thai buddhists-muslims customs in dialogue for peaceful co-existence

Draft only Thai Buddhists-Muslims Customs in Dialogue

Thai Buddhists-Muslims Customs in Dialogue for Peaceful Co-existence in the Southern Thailand By Dr. Veerachart Nimanong1

AbstractThe religiously and culturally or traditionally pluralistic harmony and

tolerance of Buddhists and Muslims in the southern part of Thailand is the necessary condition for the ever lasting peace, for it is based on the mutual respect for the diversity of pluralistic harmony between two religions. Tolerance is the essential condition of harmony in Buddhism as well as in Islam. Tolerance as the essence of sustainable harmony can be conducted through the method of inter-religious dialogue of life. To solve the problem in the Deep South of Thailand, both Thai-Buddhists and Thai-Muslims and Thai-Malay-Muslims, who have been living there in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, for many decades, will have to build their trust through the dialogue of life through traditions or customs based on their religious doctrine of tolerance. Dialogue of life entails dialogue of action, religious doctrine and religious experiences.I. Introduction

My attempt in this paper is to explore the role of dialogue of life in pacifying all types of conflict happening in the world in order to express the spirit of Buddhism in supporting peace throughout the world. My main purpose is to strengthen the relationships between Buddhists and Muslims in the world at large and in the Deep South of Thailand in particular. This paper is not intended to discuss elaborately the details of the conflicts between the Buddhists and Muslims in the deep southernmost provinces of Thailand, but just wants to propose the religious and philosophical solution to the problem. However, to fulfill the objectives of this paper, some necessary information on the nature and structure of the political conflict and violence must be given so that clear connection of the two aspects of religious doctrine and political conflict can be properly understood.

II. Buddhist-Muslim Conflict in the Southern Thailand2.1. Historical Background of the Conflict: As we have already known that

Thailand has been experiencing unprecedented escalation of political unrest in its three Malay-Muslim-dominated provinces, namely Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where 80 percent of the total Thai Muslim population today about 8-10 million (Oknation, 2552) are dwelling amidst the differences of ethnic, lingual, cultural and political factors among them. The incidents of unrest in the Deep South from January 2004 to January 2010 had happened for six full years.

From the database of Deep South Watch, it was found that over the past 73 months, there were a total of 9,446 incidents of unrest, resulting in approximately 4100 deaths and 6,509 injuries. The total casualty of the unrest over the past six years, with the dead and the injured figures combined, was more than 10,609 individuals. If

1Dr. Veerachart Nimanong, Head of Philosophy Department, Graduate School of Philosophy and

Religion, Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand. Tel. (662) 300 4543 Ext. 1325; Fax. (662) 7191521; House Tel. (662) 945 2516 Or Cell Phone: (666) 515 2891 Email: [email protected]; www.veerachart.au.edu This paper is presented in the colloquium on the theme: “Asian Culture in Dialogue”, co-organized by Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion, Assumption University, and FABC, during 11-13 January, 2012 at ABAC, Suwannabhum Campus.

Veerachart Nimanong Email: [email protected], www.veerachart.au.edu

( ) 1

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.veerachart.au.edu/



the family of the deceased and the injured were included as those affected by the mentioned loss, then it is estimated that the number of people who were directly affected by the loss would be approximately 53,045 persons. It is interesting to note that the victims - those who lost their lives as well as those who were injured from the violence in the southern border provinces - consisted of various backgrounds. There were Muslims as well as Buddhists. Among the dead, the Muslims outnumbered the Buddhist, while among the injured, the majority was Buddhists. Statistics showed that 58.95 percents (2,417 individuals) of the deceased were Muslims, while 38.02 percent (1,559 persons) were Buddhists. Among the injured, 59.82 percent (3,894 persons) were Buddhists, while 32.17 percent (2,094 persons) were Muslims, (Srisompob Jitpiromsri, 2011).

Prof. Imtiyaz Yusuf is right in saying thus: “The unrest in Thailand is rooted in historical grievances and the rise of the ideology of Malay ethno-religious nationalism leading to the rise of mass-based insurgency,” (2006, p. 189). Michael K. Jerryson, having some more ideas different from other opinions, wrote thus: “Some southern Thai Buddhists perceive the violence in their villages as a product of the conflict between radical Islam and Thai Buddhism; conversely, many southern Malay Muslims perceive the conflict to be between Malay Islamic separatism and a hegemonic Buddhist State” (Jerryson, 2011, p. 12).

