The BBC recently reported a beautiful act of harmony between religions.

In Punjabi town, Pakistan, Muslim villagers are working together with the Christians to build a church that will replace one that was destroyed by monsoon rains.

According to the article, the locals are aiming to unite and harmonize the relations between the two faiths. In this effort, they have been joining each other’s religious activities. One villager is reported to have even said, “We believe in the same God”.

This all came about when, in 2009, a Muslim in a nearby city began a riot against the Christians. By the end 10 people were dead, and dozens of civilian houses and 4 churches had been set on fire. In order to heal these wounds, the community set out to unite above and beyond their differences in religion.

Religious Harmony Amongst Conflict

Pakistan became an Islamic region due to the conflict between Hinduism and Islam that arose when India became independent of British occupation. In recent years, Pakistan has been supporting the Taliban in the adjacent country of Afghanistan.

In this country of religious conflicts, we can find more examples of effort toward religious harmony.

The Christian news website, Christian Today, reported in April that 200 people of different faiths prayed together for the victims of the suicide bombing in Lahore, North Pakistan.

Seen historically, this coexisting by Muslims and Christians is not that rare. For instance, in the Muslim Ottoman Empire the millet system that had been established allowed for the coexistence of religions such as Judaism and Christianity, offering freedom and autonomy in exchange for taxes.

Islam and Christianity Believe in the Same God

It may be difficult to digest that Islam and Christianity are conflicting – wars in the Middle East and terrorism in Euro-America – all the while actually believing in the same God.

Islam accepts the Christian Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, as holy texts, and they accept Moses and Jesus Christ as prophets.

To go even further, the spiritual truth is that the Islamic Allah and the Christian Father in Heaven are the same existence.

If we take this into account, we can find a way to overcome religious conflicts. The following is a passage from the book “The Laws of Justice” by Master Ryuho Okawa of Happy Science:

Tolerance Through Accepting the Spiritual Truth

In Christianity, Christ is considered the last prophet, and therefore Christians do not accept Mohammad as a prophet.

The spiritual truth, however, is that many different people are born in different times and places to spread the word of God. The difference in doctrine arises out of the particularity of the time and place where it was presented, and that remains to our current age.

Knowing this truth is the starting point in stopping religious conflicts. Contradictions may prevail in the details; but religion is all about teaching the need for tolerance to accept each other’s differences, is it not?