Religious Diversity and Peace Ethics

As part of the research and dialogue project funded by the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), the Professorship of Islamic Studies sought cooperation with Pakistani theological schools, thus building a bridge between traditional Islamic teaching there and local Islamic Studies that is unique in this country. The focus was on promoting respect for religious diversity, respect for pluralism and the ability to act in the event of disagreement. Preference was given to the existing potential within the Islamic traditions. In order to make these findings fruitful for the present, traditional contents of faith and symbols were first placed in their historical contexts, in order to then subject them to responsible re-interpretation and translation. In a process of reflection and evaluation, they were critically examined and reapplied.

Due to the new target groups and the academic as well as dialogical orientation of the event the complexity of the Islamic faith contents and practices could be clarified and the stereotypes about Islam and Pakistani theological schools propagated in the media could be counteracted.