Theological Foundations for Interfaith Dialogue in Islam

According to Qur’an, the difference of opinion among peoples of the world is natural and something that will always be there. However, in order to stop the difference from becoming a conflict, people should hold dialogue. The significance of dialogue in Islam is well understood by the fact that God chose to hold dialogue with angels concerning the creation of man. Furthermore, the Qur’an declares dialogue the greater jihad and arrangement of a successful dialogue is considered as a manifest victory In order to arrange a successful dialogue, Qur’an lays out a number of principles: 1- Dialogue should be held in such a nice way that it may lead the opponent to get a close friend. For this it is necessary to speak mildly and the dialogue must be based on wisdom and sincerity. 2- Dialogue should rest on the principle of mutual respect and should not contain any kind of abusive and taunting language. 3- Dialogue must not override the principle of justice and equality and must not be affected by the past experiences or personal grievances towards the opponent. 4- Dialogue should not address the issue of pulling everyone together, e.g. The opponent (for example a nation) should not be blamed for the evil deeds of few. 5- Dialogue should be held with an attitude that is characterized by patience and tolerance and efforts must be made to keep the vicious elements out from harming the process. 6- Both parties should openly acknowledge and recognize the mutually positive attributes. 7- Imposing one’s opinions upon the opponent must not be the objective of dialogue. 8- Both parties should, despite the inherent difference of opinion, pursue to find practical solutions by striving towards finding a common ground.

Separation of Powers and its Impacts on Peoples Empowerment a Case Study of Pakistan 2007-2013

Since 2007, the judiciary in Pakistan has gone from the traditional state of passive institution for enhancing the interests of the executive to an independent institution. It has started asserting its power and role as a genuine enforcer of the law for the interests of the general public. Its role as an arbitrator in the various disputes over sharing of powers between the branches of the government is considered applaudable by many sections of the society. Similarly, Parliament introduced significant reforms to set the tradition of consolidating the democracy and good governance in the country. Positively, the devolution of authority to the provincial governments, reduction in the discretionary power of the president, restoring the parliamentary character and enhancing the oversight on judicial appointments have bolster the power of the legislature in the country. The purpose of this study is to trace how these changes took place and their impact on the citizens of Pakistan. I have examined the consequences of more vibrant and active judiciary on the principle ‘separation of powers in the perspective of people empowerment’ analyzing the case of Pakistan. The ways and manners in which the separation of powers has taken place are tried to comprehensively analyze. The thesis draws mostly upon the declassified official data since 1947 to onwards. It tries to describe the dominant role of the executive over the other branches of the government. Efforts have been made to highlight the reasons behind the lack of construction relationships among the three institutions. So the main concern of this study is whether or not separation of powers is a way to empower the people in the political system of Pakistan. For this, the arguments presented in the study are: first, the lack of liberty and empowerment is not due to the absence of separation of powers in the political system of Pakistan, but it is because of overall centralized settings. Second, the separation of powers is not the ultimate solution for the lack of empowerment of the people. This finding is based on these observations: (1) the principle, separation of powers has been missing in Pakistan for the long time. (2) v Prolonged and repeatedly undemocratic rules (authoritarian regimes) in Pakistan have made the parliament and courts more submissive than an independent institutions (3) Democracy has just completed its five year term. Conversely, the dissertation explores the underlying relationship of empowerment with the democracy. Third, the people of Pakistan demonstrated more support for democracy. Their participation in elections indicates the trust of people in democratization. The increasing trend of political pluralism has enabled the legislature to exercise effective checks and balances on the executive branch of the government. We cannot say that separation of powers as a principle to empower the people is irrelevant. In addition to this, the study argues that Pakistan needs more stable and viable democratic system.