In the line of interreligious dialogue, the international Xaverian Theologate of Manila organized a meeting animated by Mr. Julkipli Wadi, Professor in the Department of Islamic Study Center, at University of the Philippines, (UP Diliman) on March 2, 2019. Since the Topic was 'The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an in Islam', the flow of the presentation focused more on what unites Christians and Muslims. The difference between the Bible and Qur’an were seen as a source of mutual enrichment.
After explaining the historical background of the Holy Qur’an, from the time when the prophet Muhammad received Allah’s (God) revelation, (610 C.E.) which was written down by his scribes, a clarification between the book of Qur’an and Hadith was made. While Qur’an refers to the revelation (words of Allah to the Prophet), the Hadith refers to a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad.
Having both vertical and horizontal dimension, the Qur’an is understood both as a source of man’s understanding of his relationship with God and the social environment and guidance for believers. The believers are not exclusively those who believe in the revelation given to the prophet Muhammad. They are also those who believe in the revelation prior to Muhammad, presented as the one who sealed prophetic time, by receiving the final revelation.
The second part of the presentation was an open forum. Since all the participants were Christians, it was an opportunity to ask various questions to the speaker in order to deepen their understanding about the Qur’an. The participants from Xaverian Theologate and Novitiate Community, as well as some students from Loyola School of theology (Jesuits, Spiritan, and Columban) and parishioners from Saint Francis Xavier Parish, asked questions of clarifications which reflect their interest on the matter. The conference was animated in a positive atmosphere in which the speaker expressed his gratitude of being invited by Christian community to share his faith for mutual understanding. The conference was an introduction to the Qur’an, and there is room to continue deepening the proper interpretation of the Qur’an for the next conference. Join us in this move toward communal understand which lessen prejudices and conflicts for the human fraternity for world peace and living together as brothers and sisters.