Vanchai Vatanasapt in his research entitled “Citizens Dialogue: The Way Out Of the Southern Thailand Violence”, also agreed with Imtiyaz Yusuf, concluded all aspects of origin and development of the conflict clearly as his writing read thus:

“(1). The issue of conflict in southernmost provinces, Thailand is a chronic problem that several governments have attempted to resolve, but day after day acts of violence still occur. (2). From research done by the King Pradjadhipok Institute, we have summarized the following: the conflict in Southern Thailand stems from the desire of the ethnic Malay-Pattani people to preserve their unique language, religion and culture.(3). There is evidence of, and an expressed desire for separatism, but it is probably not the view of the vast majority of those in the region. (4). The state must understand that Game Theory will probably have a part in creating a united front and trust building measures. (5). The life of every citizen whether Buddhist or Muslim which become the capital cost of the Game Theory needs to be reduced effectively.”

2.2. Conflict Analysis: My observation drawn from the data received from the DeepSouthWatch agency can be put into the following points, viz.

Firstly, the numbers of incidents are decreased interestingly due to the new measure rendered by the government. Instead of using military as before, but now the government using peace dialogue of life and action, which have been resorted to the use in the past from the time of Former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda. Thus, says the deep-south-watcher: “Thailand attributed the success to the "Tai Rom Yen" amnesty programme.”(DeepSouthWatch, 2011a). And this peace dialogue has been kept practicing by the former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva up until the present Prime Minister Yingluck Chinavat(DeepSouthWatch, 2011b).


( ) 2



Secondly, among the dead and injured people, the numbers of ordinary Muslims people outnumbered those of Buddhist monks, Islamic leaders, teachers, policemen and soldiers, that leads to a conclusion that the separatists are trying to kill those Muslims villagers who do not cooperate with them (DeepSouthWatch, 2010). So, majority of Thai Muslims do not want separation from Thailand.

Source: (DeepSouthWatch, 2010)

Seeing the two diagrams as shown above, we can come to conclusion that the conflict in the Deep Southern Thailand is better solved by using the Dialogue of Life through many kinds of customs than any other types of dialogue.

III. Solution through Dialogue of Life or Customs for Peaceful Co-existence3.1. Dialogue of Life: To spend life in daily routine activities of the

followers of all religions is to live in the dialogue of life. Actually, in working together we as followers should not attach too much to the names of ours religions. Caring for the names of one’s one religion is to hold the dogma of his/her religion. Living together without mentioning religious nomination is to hold the commonsense (Pojman, 2001, p. 34). The Buddha says: “Acquaintance is the best relatives.”

Consider the following philosophical story entitled “Dogmatism Impossible”: Three men are engaged in building houses, a carpenter, a roofer, and a bricklayer. They work together happily and with good humor, solve disagreements by commonsense procedures, share their food as well as their profits. Their business is successful. Now one day the subject of religion surfaces. It turns out that the carpenter is a Thai Buddhist, the roofer a Thai Muslim, and the bricklayer a Thai non-religionist. They soon begin quarrelling about the idea of God and what is true religion. The Buddhist says that no Creator God, we, human beings, create our own lives. The Muslims assert the opposite. They agree only on one thing, the bricklayer, non-religionist, is damned and un-virtuous. The bricklayer, non-religionist, argued that both of them are fools and are wasting their energy with superstitious myth of the past. The argument continues, and soon they come to blows. The next days are difficult. They find that they cannot work together in harmony for they no longer see each other as co-worker in a common cause, but as enemies, holding incompatible world views. The joy has gone out of the partnership. It is doomed.

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, the modern thinker of Thai Buddhism, cautions us to not cling too much to mere names of our religions for fear of being an obstacle for mutual understanding, as he puts it thus:

“The ordinary, ignorant worldly person is under the impression that there are many religions and that they are all different to the extent of being hostile and opposed. Thus one considers Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism as incompatible and even bitter enemies. Such is the conception of the common


( ) 3



person who speaks according to the impressions held by common people. If, however, a person has penetrated to the fundamental nature (dhamma) of religion, he will regard all religions as essentially similar. Although he may say there is Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and so on, he will also say that essentially they are all the same. If he should go to a deeper understanding of dhamma until finally he realizes the absolute truth, he would discover that there is no such thing called religion, that there is no Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam.” (Buddhadasa, 1989, p.146)

