Riphah holds dialogue under ‘Mashal-e-Rah’

Islamabad

Renaissance by Social Innovation launched series of ‘Mashal-e-Rah’ events to engage youth with alternative narrative to extremist ideology. In this regard, a dialogue was conducted in collaboration with six universities across Pakistan. Recently, Riphah International University, Islamabad, collaborated for a dialogue session where Dr. Khalid Zaheer (Renowned Islamic scholar) was invited as a panelist.

‘Mashal-e-Rah’ was arranged in the form of questions and answers sessions to challenge the orthodox and ultra-orthodox mindsets. Students of different departments of Riphah International University took part in it actively.

Dr. Khalid Zaheer introduced ‘Mashal-e-Rah’ to audience and said, “I unintentionally bumped into ‘Mashal-e-Rah’ and was impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of youngsters like Ayub and Sidra who are doing efforts for making our society a more peaceful and tolerant place to live in. They introduced me to ‘Mashal-e-Rah’, the banner under which they were doing their noble task, and since then I am a part of it, one way or the other,” he said. “‘Mashal-e-Rah’ invites the youth to make their lives more meaningful by joining hands in eradicating curses of illiteracy, dogma, intolerance, and extremism. The message of ‘Mashal-e-Rah’ resonates with the basic spirit of the message of Islam. I have therefore found myself motivated to work for it,” he said.

Dr. Khalid said that we have visited a number of universities, talking to students and responding to their questions on religious issues that have a direct impact on the way our society functions. We are undertaking this effort because we are convinced that it is extremely important that we provide our youth with alternative views on religious issues so that they come out of the problem of extremism and bigotry and form balanced opinions. Interacting with others, whether they share your religious views or not, helps in broadening your outlook and in being more accommodating towards others. It goes without saying that our society is riddled with many economic, social, and religious problems which in many cases are interrelated. No matter what is the solution to the individual problems, there is a common prerequisite for overcoming all our issues: An attitude of mutual understanding and accommodation in our people.

Dr. Zaheer responded to a question about role of state and religion as “state needs to take control of religious institutions to eliminate the menace of sectarian violence and radicalisation. It was a tailored dialogue with audience which was moderated by Sidra Rafique (Scholar in Religious Philosophy and Vice President Renaissance by Social Innovation, Pakistan). Panelist emphasised that Sectarianism has several causes, some of the more prominent of which are mentioned in the Quran. The main reason seems to be extreme attachment to religious personalities. Such individuals are revered to such an extent that whatever they believed in, whatever they said or did, is often considered to be the final word.

Social activist M Ayub Ayubi, Chairperson Renaissance Foundation for Social Innovation, was established in 2011 while talking to ‘The News’ said that with the help and tireless efforts of RESIP’s diverse team, we had been able to conduct several tailored dialogues which have helped us in spreading our cause right in the manner desired and also helped in gaining a sizable number of youth activist as our volunteer. Out of many, the most responsive workshops included ‘Democracy& Islam,’ ‘Violence and Gender Equity,’ ‘Self-Inquiry Who am I’ and ‘Unleashing Human Potential.’ The trainers from specialised background, relevant to the theme selected, were invited to assist the programme by their knowledge. Continuing the series of our serving journey, RESIP have covered several universities with building network by arranging orientation for desiring need for real and lasting peace.