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Title: Why Christian-Muslim 'Dialogue' is not always Dialogical
Author(s): KHAN, Adil Hussain , COWAN, Michael A.
Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue
Volume: 28    Issue: 2   Date: 2018   
Pages: 23-48
DOI: 10.2143/SID.28.2.3285637

Abstract :
This paper questions the usefulness of contemporary Christian-Muslim dialogue by problematizing some of the underlying assumptions that dialogue partners make when they choose to engage in a specific, but altogether common, form of interfaith dialogue. Our critique of Christian-Muslim dialogue is expressed in four impediments which we contend undermine the very notion of dialogue and derail the process before it begins. This line of argument, to a large extent, relies on showing how the engagement of Christians and Muslims in interfaith dialogue is not always mutual, but is often shaped by a power differential that indirectly enables one side to control aspects of the dialogue in a way that effectively predetermines its outcome or defines what counts as dialogue to its advantage. This ensures that the dialogue ends up moving in a particular direction, namely one that reinforces Western liberal values, but ironically fails to produce a genuine dialogue between Muslims and Christians.

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