Clinging to only names of one’s own religion without understanding the truth inside finally and unavoidably leads to religious conflict. According to Buddhadasa, one can be a good Buddhist and a good follower of other religions, such as Islam and Christianity, at the same time. Why did he say so? Donald Swearer in the admiration of Buddhadasa’ pioneering mission of dialogue wrote: “The thought-provoking nature of Buddhadasa’s point of view is suggested by

the titles of his talks—“No Religion” [ไม่�ม่�ศาสนา = Mai Mi Sasana], “A Good

Buddhist Should be a Good Christian” [ชาวพุ�ทธท��ดี�ย่�อม่เป็�นชาวคริ�สต์�ท��ดี� =

Chaw Phut Thi Di Yom Pen Khrit Thi Di] to name only two. Buddhadasa’s purpose was to encourage both Buddhist and Christians to recover the deepest principles of their religions, to delve beyond the other, superficial coverings that hide the true core, and in doing so to discover a common ground. For Buddhadasa this enterprise was nothing less than discovering the truth about the nature of things (saccadhamma) (Swearer, 2004). I further Buddhadasa’s idea thus: A good Buddhist should be a good Muslim.

Certain questions might be asked: Why is the dialogue of life is necessary for the case of conflict in the southern Thailand in spite of the differences in religious belief of the people? Thai Buddhism is known as “Political Buddhism”, so, there exist ideas of Buddhist nationalism and military monks. The Buddha came from the King’s caste in India. Thai Sangha has close relation with royal institution (Jerryson, 2011, p. 57). Dialogue of life is not too much formal practice. Religious Pluralism always starts with commonsense through the simple idea that “to be man is to live and associate with man”. All experts in peace dialogues say thus: “There is a need to foster strong ties that would bind peoples of differences together” (Yusuf and Schmidt, (ed) 2006, p. 71). Phra Paisan Visalo, in his article on “the Bridge for Bridging Brotherhood in the Deep South” said that “the difference in religious belief of people is not the problem, but the problem is mutual understanding between two groups of religious followers. So, the interaction between Thai-Buddhists and Thai-Muslims should be organized to reduce the gap between them. The government and people concerned should arrange activities that both Buddhists and Muslims can meet to exchange their cultures, arts, music, and these should be done from the level of district to the province up to the country (Paisan Visalo Bhikkhu, 2011). Phra Paisan appreciated the former prime minister, Surayuth Culananda’s Thai-Buddhist and Muslim -youth project by bringing them to live their lives together in Bangkok from time to time. Phra Paisan’s opinion corresponds to Vanchai Vatanasapt’s on the point that the majority of Thai-Malay Muslims in the South do not want to separate from Thailand, but they just wanted to have freedom and liberty in protecting and believing their religion. Phra Paisan quoted a researcher who set up 3 questions to survey opinions of both Thai Buddhist and Thai Muslims in the South: (1) Thailand is one


( ) 4



nation that can never be separated, (2) Everyone is equal in the law of nation, and (3) One has the right and liberty to believe in any religion. The result came out that the second choice for both Thai Buddhists and Thai Muslims is on the question: “Everyone is equal in law”. The first choice for Thai Buddhists is on: “Thailand can never be separated”. But the first choice for Muslims is on: “One has full right to follow one own religion”. So, they wanted to stay together in Thailand under the law of nation with one own relgion.

Vanchai Vatanasapt in agreement with Phra Paisan Visalo introduces the solution to the conflict through the method of “Citizens Dialogue” by saying thus:

“The process of deliberative discussion or citizens dialogue in the region creates true participation, gives people an opportunity to look after their own lives and property, and gives the people a chance to have a role in building peace. Most importantly, the state must listen attentively with empathy not sympathy to create trust and repair relationships between the state and the people by revealing the truth. The state must create justice with compassion through both legal means and social justice. There will never be peace unless that peace is founded on justice.” (Vanchai Vanasapt, p. abstract)

It is said that the “Citizens Dialogue”, in other words, called “Dialogue of Social Life” will automatically conjoin with other types of dialogue. When Thai Buddhists and Muslims live together, they then will do activities, learn religious doctrine and exchange religious experiences together.

