Fr Terry Tastard’s plea for Christian-Muslim dialogue not to shy away from highlighting Christian suffering under Islam is one which we take seriously in Wolverhampton (Letters, 27 November).
In his speech on the occasion of the celebration of our 40th anniversary last week, at which we were honoured to have the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as our guests, our Chairman, Dr Harun Rashid, stressed that "Violence is totally and utterly condemned by all major faiths. Islam, my own religion, in the Holy Quran says ‘Killing one innocent person is killing the whole of humanity’. Violence can never bring about peace and therefore it must stop and the world must change. In our view interfaith and inter religious dialogue is the only way to bring about peace and harmony in the world."
Over this week-end, in response to the brutal murders undertaken by IS, a banner entitled "Wolverhampton Faiths: together we can conquer hatred" is being welcomed by leaders of places of worship from different faiths, including three separate mosques, before it is presented to the Mayor of Wolverhampton, a Catholic, in the centre of Wolverhampton.
Real dialogue between Christians and Muslims will only take place where leaders from both communities trust and respect one another. Dr Rashid was one of our founder members. It would be disingenuous to assert that the Christian and Muslim mainstream are fully involved, but we feel we have made a good start, with firm foundations for further progress.
Erik Pearse, secretary, Interfaith Wolverhampton
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