LWF General Secretary Challenges Faith Communities to Reject Islamophobia

Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko

World Religious Leaders Meet at Kazakhstan Summit

Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko (above), general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),has urged the world's religious communities to reject Islamophobia. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held 1-2 July in Astana, Kazakhstan, Noko acknowledged that "unhealed memories caused by ignorance, prejudice, injustice, domination and oppression continue to trouble relations between even some of usin this room."

He noted, however, that each gathering of the Congress brought the religious leaders deeper into relationship with one another and sent a message to the world of the potential of inter religious dialogue and cooperation for peace.

United States President Barack Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, moving away from the language of the "war against terror,"was "a hopeful sign towards the healing of memories," Noko said."I hope that it will be met with openness and affirmation by political and religious leaders of Muslim communities."

But Obama's overture "also challenges other religious communities to reject Islamophobia," he emphasized. "We need to move from speeches to action." Over 400 people in 77 delegations from 35 countries representing all the world’s main religions attended the Congress.

Special guests and representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security andCo-operation in Europe (OSCE) and United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization also participated. DuringNoko's weeklong stay in Kazakhstan, he held talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Opening the summit, Nazarbayev said interfaith dialogue is an important instrument to counter religiously inspired violence,and urged participants to unite to create a non-nuclear world. The Congress addressed the question of moral and spiritual values, world ethics, dialogue and cooperation, and solidarity in times of crisis.

"In today's world, [humankind] is left with no other option but to engage in dialogue and interaction," said Dr Mahdi Mostafavi,leader of the Iranian delegation and chair of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue in Teheran.

"The role of religious leaders in facilitating and expediting such interactions and dialogues is of great significance." The tri-annual Congress is held in the Pyramid of Peace and Accord, designed by British architect Norman Foster in the form of an Egyptian pyramid. Noko told Lutheran World Information (LWI) that the next Congress would be crucial. "Some degree of dialogue and exchange has started, but it is not enough," he said.

"We need next time to have some kind of guidelines on how we talk to each other. Remember these are religious people, with very strong personalities." He believes the Congress must address the question, "What does dialogue mean if the goal is peace?"

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