TOK Link: My Conversation with Ahmed

Fourth Connection to TOK:

Class Where Connection Originated From: Conversation with Ahmed, at Vatican City.

Concept that Will be Connected to TOK: Peace between religions

Explanation of Real Life Situation: This summer, I was fortunate enough to travel to Italy, and I seized this opportunity to visit the centre of the catholic church, Vatican City. I am not very religious, let alone a christian, as a matter of fact, if anything, I am buddhist. With that in mind, I went to Vatican City with the intention to get to know it and be a tourist, rather than to go on some sort of pilgrimage. While exploring the area around St. Peter’s Basilica, I sat down on a bench to rest, and beside me, there was an old man with a large white beard and a black turban. I found that sight interesting, and immediately struck conversation with him. His name was Ahmed and he was originally from Afghanistan.

Star and Crescent Islamic Symbol (source)

However, he was only born there, as his family had emigrated to Ireland when he was very young. He moved around for a while before settling down with his family in Rome, and was taking the day to walk around Vatican City. I asked Ahmed why he was doing so and he told me that he found Vatican City beautiful, and loved to walk around that area on afternoons. Ahmed was a devout sunni Muslim and soon we were talking about religion. He told me very interesting things, the most interesting one perhaps, being that the religions around the world (and especially their followers) should be more accepting of other religions. He told me that he thought it was right to practice your own religion and be devout to it, but respect between religions should be key and acknowledged by all, for in the end, we are all humans.

Vatican City (source)

Connection to TOK: This was one of the most interesting conversations I ever had in my life, and only now, when I look back at it, I can make some connections to TOK. Firstly, I want to connect the conversation about peace between religions to Human Sciences and Religious Knowledge Systems, as this is a religious concept that has been present in the world and in interactions between humans for ages. I can also connect this to Faith as this was a conversation about different religions and beliefs. Other connections to be made are to Emotion, Language, and Imagination, as this is a highly sensitive and emotional topic, that was conserved between me and Ahmed using the english language, while the both of us imagined a future in which all religions coexisted on earth respectfully and peaceful.

Three Knowledge Questions:

1. To what extent can faith actually be used as a way of knowing?
2. In what ways can faith and reason work together as opposing ways of knowing?
3. To what extent can the Religious Knowledge system area of knowledge and the faith and imagination ways of knowing combine for a sensitive conversation on opposing religions?

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