A senior lecturer with the Department of Sharia Law, Bayero University Kano, Dr. Taufiq Abubakar Usaini, has described inter-faith dialogue as a major catalyst for peace building among diverse religious followers.
Speaking to newsmen at a one day inter-faith dialogue in Kano, Tuesday organised by ActonAid in conjunction with Disputes Resolutions and Development Initiative, Usaini stated that both Islam and Christianity preach the gospel of peace, harmony and tranquility among its followers and equally abhor violent extremism.
According to him, for what they were known, followers of the two major religions were strongly obedient to their respective faiths and what their preachers preached to them, affirming that creating and fostering synergy would immensely resolve some intractable issues affecting them.
He however stated that violent extremism has disastrously taken a heavy toll in various communities either on the basis of ethnicity or religion most especially in the absence of positive guidance from clerics who were expected to pay much attention to resolving reconcilable differences for peace and harmony to reign positing that the influence of religious scholars was too important to be ignored.
Speaking in the same vein, a renowned Christian cleric, Rev Murtala Mati Dangora, said the road to a lasting peace could only be feasible in the country if followers of the two major religions begin to respect each other’s faiths devoid of primordial sentiments, stressing that no scripture ever accorded legitimacy to followers of any religion to kill his fellow human beings.
Speaking earlier, the Executive Director, Disputes Resolutions and Development Initiative, Dr. Muhammad Mustapha Yahaya, said the one day sensitisation workshop was convened to remind scholars in various religious fields on the need to re-strategise and brace up to the challenges of preaching the gospel of peace and co-existence among their followers in the face of the prevailing security challenges.