There is a kind of tribalism in us all which can make us feel uneasy, even threatened at times by difference. But our prejudices often tell us more about ourselves than we would like to admit. When the Quran says "we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may get to know one another," the verse reads like a divine blessing in our lives but getting to know one another demands hard work, patience and most of all a generous heart.A sense of confidence and conviction in who you are is a good thing but we must always remain open to the elements of surprise and shock in our lives, those events which jolt us out of our complacency and encourage us to rethink the faith, the identities and values we thought defined us. I was recently speaking to a German theologian who told me that his daughter, a church-going protestant, was marrying a Hindu and that although he had found the concept of a mixed faith marriage difficult at the beginning he had accepted it for his daughter's happiness. I found his honesty moving but also slightly troubling. I thought if faced with a similar situation as a Muslim, how would I react. Perhaps not as generously as him and right now in my life I am wondering why not?
"我们多少都有种部落归属感，我们会因为各自的不同而心怀忐忑，有时甚至于战战兢兢。我们的成见比我们愿意承认的更能体现出真实的自己。《可兰经》中说 “我们将你们融入国家或部落，是为了让你们能互相了解。” 这句话读起来像是对我们生命的美好企盼，但要认识了解一个人需要付出很多努力，要耐心细致，胸怀宽广。对自己的角色定位有信心并坚定不移是件好事，但是对生活中出现的各种出其不意我们要有个宽容的态度，尽管这些出其不意会让我们惊慌失措并刺激我们重新思考那些将我们定位的信仰，身份和价值观。最近，一位德国的神学家告诉我，他那经常上教堂的新教徒女儿要嫁给印度教徒了，他一开始很难接受这件跨宗教的婚姻，但考虑到女儿的终身幸福，他最后还是接受了。我能感受到他的真诚及轻微的烦恼。我想作为一名穆斯林，如果处于相同境地，我会怎么办？可能不会如他这般宽容，但是在现今这种情况下，我想不出为什么不能这么宽容。
