Search Results (22)

While intercultural and interfaith dialogue in education is often framed in terms of tolerance, mutual understanding, active listening, and coexistence, these approaches often remain pedagogically underdeveloped. They do not sufficiently address the interpretive processes through which individuals negotiate meaning across cultural and religious differences. This article explores Ta’wil (تأويل) as a pedagogical hermeneutic for intercultural and interfaith dialogue. Rooted in Arabic Islamic intellectual traditions, Ta’wil is reconceptualized not merely as a method of textual interpretation but as a hermeneutics of return that seeks to recover the underlying purpose, first principle, or Ḥaqiqa that gives coherence to meaning. Through conceptual analysis, the study traces the etymological, philosophical, and Qur’anic foundations of Ta’wil. It draws on classical Muslim scholars, including Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd, as well as the Qur’anic narrative of Moses and Al-Khiḍr. It argues that Ta’wil functions as a dialogical practice that moves beyond literalism by negotiating ambiguity and reconciling competing perspectives. How can Ta’wil be reconceptualized as a pedagogical hermeneutic for intercultural and interfaith dialogue in higher education? The article further situates Ta’wil within broader intercultural and interfaith conversations by identifying its resonance with parallel philosophical and theological traditions concerned with first principles, teleology, and the pursuit of truth. The paper advances a pedagogical model that operationalizes Ta’wil for higher education through three epistemological anchors: textual evidence, contextual teleological coherence, and intended meaning. The article proposes a pedagogical model with learning outcomes, implementation guidelines, and an assessment rubric. It concludes that Ta’wil contributes to a culturally responsible pedagogy through which educational encounters can move from the narrow paths of tension and misunderstanding toward the open terrains of deliberation, negotiated meaning, and deeper forms of understanding. Full article

In recent years, the question of the environment’s future and humanity’s role in it has received considerable critical attention amid global warming. Among the many scholarly works, there appears to be a renewed consensus that fostering indigenous knowledge, practices, and spiritualities could help mitigate ecological crises. However, far too little attention has been paid to the heightened tension among Nigerian Christians that the promotion of these indigenous practices will lead or has led to the re-emergence of paganism instead of the presupposed care of nature. This fear of fostering neo-paganism has constantly hampered the integration of Nigerian indigenous spiritualities and practices to mitigate the recurrence of ecological devastation. This article addresses the question: To what extent can interfaith learning help resolve tensions between Christians and Nigerian Indigenous religious followers and promote environmental sustainability? The article explores the underlying reasons behind the tension between Nigerian Indigenous religious followers and Christians. It further discusses interfaith learning in religious education in Nigerian schools as an approach to mitigate tensions and promote environmental action. Full article

This paper examines the philosophy and practice of interfaith dialogue (IFD) developed by Daisaku Ikeda (1928–2023), a prominent religious leader and peace philosopher. It explores how his dialogical approach can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pathways to global peace. Ikeda’s dialogue is not confined to doctrinal debate or temporary reconciliation among faith communities. Rather, it is framed as a transformative process in which participants from diverse religious and civilizational traditions rebuild relationships through mutual respect and understanding, thereby contributing to personal transformation and broader societal change. Focusing on Ikeda’s core concepts—humanism, the dignity of life, and human revolution—this study first clarifies the philosophical foundations of his interfaith dialogue rooted in Nichiren Buddhism and a life-affirming worldview. It then examines major dialogues with global thinkers and leaders (e.g., Arnold J. Toynbee, Linus Pauling, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Johan Galtung) and selected institutional practices associated with Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP), and the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. These cases illustrate how Ikeda’s IFD functions as praxis for civilizational understanding, social cohesion, conflict transformation, and solidarity for the public good. The paper further analyzes the linkages between Ikeda’s IFD and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), SDG 4 (Quality Education—especially Target 4.7 on Global Citizenship Education), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). It argues that IFD can operate as both a normative and practical resource for mitigating religious conflict, strengthening inclusion, enhancing global citizenship education and education for sustainable development (ESD), and fostering multistakeholder partnerships. The paper also reflects on the challenges of translating an approach grounded in a particular religious tradition into broader SDG governance contexts. Full article

