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Click on a peacemaker on the right to read about how they are making a difference. Photos & text: Margrit Coppé
Before 1997 I had no interest in or idea about interfaith dialogue, though I had been convinced as a young man about the importance of living together in peace and of accepting the other. It was always brimming in my heart. I started to be actively involved when I was given the presidency for interfaith dialogue at Al-Aqsa. This is about discussing common ground – our call to be just, good and loving. Dialogue on its own is not enough. When religious leaders dialogue, ordinary people know nothing about it.
‘When we build schools and hospitals together, then people understand. To non-Muslims who live in a Muslim country, the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said that they have the same rights and the same duties as Muslims, and we must protect those rights. To Muslims in a Non Muslim country like England I say that you should be good citizens in the country where you live. If there is something you cannot accept, you must leave that country. If you have accepted to live there, you must accept the laws of that country too.