SMU hosted Dr. Jill Carroll, from Rice University’s Religious Studies Department, this Thursday. Carroll, an expert on interfaith dialogue, gave a short talk titled “Islam and Religious Tolerance.” Speaking to an audience that included faculty, students and guests, Carroll said that she searches for “resources for tolerance” within the religions of the world.
Carroll seeks to understand each religion in relation to other world religions She studies how various faiths overlap and have “analogous history.” She explained that there is something to be said for looking at religious traditions from both the insider and the outsider perspectives.
“I am a scholar, but I am not a specialist in Islam,” Carroll said. “I am an outsider.”
To find what she calls “resources for peace and tolerance” within Islam, Carroll examined the name of the religion. “Islam,” when traced back to its root words, means “surrender,” “submission” and “peace.” The word “Muslim” means “one who has submitted to God.”
“There is a lot that can be done with these words,” Carroll said, explaining how some people perceive the words “Islam” and “Muslim” to be somehow threatening. “Ever since 9/11, everyone is fixated on Islam, worried about Islam,” Carroll said.
The silver lining, according to Carroll, is that people are now seeking to educate themselves about Islam and the Muslim world.
Another “resource for peace” is the example of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed, said Carroll.
“One special thing about Islam is that we get the founder for a long time,” compared to Christianity’s Jesus, who was only alive for three years after his baptism, she said. Mohammed’s life is documented from his infancy, Carroll pointed out. She explained that he is portrayed as a man of great piety, graciousness and kindness who forgave instead of treating others harshly.
Carroll sees the Quran as yet another “resource” in the search for interfaith peace.
“There are hundreds of verses here about tolerance,” she said. “The whole tone is concerned with fairness and justice.”
Even though Islam, like Christianity, is an evangelistic religion, most Muslims believe that “if there is any kind of religious practice that is coerced, it is not authentic,” and therefore should not be practiced, said Carroll.
The history of the Islamic faith and of Islamic societies is an important tool when working towards religious tolerance, according to Carroll.
“Islam is not just a religion,” Carroll said. “It is a whole way of viewing society. Islamic dynasties, countries and Islam in general are inherently tolerant.”
One example Carroll brought up is the Islamic Ottoman Empire, where many Jews fled after being exiled from Spain under King Ferdinand.
Carroll told her audience that the real meaning of tolerance is that “in believing what we believe, we can acknowledge that other people can believe what they believe.”
After speaking, Carroll entertained questions from the audience. When asked what she thought about France’s policy against women wearing head scarves, Carroll said that “France’s secularism is not a policy of tolerance.”
She concluded by saying that while our secular government’s goal is to protect the right of religious people to practice their religion, France’s goal was to protect their citizens from religious fanaticism.
In addition to writing a monthly advice column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Carroll is the president and founder of Religiosities, Inc., an organization committed to facilitating understanding and peace among the people of the world’s religions. She also serves as the assistant director of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religion and Tolerance at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she is currently a lecturer in humanities and religious studies.