This interdisciplinary study expands the concept of biophilia by integrating a mystical dimension—spiritual biophilia—through an in depth exploration of biophilic themes in the works of modern Jain Ācārya Śrīmad Rājcandra. This paper aims to expand the concept of biophilia by incorporating a mystical aspect—spiritual biophilia—to emphasize the holistic nurturing of both the planet and the human spirit, promoting ecological ethics in the form of understanding a human spiritual connection to nature in contemporary society. By combining insights from ecology, mysticism, and Jain philosophy, this research aims to foster a deeper appreciation of nature’s inherent value and promote ecological ethics. Śrīmad’s writings and mystical insights provide valuable perspectives on how spiritual experiences can deepen connections to ecological preservation, foster interfaith dialogues on global environmental issues, and enrich contemporary environmental humanities through a biophilia lens. His insights support the biophilia hypothesis and its link to mystical experiences from a Jain perspective, potentially encouraging ethical stewardship and environmental care. The paper discusses key principles of biophilia and their significance to environmental ethics, focusing on mutual respect and ethical considerations for all living entities. It explores spiritual biophilia in Śrīmad Rājcandra’s writings and engages with traditional texts from his lineage that align with the biophilia hypothesis, advocating for sustainable living and environmental stewardship. By integrating a Jain perspective, this study seeks to enhance the biophilia hypothesis with spiritual and moral dimensions, promoting a deeper appreciation of nature’s inherent value with broader implications for environmental education, policy, community engagement, and personal commitment to connecting with and preserving the natural world by considering the spiritual dimensions of human-nature relationships. Full article

Cultural and religious diversity has become a defining feature of societies worldwide. Although religious music serves as a powerful medium for fostering intercultural understanding, it remains underexamined in educational research. This systematic review analyzes studies published between 2016 and 2025, identified through comprehensive searches of SCOPUS, Web of Science, and ERIC databases. Eleven peer-reviewed studies meeting thematic criteria were selected for in-depth analysis. Findings revealed persistent challenges in religious music education, including policy ambiguity, teacher identity constraints, and limited resources. The review identifies a shift from traditional knowledge transmission to experiential pedagogies, leading to outcomes such as emotional resonance, intercultural understanding, moral self-regulation, and student agency. It also highlights structural gaps in longitudinal research and a significant underrepresentation of religious music traditions from Eastern Europe and other non-Anglophone regions. A practice–outcome heatmap developed in this study uncovered unexplored links, particularly regarding student agency. Future research should investigate these underexplored pedagogical–outcome pathways and address current geographic and cultural imbalances by incorporating regional traditions—such as Eastern European choral and sacred music—into global academic discourse. Full article

Just as Israel brands itself as a progressive “Start-Up Nation”, Israeli citizens increasingly identify as religious. Religion plays an increasing role in intergroup tensions in Israel. Negative effects of religion and its public representations on intergroup attitudes are well researched, but little is known of its positive effects. We ask whether religion can also play a role in improving intergroup attitudes. This study explores the effects of three different public and media representations of shared identity and tolerance on interreligious prejudice among Israeli Muslim adolescents and young adults. The interventions included an interfaith similarities-based common ingroup identity (focusing on shared aspects of Judaism and Islam), a modern national universalistic approach (focusing on religious tolerance), and a modern academic technological identity (highlighting Israel as a “Start-Up Nation”). Findings indicate that the interfaith similarities-based intervention had the most substantial impact in reducing prejudice, specifically by decreasing stereotypes and increasing willingness for social encounters. In contrast, the national universalistic and technological identity interventions were less effective, and in some cases even increased perceived threat or failed to mitigate stereotypes. These findings highlight the potential for leveraging interfaith commonalities as a foundation for intergroup prejudice reduction. Full article

Cultural and religious diversity in Spain, driven by recent decades of migratory flows, has not been exempt from generating social tensions and, unfortunately, an increasing stigmatization of migrant children. This article examines how power dynamics and exclusion impact the identity construction of these young people, particularly within the child protection system. Through interviews and focus groups with young people and professionals in Barcelona and Melilla, this study highlights the resistance strategies these young individuals employ to counteract stigmatizing narratives. The findings indicate that, despite inclusion policies, imposed labels reinforce their vulnerability and limit their social and community participation. Although interfaith dialogue is proposed as a tool to mitigate these tensions, professionals working with these children emphasize the lack of institutional support and insufficient training in socio-cultural diversity, which hinders their efforts. The study underscores the importance of developing interfaith competencies that foster mutual respect and recognition, concluding with a critique of the current protection system. It advocates for a comprehensive approach to addressing these young people’s emotional, social, and spiritual needs beyond solely legal and educational aspects. Full article

