Vision
In the face of the growing threat of Jihadi extremism and radicalization of young people, religious leaders have an important role to cultivate the values of tolerance and respect for others. A key issue is the training of the religious leaders themselves. It is imperative to ensure that young religious leaders in Europe in particular become acquainted with the true, untainted precepts of other monotheistic religions and the common values that they share. This is at the core of the interfaith project “Know the Religion of thy neighbor” developed by the Aladdin Project to complement the work done for decades by men and women of good will engaged in interfaith dialogue.
Activity
A committee of experts from the three monotheistic religions, working under the auspices of the highest authorities of their respective religions, has completed a book that presents the founding themes of the three monotheistic religions to be used in seminaries, yeshivas and madrasahs to train young rabbis, priests, pastors and imams.
The book Know the Religion of thy neighbor presents the founding themes of the three monotheistic religions, in order to introduce in the training of young rabbis, priests, pastors and imams, an introduction to the knowledge of the other religions.
The 300-page book is divided in two parts and also includes a preface on the history of interfaith dialogue with a few chronological elements. The first part deals with the fundamentals, the dogma and the history of each of the three monotheistic religions as well as the various churches, branches and denominations within each religion. The second part addresses several themes and their treatment by each of the three religions such as: Transcendence and the sacred (relationship to God, human responsibility, determinism); Morality (social justice, charity, compassion); Ethics and bioethics; Relationship with followers of other faiths and non-believers; Prayers (place, time, and role); Individual and collective rites.
The Interfaith book has been reviewed and approved by members of the High Interfaith Committee, composed of some of the most respected figures of Christianity, Islam and Judaism and co-chaired by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, former Chief Rabbi René-Samuel Sirat, UNESCO Chair holder (Network of mutual knowledge of the religions of the Book) and Dr. Aly El-Samman, President of the International Union for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Education (ADIC).
Authors:
Bishop Claude Dagens, member of the Académie Française
Professor Wallid El-Ansari, Professor Islamic Studies at Xavier University, United States (under the authority of the Mufti of Egypt Dr. Ali Gomaa)
Professor Sayyed Hussein Nasr, expert on Shiite Islam atGeorge Washington University , United States
Mr. René Gutna, Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg
Mr. Alexis Blum, former Chief Rabbi of Neuilly
Mrs MinisterJane Stranz, The Protestant Church of France
Dr Gary Vachicouras (under the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I)