MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, BERLIN – Despite differing theological concepts, all religions are committed to pursuing goodness. The Quran, for instance, actively encourages Muslims to excel in performing virtuous deeds (fastabiqul khairat).
Muhammadiyah embraces this ethical principle by fostering partnerships and collaborative initiatives with diverse religious and belief communities worldwide. Abdul Mu’ti, the General Secretary of Muhammadiyah, refers to this approach as positive pluralism.
Muhammadiyah has successfully carried out humanitarian missions in the Philippines in collaboration with the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic community. Moreover, in the aftermath of the 2004 Aceh tsunami, Muhammadiyah, in partnership with six non-governmental organizations (NGOs), founded a cross-religious humanitarian forum, the Humanitarian Forum Indonesia.
“The series of natural disasters happening in the country drove people from many different religions to work together because illiteracy and poverty have no religions. It is our responsibility as religious people to work together to help them. I think this experience to put dialogue in action instead of dialogue and statement is more positive to build peace, harmony, and living together peacefully,” said General Secretary of Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu’ti in the Sant’Egidio international forum on “The Art of Living Together in A Shattered World” in Berlin, Germany on Tuesday (September 12).
“Therefore, the thing that we need on the ground is to deepen our understanding of our religions, and we need to develop what we call positive pluralism that enables us to cross the border to go beyond the world of our own private religions,” added Mu’ti.
Regarding humanity and its responsibility to create a prosperous, just, and peaceful world, Abdul Mu’ti thought that positive pluralism has become one of the keys that people from many different religions could work together, and religion could become a uniting factor.
Muhammadiyah recently worked on the ‘Eco-Bhinneka’ program, a program on the environment that invites people from many different faiths to take seriously the issue of climate change and work together on the ground.
“Regardless of our religious differences, we have common teaching and common failures that call us to work together to save the world and to create peace in our earth,” said Mu’ti.
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