Sōka-gakkai (also known as Soka Gakkai International or SGI) is a new religious movement that originated in Japan in 1930. For more than a half century, the religion was led by its president Daisaku Ikeda, who played a significant role in its growth from 1960 until his death in 2023. Although SGI is one of the largest new religions in the world—it claims to have over 12 million members in 192 countries—there has to date been very limited scholarly attention paid to the religion and Ikeda’s religious thoughts. The latter is particularly important given the fact that Ikeda has written extensively on the applicability and implications of the doctrines of the SGI in many global issues of the day, including peace, education, environment, and interreligious dialogue. Among a wide variety of issues which can be examined, the paper focuses on the following question: What are Ikeda’s religious thoughts, particularly his stance on religious pluralism and interreligious dialogue? In view of this question, this paper examines how his religious ideas are not immersed in any specific religion, but emphasizes the importance of pursuing interreligious dialogue while acknowledging other religions and cultural traditions. This paper also critically assesses whether Ikeda’s call for interfaith dialogue and collaborations with various religious groups is indeed taking place in the SGI’s commitment to fostering a culture of peace and understanding. It is hoped that the examination of Ikeda’s stance on religious pluralism and interreligious dialogue indirectly allows for the exploration of a religion that is largely unknown and misunderstood. Full article

The article, which is written by an interreligious team, provides comprehensive insights into the conception, implementation and accompanying research of a project on Christian–Islamic religious education in team teaching. The aim of the project is to expand the denominational religious education lessons anchored in Austrian schools through religious-cooperative units taught jointly by a Christian and an Islamic teacher. The analysis of the teaching units is carried out in the format of design-based research and thus encompasses numerous aspects of interreligious educational processes, which are examined in this article. Firstly, the design of the project is described and the legal framework associated with it is explained in the context of the Austrian school system. Subsequently, learning requirements on the part of Christian and Muslim pupils are presented, with a particular focus on their preconceptions and attitudes towards religion in general as well as other religions. Special attention is paid to the specific framework conditions of Islamic religious education teachers, which differ in many aspects from those of Catholic religious education teachers. Furthermore, interreligious competences they consider necessary are described. Specific insights into the teaching units and the complementary research provide information about the opportunities and challenges of interreligious education in team teaching by two teachers. After this focus on the teachers, an outline of the students’ perspectives on the teaching units completes the presentation of the research results. In the concluding summary, the local theories developed from the overall project are presented and discussed. Full article

This paper examines a study that aimed to fill in the gap in research about interfaith dialogue and leisure time education in Catalonia (Spain). Combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods, we analyzed the role that interfaith dialogue plays for leisure time educators. The research was carried out between 2021 and 2022 in three phases: one descriptive through an ad hoc questionnaire, a second one comprehensive by exploring educators’ voices in focus groups, and a third one prescriptive to design evidence-based policy recommendations and training frames. The whole research allowed us to state the low status that interfaith dialogue plays within the leisure time education in the research context, as well as the high expectations and positive attitude by educators to improve interfaith dialogue in these educational settings. Further research considering more voices (children, families, administration, religious groups) could be explored in the future to increase the knowledge on the subject. Full article

“Decolonizing the mind” (Ngugi) is an ongoing task, even after 50 years or more of political independence. This is particularly the case with respect to theological education, where norms and structures still faithfully follow the Western pattern laid down in the colonial era. New initiatives in theological curriculum development that authentically connect with African issues and concerns and enable theological institutions to break from the shackles of these are an ongoing need, with developments on the African continent making such initiatives ever more urgent. This paper describes and analyzes the pioneering approach of the Akrofi-Christaller Institute (ACI), an indigenous Ghanaian institution, the background to its emergence and the process of implementation over the course of the past 25 years that has produced a successful, full-orbed and wide-ranging theological curriculum connecting with religious, cultural, social and inter-faith issues; the facilitating factors and the challenges on the journey and lessons that could be learned by other institutions wishing to indigenize their curricula. It is hoped that Kwame Bediako’s thinking on curriculum design for theological education which has shaped the ACI story of curriculum innovation, as well as the story of its implementation and ongoing development, may provide a model for other institutions desirous of breaking free from the colonial mode, in Africa and beyond in the non-Western world, and facing similar issues. After briefly setting ACI in its historical context, the paper goes on to elucidate the overall vision of the Institute that undergirds the curriculum and provides the rationale for its development. It identifies the fundamental pillars on which the curriculum rests and outlines a model for the basic framework of the curriculum. It then goes on to analyze the ways in which such a vision and framework enable a fresh approach to what has hitherto been seen as normative in the theological disciplines, with a view to creating space in the curriculum to address present-day African (and other non-Western) felt needs in mission and ministry. The paper touches on more recent developments to the original curriculum in response to emerging contextual issues and concludes with possible lessons that may be learned from the ACI story. Full article

