This is a paper presented by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan in an inte rfaith programme.

I am grateful to the organizers of this meeting for giving me this opportunity to participate in this important religious gathering and to share my views with this learned audience. The theme of this meeting is ‘Togetherness’. It is indeed a very beautiful theme.

I would like to begin with an incident very relevant to the present theme. Once I visited Rishikesh. My host was Swami Chidanandji. He had arranged for my stay in a room on the upper floor of his Ashram. It was situated on the bank of the river Ganges. At night I went out of my room on to the balcony. It was facing the Ganges. In this calm and quiet atmosphere, there were various scenes of nature all around me—river, trees, mountains, moon, stars, etc. It was a world full of differences. But at the same time, there was complete harmony between the diverse parts of this world. It was a perfect picture of what we may call unity in diversity. I could only hear the sound of the continuous flowing of the water in the Ganges. It was like a sweet song of nature. I felt as if the Ganges was conveying a message on behalf of the whole world around it.

Man is required to follow the same religion which has been established by God in the universe. Thus, living together with peace and harmony is the only religion for both man and the universe.

When I paid heed to the sound of the Ganges water, I felt that it was conveying this universal message: Blessed are those who live together in peace and harmony. This unworded message of nature has been recorded in the Quran in these words: “Do they seek a religion other than the religion of God, when everything in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or unwillingly?” (3:83)

This means man is required to follow the same religion which has been established by God in the universe. In other words, living together with peace and harmony is the only religion for both man and the universe.

There are numerous stars and planets in the vast space. All are continuously in motion, but there is no clash between them. This provides an exemplary scene of togetherness and harmony. There are so many rivers flowing on the surface of the earth but there is no clash between them. There are so many trees on our beautiful planet earth but they live in complete harmony. Even the animals of the forest are following the same culture of peace. No fighting like that of the first or second world war ever takes place in the animal world. Now I would like to add some relevant references on this subject from the Islamic scriptures. God has declared in the Quran: Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes, so that you might come to know each other. (49:13)

In the words of the Quran, this means all men and women of the world are blood brothers and blood sisters. The entire human race has a common ancestor. So according to Islam, universal brotherhood is not just a theoretical idea, but a biological and historical fact.

According to a saying of the Prophet of Islam, a Muslim is one from whose hands and tongue people are safe. This means human society should be one of peaceful coexistence.

The only difference between man and the universe is that what the rest of the world is following under compulsion, man has to follow by his own choice.

The Prophet of Islam once saw a funeral procession passing through a street in Madinah. He was seated at that time. On seeing the funeral, he stood up in respect. At this, one of his Companions said: “O Prophet! It was the funeral of a Jew, not a Muslim. The Prophet replied. ‘Was he not a human being?”

There may be differences between people as regards religion and culture. Yet there is a common element among people, and that is they are humans. According to the teaching of Islam, everyone should be accorded equal status as a human being, even if differences exist between them. The Prophet of Islam used to rise early in the morning and say in his morning prayer: “O God, I bear witness that all human beings are sisters and brothers to each other.”

The entire human race is destined to live together as one family. Togetherness is the culture of the universe of which we are but a tiny part. Togetherness is the only base for a better human society.

Man is a social being. He cannot live without a society. His very nature requires a peaceful society where he may live with others in peace and harmony. Man is a part of the universe. He is a part of the vast cosmos. So man must adopt a code of ethics which is universal. This is the will of God who has created all of us.

The only difference between man and the universe is that what the rest of the world is following under compulsion, man has to follow by his own choice. Herein lies the greatness of man. Herein lies the key to success for all kinds of progress and development.