“The issue of religious faith will be of the same significance to the 21st century as political ideology was to the 20th century”, said Tony Blair at the launch of his faith foundation. I recently saw the relevance of this profound prediction by one of the most experienced politician at a major interfaith conference. This was hosted by both the Saudi King Abdullah and the Spanish king in Madrid. This is very interesting, since these are two most conservative and religious countries. I think the choice of Spain for interfaith conference by Saudi King was very poignant as it reminded the delegates how Christians, Jews and /Muslims lived together peacefully and successfully in the Middle Ages. Earlier this year Prince Ghazi of Jordan sent a letter signed by Muslim leaders to senior Christian leaders. In this he invited them to two things that are common between both faiths: one love of God and secondly love of the neighbour.
In the age of globalisation, it is very important to get people of different faiths to understand each other better. This is the way towards a peaceful and safe world. Here in Nottingham we have a county wide interfaith network that regularly organises events to promote this building of friendship and strong relationship between people of different faiths.
