Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Personal motives are the biggest cause of religious closed-mindedness. God denounced this in many of his verses in the Qur’ān, Tantawī writes.

 

It is naïve to think that those who isolate themselves and their followers within their own religious thought are doing so in the interests of the religion itself. There are obviously other interests in mind. These could be financial or related to a desire for stardom or authority.

 

The tragedy is that this religious closed-mindedness, whose poison is spewed out by the religious media, is the real source of all the political, economic, cultural, and intellectual stagnation that our Arab people are currently suffering from, according to Tantawī. "Every political party, ethnic or religious group … is closed in on itself within a political, economic, or cultural viewpoint that has been colored with a sanctity that resembles religious sanctity."

 

There is no difference between religious groups and sects closed in on themselves and political, partisan, national, and intellectual currents that behave in the same way, Tantawī says.

 

"If we want solutions … to all our societies' problems we have to cleanse and purify our religious beliefs and media from the culture of being restricted to one specific idea or understanding …" the author says.

 

Personal conviction regarding any religious or non-religious ideas is an undeniable right, but only when we are talking about personal commitment to an idea. But when we are dealing with peoples' lives and destinies then we have to be open to all ideas and possibilities, Tantawī concludes.