GCU seminar: ‘Tolerance needed to reduce conflict’

LAHORE: There is a need for a strong global narrative of peace and love for humanity, Dr Khalid Zaheer, a PhD in Islamic Banking from the University of Wales, UK, said on Wednesday. He was addressing an interactive lecture on Islam, Peace and Pakistan at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore. Dr Zaheer said that Muslims should celebrate the diversity of opinion and interpretation and spend their energies in looking for common ground rather than spoiling for head-on collisions. “We must acknowledge the possibility of error in human judgment and be prepared to readjust our perspective in the light of logical application of the true essence of the Holy Quran and Sunnah in our day-to-day problems,” he said. He said that a healthy debate on major issues should take us away from a violent approach towards them. Dr Zaheer said that in the contemporary world, the message of Islam could only be spread on the basis of love, tolerance and sagacity. Vice Chancellor Hassan Amir Shah said that a new narrative of peace and harmony was needed. “Dr Zaheer’s lecture helped us raise new questions about age-old problems. It is a fresh perspective,” he said. A large number students and faculty members attended the lecture, including Prof Dr Sultan Shah, Prof Dr Iqbal Shahid, Prof Dr Ahmed Adnan and Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th,  2016.