Humanity Before Religiosity: Forging a Harmonious Society

The lecture entitled “Humanity Before Religiosity: Forging a Future for a Harmonious Society” by the renowned Islamic scholar Habib Ali al-Jifri, aims to expound on the critical need to prioritise our shared humanity among faith communities in building a future marked by harmony and cohesion in a pluralistic society like Singapore.

In 2017, Habib Ali al-Jifri delivered a series of talks in a TV series, over 29 episodes’, which aired through various Arab channels. Among his messages were,

“If a person is deficient in his humanity, when he becomes religious, this deficiency and heartlessness will affect his religiosity. They act in an offensive manner or don’t give people their rights. That is why we see religious people who pray, fast… yet it is easy for them to kill an innocent human being, or for them to accept the idea. Humanity is the vessel of a person’s religiosity. One may perform the rituals of religiosity but may not possess the true vessel for religiosity-humanity”. In the episodes, Habib Ali discussed numerous topics – concept of humanity, ethics and values, moral character, human rights, Islamic law, jihad, relationship with God, love and compassion, citizenship, relations with non-Muslims, religious diversity, and others.