The historicity of early Islamic diplomatic documents, referred to as the covenants of Prophet Muhammad, has received considerable scholarly attention over the past decade. This article is the first to present a critical examination of the reception of the Prophet’s covenants among interfaith actors. An educative intervention instrument was used to examine how research on the historicity of the Prophet’s covenants influences participants’ thinking about interreligious relations in Islam. With reference to Stuart Hall’s audience reception theory, the study found that most participants adopted the ‘preferred’ reading of the educative intervention material, while minorities adopted ‘negotiated’ or ‘oppositional’ readings. This article discusses these findings, highlighting that participants’ openness to new religious knowledge, prior views on interreligious relations in Islam, and knowledge of primary Islamic sources influence reception of the Prophet’s covenants. Full article

The resurgence of religion worldwide proved that secularization is not a de facto reality of modernity and the initial chaos that came along with the birth of postmodernity evolved into uniquely developing combinations that recognized cosmopolitan, multicultural, and hybrid (i.e., fluid and hyphenated) identities. Universal values became more instrumental than ever to connect members of hyper diverse societies while ethnocentric, nativist and exclusivist patriotism expired (and only recently starting to attract far right and white supremacist groups alone). Most Islamic revivalist movements emerging from this context have had minimal interactions with non-Muslims and influence on mainstream societies. Being in search of a solution to respond to the overwhelming effects of the West on Muslim societies, these revivalist movements could not change (and maybe contributed to) the binary positioning of Islam and the West. On the contrary, the Hizmet movement, inspired by Muhammed Fethullah Gülen and his predecessor Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, appeared in the global arena as an Islamic revivalist movement whose discourse resonated with the commonly shared universal values of every culture, ethnicity, and religion. The Hizmet movement did not position itself as an antithesis to Westernization, secularism, and modernity; the movement adopted a universalist and all-inclusive attitude, which re-introduced to the world that Islam is universal religion with the capacity to accommodate people of diversity and meet the needs of every age. This paper explores the Hizmet movement’s historical, theological, and social roots as a transnational Islamic revivalist movement. It analyzes the movement’s outreach across multicultural societies and its capability to adapt to a changing world through its educational and interfaith and intercultural activities across the globe. While unpacking thirty years of the Hizmet movement’s activities and the contribution to the literature, the paper also addresses some of the criticisms that have emerged regarding the movement and its activities, particularly in the wake of the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey. It should be noted that much criticism toward the movement emerged in recent years, and the movement did not face much backlash in its early years of development. With this in mind, this paper explores the development of the Hizmet movement and how much of its initiatives rapidly left a positive mark on diverse societies around the world. The paper is thus structured chronologically, tracing the birth, growth, stagnation, and transition (or according to some collapse) of the movement. The paper, by extension, too, positions the Hizmet movement within the phenomenon of contemporary Islamic revivalism as this movement is born out of similar conditions as are other Islamic revivalist movements but taking a slightly different direction, which is that it challenges the prevailing binary ‘us and them’ discourses produced mostly in ethno-centric political discourses. Full article

Despite the progress that has been made over the past 60 years, relationships between members of different faith communities can be tenuous. The purpose of this study is to explore how challenging circumstances related to Jewish–Christian relations can be opportunities for spiritual transformation. Using autoethnography, the author reflects upon and interprets her experiences as a Jewish student in Christian higher education through the lens of her spirituality. There are three significant findings: (1) being a Jew who converted from Christianity and had prior interactions with Christian institutions prepared the author to engage with difference; (2) context, openness to dialogue, and empathy can influence the interpretation of interfaith interactions; and (3) spiritual growth can develop through adverse experiences. The results demonstrate that searching for belonging and connection are spiritual practices, illustrate that spiritual meaning can be revealed over time as adverse experiences are contemplated, and suggest opportunities for practicing spiritual leadership. Full article

In a plural society, education has an important role in preparing students to be able to live together with differences, including religious differences. Based on the contact hypothesis theory, various intervention programs have been carried out to overcome religious prejudice. This study aims to explore the concept, form, and impact of the interfaith intervention program in reducing religious prejudice in the context of education. The method used was a scoping review following the PRISMA-ScR protocol. Articles were searched online from the SAGE, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. There were six journal articles in the period 2012–2021 that were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria set. The results of this scoping review synthesized concepts, forms, and impacts, as well as research methods related to interfaith intervention programs to reduce religious prejudice in the education settings. We discussed the implications and directions for further research in research for the design, implementation, and evaluation of intergroup contact-based learning in education settings, especially higher education. Full article