3.2. Thai Buddhist-Muslims Culture or Traditions in Dialogue: Dialogue of life preoccupied the rest three kinds of dialogue, namely, that of action, doctrine and religious experiences as mentioned earlier. Recently, the District Governor in the Southern provinces organized a well-known custom relationship between Thai Buddhist-Muslims known as “Ashura”, “Azura”, pronounced in Thai as “อาซู�ริอ” . The ashure became the peace dialogue of life in the form of custom participation known as ‘Ashure Dialogue of Life for Thai Buddhist-Muslim’(Thai-Muslim News,

2011)2. According to Islam, sharing Ashure is a symbolic representation of the unity and essential relationship of humans to one another and to their Creator. The making of ashure is a common practice among Muslim and Christian people in the Middle East (Wikipedia, 2011). Chaveewan Vannaprasert explains the objectives of the Azura ceremony in Thailand with 4 points, viz., (1) to commemorate an important day in Islamic history, (2) to encourage the people to cooperate and share with each other in making the zura desert and in distributing it to their neighbors, (3) to promote unity in the society, and (4) to allow people to get together and enjoy themselves (pp. 120-121). The activities participated in by the Thai Buddhists and the Thai Muslims are narrated that when the moth of Maraham arrives, the Azura ceremony is announced among the Thai Muslims. The Thai Buddhists may offer some ingredients or help in the preparation of the Azura desert (Thai: khanom) if they wish or they may simply be

2Ashure (in Turkish: Aşure) or Noah's Pudding is a Turkish dessert that is made of a

mixture consisting of grains, fruits and nuts. It is served during the first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharrem, on the Tenth of Muharrem, or the Day of Ashure. "Ashura" means "tenth" in Arabic. Ashure is a part of the culinary tradition of Turkey as well as many of the surrounding countries, and Christian and Jewish cultures as well as Muslim share similar versions under a variety of names (Wikipedia, 2011).


( ) 5



invited to share the khanom with their Thai Muslim neighbors once it has been prepared. This shared activity creates better social integration between the two religious groups.

Another question might be asked: Why could both Thai Buddhist-Muslims people in the South participate in the customs of each other quite naturally and voluntarily with no any hesitation and religious discrimination at all? Omar Farouk, in his paper entitled "The Muslims of Thailand: A Survey", says that Muslims are inevitably exposed to the pervasive cultural influence of the dominant Thai-Buddhist society (Forbes, 1988, p. 25). Raymond Scupin, in his paper on “Popular Islam in Thailand”, opined that “Muslims in rural Thailand living in a Buddhist surrounding sustain similar supernatural conceptions in common with rural Thai Buddhists. The Muslims in Bang Chan believed in a variety of phi and the conception of khwan (Forbes, 1988, p. 35). Ruth-Inge Heinze, in his article “Socio-Psychological Aspects of the Work of Thai-Muslim Bomohs in Pattani”, wrote thus: “Thai-Buddhists, in general, tolerate a wide rage of different religious behavior. Thai-Muslims, though, do not overtly treat Thai Buddhists as infidels. Thai-Muslims perform merit making activities similar to those of Thai-Buddhists. Similar religious activities ease tension in a multi-religious setting. Thai-Muslims may go to Thai-Buddhist folk healers and spirit doctors (mo khwan) ad vice versa. The level on which Thai-Muslims and Thai-Buddhists meet appears to be indeed the level which is based on the persistent belief in spirits. Thai-Muslims also believe in the various Thai spirits or phi. These included (1) spirits of the dead, (2) spirits who exist of their own account, e.g., nature spirits, and (3) other-worldly spirits who are not seen or heard but whose influence is felt,” (Forbes, 1988, pp. 137, 140). It is said that the Pattani region was a center of diversity and cultural riches termed ‘the plural peninsula’, and was also a cradle of strong Buddhist traditions, known by the legendary of Long Po Thuad, Wat Chang Hai. Buddhist and Muslim cultures have been enriched by extensive interactions and borrowing (McCargo, 2008, p.3). Chaveewan Vannaprasert and her researcher group did a research on the topic “The Traditions Influencing the Social Integration between the Thai Buddhists and the Thai Muslims” (1986) found that there is the close relation between customs and social integration between the two socio-religious groups in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand (Chaveewan Vannaprasert, 1986, p. 199). Chaveewan further found that the more social activities involved in a custom, the better the custom will facilitate social integration. As she summarized:

“(1) Customs which require more social rituals offer more opportunities for people of different religions to participate in them;(2) The more opportunities people are given to participate the greater their social integration will be;(3) The greater the frequency of a custom, the better it will facilitate social integration; (4) Adequate knowledge and understanding of one another’s traditional ceremonies and rites by Thai Buddhists and Thai Muslims will encourage appropriate participation in accordance with religious principles; and (5) appropriate participation in traditions ceremonies and rites will facilitate better social integration.” (Chaveewan Vannaprasert, 1986, p. 199)

