As we enter the first week of February, the world observes World Interfaith Harmony Week, an annual event that continues to serve as a medium of interfaith dialogue and understanding. Similarly, the first day of February is the celebration of World Hijab Day, which appreciates and upholds Muslim women’s freedom to wear the hijab without fear of discrimination.
With this, the Miriam College Center for Peace Education, Pax Christi MC Higher Education Unit and High School, along with co-organizers: Peace Weavers of Claret School, Pax Christi Pilipinas, the CEAP Justice & Peace Subcommittee, and the LaSallian Justice & Peace Coalition celebrated World Interfaith Harmony Week through an “Interfaith Peacebuilding Forum on Just Peace & Nonviolence in Islam and Christianity” on the 1st of February, 2023.
There were 267 attendees using individual devices and around 70 students who joined in their AV rooms from MC High School and Claret School, and a computer shop in Pikit, Cotabato for Rajah Muda National High School and Balong High School.
The notable guest speakers were Fr. Ed Colmenares of the Society of Jesus, who currently serves as a chaplain in the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service, and Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman (also known as “Ate Honey”), the founder and Chief Peace Mission Keeper of the Teach Peace Build Peace Movement, a non-profit organization that aims to “Make Every Filipino Child and Youth a Peace Hero”.
The first speaker, Fr. Ed Colmenares, highlighted that peace and nonviolence could be found through experiences, scriptures, and teachings. Beginning with the experiences of the community in Bendum, Busdi, Malaybalay City, along with Fr. Pedro Walpole, a Jesuit priest and environmentalist, Fr. Ed emphasized how this community was able to gain a degree of fulfillment in their lives due to their relationships with their families, ancestors, spiritual practices, and notably with their environment. Furthermore, Fr. Ed also mentioned that completeness is what brings us to peace, as the Hebrew word for peace, “Shalom“‘ in the Bible is often referenced as “completeness” or “wholeness”. Moreover, peace can be defined as the absence of war or conflict, but it may also signify that something better has occurred. Therefore, in the scriptures, peace is referred to as either “Shalom”’ or “Eirene”, where Shalom is cited as the wholeness and completeness of several parts or the interdependence and relation rather than dominance. At the same time, Eirene is referenced as the restoration of relationships damaged due to distortion and the notion that Jesus is our peace as He reconciles all things to Himself. Likewise, Fr. Ed shared three documents for understanding the call for peace in church teachings. These documents included “Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth)” released in 1963, “Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope)” released in 1965, and “Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers and Sisters)” released in 2020. For that matter, Fr. Ed reminds us that despite the challenge, we all should strive to advocate for peace and nonviolence while also keeping victims of conflict close to our hearts. Finally, Fr. Ed ended his talk by emphasizing peace as a fruit of reconciliation in humanity, with the creation of God, and with our God, whoever that God may be for us.
“Ate Honey”, as she prefers to be called, shared her experiences about being a daughter from an interfaith marriage and tackled two essential points: how Islam is a religion of just peace and nonviolence and how faith became her inspiration to build bridges between different faiths and cultures. First, she shared that she grew up with a family that sees diversity as a “blessing” and was taught that “every religion should be loved and respected”. Ate Honey also shared that the discrimination she went through in seeking job opportunities and riding taxi cabs became her learning opportunity to share about her religion and listen to other people’s thoughts and feelings towards Islam. Second, she presents teachings of Islam such as: “Allah does not love farsad (violence)”; Nonviolence is deeply rooted in the Qur’an; Islam is derived from the word Salam, which means peace: Islam is against any form of injustice and violence: and Islam emphasizing collective efforts for community development and progress. Lastly, having experienced being the only Muslim in her batch back in a Catholic college made her realize the importance of becoming a bridge to different cultures, ethnolinguistic groups, and religions toward a culture of peace. Before closing her sharing, she recommends these four action starters: (1) get to know other religions and cultures, (2) create spaces for Intrafaith, Interfaith, and Intercultural Dialogues, (3) start conversations by sharing what you have learned to others, and (4) strengthen “Pakikipagkapwa” with others in Social Media.
