‘Peaceful citizens must visit places of worships to know each other’

LAHORE: Leaders and scholars from different faiths have visited several mosques, churches, an imambargah and a gurdwara in Lahore, and requested all peaceful citizens to enter diverse places of worships to understand, know each other and gain more knowledge.

Under the umbrella of the Living Together Movement (LTM), leaders from Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism visited the Badshahi Mosque, Gurdwara Dera Sahib, a church as well as an imambargah to help prevent and resolve misunderstanding and misinterpretation through dialogue and open-hearted discussions.

Speaking to the participants, Grand Imam of the Badshahi Mosque, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, who also heads the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, said that Islam is a religion of tolerance and mercy. “Islam is a religion of coexistence and not of violence,” he said, adding that Muslims should follow the true Islamic tradition of treatment with people from different religions.

LTM leader Javaid William said that they are working with different communities in Punjab and other provinces to further educate and connect communities in a peaceful manner. “Our mission is to teach understanding that leads to respectful relationships among diverse faiths,” he said.

Other leaders of the LTM, including Dr Mahmood Ghaznavi, Dr Majid Abel, Prof Masood Mujahid, Prof Kalyan Singh, Allama Salman Shakir, Allama Shakeelur Rehman Nasir, Hafiz Samiullah, also shared their messages of peace on the occasion and looked forward to a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan.

They stressed their desire to promote the true messages of all religions and faiths, besides tolerant, open-minded and moderate principles. “We believe that majority of the followers of different faiths understand the right conception about their religions,” they said.

It is pertinent to mention that the members of the LTM, organised in multiple group forums, are peace-driven citizens and leaders, who recognise the same humanity in all and are passionate about bridging the gap between different religions and generations in order to increase respect, acceptance, understanding and harmony.