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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Integrating Inter-religious Dialogue with Social Action: A Reflection from the Covid-19 Humanitarian Relief Mission

Arfah Ab. Majid

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i12/11892

Open access

Even though the grassroots may not be actively involved in inter-religious dialogue, their inter-religious engagement is reflected in the social action and humanitarian endeavours especially during the COVID-19 outbreak where multiple religious-based organisations have channelled various types of aid. These social action elements can be integrated in the existing models of inter-religious dialogue. However, to realize this idea, the existing design of inter-religious dialogue need to be examined. This study aims at analysing the dialogue designs and determining whether the existing designs have integrated the cooperation and social action. A collective case study was employed and by using purposive sampling technique, ten organizations that were involved in inter-religious dialogue were selected. Data were obtained via interview and document analysis. The finding reveals that the most salient type of inter-religious dialogue in Malaysia is critical-dialogic education without action planning and alliance building stage. The flaw in the dialogue design might affect the effectiveness of the dialogue program. This study therefore, offers a novel and systematic approach for inter-religious dialogue as it proposes a socio-psychological framework to integrate intellectual discourse and social action. The finding also serves as a basis for the development of more appealing inter-religious dialogue for the grassroots.

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In-Text Citation: (Majid, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Majid, A. A. (2021). Integrating Inter-religious Dialogue with Social Action: A Reflection from the Covid-19 Humanitarian Relief Mission. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(12), 1468–1487.