The Chaveewan’s research findings mentioned many traditions that both Thai-Muslim and Thai-Buddhist could participate, to mention a few, such as (1) House-


( ) 6



Warming Ceremony, (2) Wedding Ceremony, (3) Thai Buddhist Ordination Rite, (4) Songkran Festival, (5) The Hari Raja Festival, (6) La-Sang Festival and Puyor Bu-nae, (7) The Maolid Day, (8) Funeral Rite, and so on. Some customs are deserved to be mentioned, as for examples of birth (marriage), death and season customs, as follows:

1. The Wedding Ceremony: Joint-participation in such wedding celebrations results in the creation of a better understanding and sense of social obligation between the people of the two faiths.

1.1 The Tradition of the Thai-Buddhist Wedding Ceremony: Thai-Muslims, who are good friends of the newly-weds, often help provide the newly-weds with betel leaves, flowers, milled rice, fruits, and some other items of farm products, etc. used in the wedding ceremony. They’ll help build a new house for the newly-weds. Sometimes, Thai-Muslims will lend the wedding couple their household utensils, appliances, and furnishings to be used in the wedding cerebration.

1.2 The Tradition of Thai-Muslim Wedding Ceremony: Thai Buddhists invited to attend a wedding celebration by participating in the wedding reception. They congratulate the newly-weds and present them with a wedding gift either in kind, in cash or both. Thai Buddhists guests are served a meal provided by the newly-weds. Sometimes, some Thai Buddhists can help serve as bridesmaids or groomsmen or help greet guests on behalf of the bridal couple.

2. Funeral Function participated by the Thai Buddhists and the Thai Muslims in brief: This type of social interaction in times of bereavement strengthens both individual and collective bonds between the two socio-religious groups. It is narrated that as soon as relatives and friends, Thai Buddhists and Thai Muslims, hear the news that there has been a death in a family they will pay a visit of condolence to the family without being invited. Some may offer money as a contribution to help with the funeral expenses. The family will serve meals and beverages to all the guests. Thai Buddhists will attend the body bathing ceremony as well as the other religious ceremonies mentioned earlier including the cremation. However, the Thai Muslims cannot attend any of the religious ceremonies but they may pay a visit to express their sympathy to the family and may offer some money to the family members to help offset the funeral expenses.

Chaveewan Vannaprasert’s further observations are useful to be mentioned here thus:

1. Voluntary Participation: The empirical evidence from her research suggests that participation in all the celebrations by the two socio-religious groups is obviously carried out on a voluntary basis.

2. Friendship: There is friendship at two different levels: the friendship between the village community leaders of the two socio-religious groups and that between the common villagers of these groups.

3. Social obligations and reciprocity existing between the two socio-religious groups: the so called social obligations have developed on the basis of the groups’ proximity to one another, their members’ mutual offers of assistance and the daily transactions and transportation services which they share.


( ) 7



4. The medium of language used to facilitate mutual understanding: They used two languages, namely, mother-tongue in the southern Thai dialect and the Pattani-Malay dialect-Yawi.

5. Common public services: They both share the following public services: rest shelters, public wells, a health center including an obstetrical center, a village newspaper reading room a commune office and village coffee-shops.

6. The degree of social integration achieved in the customs as studied could be summarized as follows:

6.1. The traditions that facilitate the highest degree of social integration include the wedding ceremony, the circumcision rite, the celebration of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, and the Buddhist ordination rite.6.2. The traditions which facilitate a moderate degree of social integration include the Songkran festival, the celebration of Hari Raja, the celebration of Lord Buddha’s return from heaven and the tradition of Forest-Robe Presentation. 6.3. The traditions that facilitate the lowest degree of social integration include the Post-Lent Robe Presentation (kathin), the Azura tradition, the tradition for making merit dedicated to the deceased (ching prêt), the house-warming celebration, the month of Ramadan celebration. These functions are more or less religious oriented matter and are rarely held, so they have been placed in the third category. And in the future, these functions should be given more attention.

7. Chaveewan Vannaprasert finally recommended that the government should encourage the preservation of local arts and cultures of the two religious groups: Thai Buddhist and Thai Muslims, so that each may maintain its own identity of its subculture.

