Wisdom from different traditions

WHILE it is a Christian church which has played a catalytic role in its development, the Festival of Spirituality and Peace 2012 is a platform for serious exchange and listening between and across belief traditions.

Contributions to the launch event of Sunday 5th August included music, reflection and prayer from people of Jewish, Baha'i, Doaist, Muslim, Christian and secular backgrounds.

"Prejudice is the same whatever its clothing," one participant observed. The aim of the rich mix of conversation, music, culture, workshops, food and hospitality that constitutes the Festival is all about combating division in human communities and promoting collaboration. (Picture: Daniel Cainer, Jewish Chronicles).

Examining the Arab revolutions

AS IMAGES of the fast-changing situations in Libya and Syria continue to flash across our television and computer screens, what is going on undereath the surface?  

Moreover, what is the 'Arab Spring' all about?  Can largely non-violent revolt succeed in the face of armed dictatorship?

These and other urgent questions will be explored in major sessions at the 2011 Festival of Spirituality and Peace in Edinburgh this weekend. Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf from New York is among the prominent speakers taking part. The full Festival programme is here.

Sowing and reaping after 9/11

SAMUEL Huntingdon postulated in 1992 that we were facing a 'clash of civilizations' between 'the West' and Islam. 

Many contested that analysis but than worried that with 9/11 and the 'War on Terror' the prophecy was coming true. But with the killing of Osama Bin Laden the democratic Arab revolutions, can we now be more hopeful about the future? Here Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, journalist and author, is in conversation with David Pratt, foreign editor of the Sunday Herald.

Islam is not monolithic, says Alibhai Brown

THE idea that Islam is monolithic, violent and universally opposed to democratic values is a simplistic but persuasive notion that suits hardliners, including al-Qaeda sympthisers and the neo-conservative right, says journalist and author Yasmin Alibhai Brown.

Ms Alibhai Brown was in conversation with David Pratt, foreign editor of the Sunday Herald newspaper, at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace this morning.

Rehearsing the contours of a complex and variegated history of Islam over the centuries, Ms Alibhai Brown said that the contribution of Muslims to modern society was often overlooked. For example, many top IVF doctors in Britain are Arabs, she pointed out.

Full report here.