadors of whatever we are. You are an ambassador to your faith and ideology as you live your lives.

It is not what you preach that matters; it is finally your conduct that defines you and your thoughts. Your public perception is built over some time and is shaped by the uniformity in your speech and behaviour. Tolerance is a virtue that requires deep religious or moral conviction. Moreover, it is rooted in a conception of the self that is rich enough to ground respect among diverse people.

The virtue of tolerance leads to a type of behaviour that is conducive to cohabitation with people of deeply different beliefs and practices from one’s own. This disposition requires nurturing through exposure to various scriptures and the writings of great sages to neutralise our natural inclination to view and reject the other as a burden or threat. Islam is a religion of peace. That is its aim and goal.

The Quran’s powerful commandment should leave one in no doubt: “Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as though he had killed all of mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind” (Q5:32). At its very core, Islam prescribes the principles of justice and equity for peace and human development and compassion for all of mankind. Not to mention that the very root word of Islam itself is derived from the word salaam (peace). Islam is a universal religion speaking to humanity.

The Prophet in his last great address at Arafat summed up his philosophy by decrying barriers between people. Islam, for him, transcended divisions of caste, color, and race. “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by and good action.”

Much of the strife and misunderstanding of the Qur’an is primarily on account of selective reading of verses that promote the adversaries’ agenda. The voice of the text is the fruit of dialogue. For some, the peace of God is through his sword; for others, it is found in his unbounded mercy. The entire paradigm is built around human interpretation. The pacifists and the terrorists read the same text but present fundamentally different interpretations. It is important to consider the reader and interpreter of the Quran.

The voice of the Quran heard by Islamic fundamentalists is not the same as the voice heard by progressive Muslims. All the verses of the Quran must be read and understood in conjunction with each other. Reading and interpreting verses in isolation is a very incorrect way of engaging with the Quran. It would yield a meaning that conforms to your worldview. The Qur’an contains injunctions that call both for peace and for violence. The problem is not that they are there ~ the difficulty is that non-violent and militant Muslims appear equally justified.

For some, the peace of God is through his sword; for others, it is found in his unbounded mercy. For example: The servants of the All-merciful are those who walk in the earth modestly and who, when the ignorant address them, say, ‘Peace’. (Q 25:63) Part of the problem is that there are concerns about religious content that are not dealt with openly. And there are just too many hard conclusions made about religious texts, often made by those who know less than they claim.

The enemy of peace is not religion, but those who pursue acts of terror and violence against the innocent in the name of religion There have been several strands of thought on the fate of people who abandon Islam but even here the last word is still awaited. People in every country should be free to choose and live their faith based upon the persuasion of the mind and the heart and the soul. Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together.

An oft-quoted Qur’anic passage (2:256) famously declares “There is no compulsion in religion, the right direction is clearly distinguished from the wrong.” Faith is an intensely personal issue and all persons should be allowed to find their path in life. It is probably true that in every faith ordinary people will pick the parts they like best and practice those, while the scholars will work out an official version. In Islam, the scholars had a particularly challenging task, given the mass of contradictory texts within the Qu’ran.

To meet this challenge they developed the rule of abrogation, which states that wherever contradictions are found, the laterdated text abrogates the earlier one. To elucidate further the original intention of Mohammed, they referred to as traditions (hadith), recording what he had said and done. Sadly for the rest of the world, both these methods led Islam away from peace and towards war.

Some verses are very often snipped out of context by mischief-makers to inflame emotions, foster misunderstanding, and perpetuate violence on all sides. In chapter 3 verse 8 the Qur’an calls out people who cherry-pick verses as “perverse”.

(The writer is an author, researcher and development professional)