IV. Tolerance as the Basis for Dialogue of Life or Culture4.1. Islamic Tolerance: Muslims preserve ‘tolerance’ through the belief in

God, who gives glory and honor to all human beings. One verse of the Qur’an explicitly says: “Verily we have honored the children of Adam” (QS. 17: 70). So, everyone has the same gift of honor and glory from God, they are equal to each other in terms of being servant of God. The Buddhists understood this idea through the concept of death that they are subject to birth, old age and death. The Qur’an further approves the dissimilarity and diversity within the society as God says: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another” (QS. 49:13). The Qur’an accepts specific views about religious pluralism. In one verse, it says: “For each we have appointed a divine law and a traced out way” (QS. 5: 48). The Islamic tolerance is based on justice as says the Qur’an: “Let not your dislike for a people causes you to deal unjustly. Deal justly, for that is closer to taqwa” (5:8). “When you speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned (4:58), the text further says. So, AbuSulayman remarks: “The Islamic society stands on the foundations of unity and the concept of brotherhood. As such, it focuses on answering the basic needs of the individual and the interests he/she shares with others in terms of the family, the neighborhood, the nation, and humankind in general” (1993, p. 154).

4.2. Buddhist Tolerance: The Tipitaka (M.III.268-9) tells us how to cultivate inner peace through tolerance (khanti) in order to pacify the outer conflict. The story of Punna Bhikkhu deserves mentioning here as a process for cultivating peace through tolerance. The Buddha questions the monk that if a man harms you by


( ) 8



several forms of violence, then what you will do. The monk replies that if he/she scolds me, that is better than he/she beats me, and his/her beating better than killing, his/her killing me better than I kill myself. The text narrated thus: “One upon a time, Punna Bhikkhu approached the Buddha to say farewell with his intention to go and stay with people of Sunaparanta country.

(1) The Buddha: “Punna, if you will be threaten by the Sunaparanta people, who are fierce and rough, what then will you think of that? Punna Bhikkhu: “Venerable sir, they are still excellent in that they did not attack me with the first.” (2) The Buddha: “Punna, suppose they attack you with the stick, what will you think of that?” Punna Bhikkhu: “Venerable sir, they are still excellent in that they did not attack me with the knife.” (3) The Buddha: “Punna, suppose that they do attack you with the knife, what will you do about that?” Punna Bhikkhu: “Venerable sir, they are still excellent in that they did not take my life with a sharp knife.’” (4) The Buddha: “Punna, suppose they do attack you with sharp knife, what will you do about that?” Punna Bhikkhu: “Venerable sir, if they did so, I shall think in the same line that I have been obtaining this weapon, and have been killed even without myself laboring any effort.”The Buddha: “Very Good, Punna, Possessing such self-control and peacefulness, you will be able to live in the Sunaparantapa country.”

The above quotation of Buddhist doctrine can be compared to that of tolerance and peaceful co-existence in Islam, especially when the Qur’an is read thus, “And let not your hatred of a folk who (once) stopped your going to the Inviolable Place of Worship seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah” (QS. 5:2), which signifies the doctrine of tolerance. To understand certain virtues is to use the method of dialogue. Dialogue is fruitful not only for intra-religious dialogue, but also the inter-religious one.

V. ConclusionThe conclusion can be drawn in the way that if we could transcend the brand

names of our religions through the participation of customs among different religions as such, then conformably we can see points of convergences and arrive at a common agenda or praxis that can contribute to authentic transnational civilization geared towards integral development of every person and the whole of creation as aimed by this colloquium.

References:1. Abe, Masao. (1995). Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue. Houndmills:

Macmillan Press Ltd.2. Andrew, D.W. Forbes. (1988). The Muslims of Thailand: Historical and

Cultural Studies.3. AbuSulayman, AbdulHamid A. (2004). Crisis in the Muslim Mind. VA: The

International Institute of Islamic Thought.4. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. (1967). Christianity and Buddhism. Bangkok:

Samakeesarn Press.


( ) 9



5. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.(1967). Christianity and Buddhism. Bangkok: Samakeesarn Press.

6. ____________.(1972). Two Kinds of Language. Bangkok: Sivaporn.7. ____________.(1979). No Religion. Bangkok: Choom Noom Chang Co.,

Ltd.8. Yusuf, Imtiyaz, (Ed.). (2006). Understanding Conflict and Approaching Peace

in Southern Thailand. Bangkok: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.


( ) 10


thai buddhists-muslims customs in dialogue for peaceful co-existence

Documents