SOME 70 Muslim imams and Christian pastors met for a Hari Raya dinner at a hotel in Penang yesterday.

They sat, ate, talked, joked, laughed and took a quiz on Islam and Christianity. Some also made new friends at the event organised by the Global Unity Network (Unity), Christians for Peace and Harmony Malaysia (CPHM) and Islamic Propagation Society International (IPSI).

It was the first time the organisers held such a gathering outside Kuala Lumpur, where Unity and CPHM are based.

The point of it all was get the imams and pastors to know each other – a step towards correcting misconceptions and prejudices between Muslims and non-Muslims, said Unity president Shah Kirit Kakulal Govindji.

He said there was no secret that the different communities spoke negative and nasty things against each other’s religions, especially on social media platforms where bad news spread faster than good news.

“People want to be popular and get many likes, shares, and views. The easy way to achieve that is to post something stupid and sensational online. But does that make the person a good Muslim or Christian? 

“We also assume religious leaders are generally okay, but some have negative thinking, misconceptions and prejudices against other people’s religions. Some imams get apprehensive when you tell them to attend an event with Christian priests. Some priests feel the same, too,” he said.

Shah Kirit said when Muslims and non-Muslims thought badly of each other, it was dangerous.

“When you put them together, they will realise the other person is just as human. Their positive experience from the engagements will help them make a difference in correcting the misconceptions and prejudices in their respective communities.

“If Shah Kirit talks, not many Muslims will listen. But when imams talk, many will listen,” he said.

Earlier, Shah Kirit told the guests there would always be conflict but better mutual understanding would help control the tension.

“All religions teach us to do good. We share many similarities in that way, even though we have doctrinal differences. We should work on our similarities and agree to disagree respectfully.”

Apart from holding such events, Unity also provides training for people interested to learn the basics of Islam and other religions, giving them classes and taking them to visit houses of worship to better understand and not misrepresent other religions.

“The visits allow them to compare what Unity teaches them and how the other religions are in a real setting. Our training programme is successful, having taught thousands so far. 

“People are hearing about it through word of mouth,” said Shah Kirit, who had also given courses on Islam to Christian priests.

“I was once invited to give a course at the Catholic seminary in Penang. I slept in the seminary and ate with the priests.”

CPHM president Rev Wong Kim Kong, who was also present, said his organisation worked on both huge national events launched by the prime minister, and small grassroots events like last night’s to promote peace and harmony.

“It was intentional to keep this gathering small so everyone could engage in a dialogue. We all need to start small with something new, to create a spark that can be infectious.

“Peace and harmony is not something we can achieve alone. We are only the catalyst that sparks the consciousness.”

Wong said he hoped the imams and pastors would leave with a sense of mutual co-existence within the community, religious and racial acceptance of each other, recognising the distinctiveness of their beliefs.

“In world religions, only Christians and Muslims propagate. While we share our religions, we must respect each other’s conviction.

“We cannot stop each other from practising our religions. As a good Christian, I must continue to share the good news. 

“But we can strengthen our common values instead of focusing on our differences.”

Among the crowd last night were a few representatives from Penang PAS Youth, including its exco member Mohammad Zabidi, who praised the event.

“I hope we can also have politicians participate in such events,” he said, adding that he was aware of the public’s perception of his party.

“People may think that we are very political, but politics is just a small part of what PAS does because most of the time we are involved in charity work and spreading Islam and peace. Recently, we were at St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam for a programme,” he said. 

The dinner ended with a pop quiz where Muslims answered questions on Christianity and Christians on Islam. The participants laughed throughout most of the quiz, especially when someone asked out loud if the winners were checking Google for answers. – July 10, 2017.