Religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue

Tolerance means treating different views, beliefs and ways of life with respect, patience and endurance; it is not compulsory agreement but recognition of the rights of others. On 16 November 1995 UNESCO adopted the “Declaration of Principles on Tolerance”, and that day is marked as the International Day for Tolerance. Historical examples: Abu Rayhan Biruni (973–1048) analysed the teaching of Christianity and the differences among the four Gospels, and according to him the seat of the Metropolitan of Khorasan was in Merv; the textbook cites the interpretation of Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (870–944) in which the destruction of churches and synagogues in Muslim lands is described as forbidden; moreover, communities of Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Jews and Christians lived side by side in Central Asia from ancient times. The family of the Tashkent blacksmith Shoahmad Shomahmudov, who during the Second World War took in about fifteen children of Russian, Ukrainian, Tatar, Jewish, Kazakh and Uzbek nationalities, is recalled as an example of interethnic solidarity. Today more than 130 nationalities and peoples live in Uzbekistan, and Uzbeks form the large majority (over 80 per cent) of the population. The Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations (2021 edition) provides that the state supports peace and harmony among religious confessions. On 12 December 2018 the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution “Enlightenment and Religious Tolerance” on the initiative of Uzbekistan. International examples of interfaith dialogue: the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, the declaration “Nostra aetate” of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, and the “Document on Human Fraternity” signed in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyeb.