Kindness, respect and tolerance

The UAE is home to people of more than 200 nationalities. Living well together depends on everyday kindness, respect for difference and the confidence to disagree without contempt.

Kindness: small acts, real effects

• The Mental Health Foundation describes kindness as acts towards yourself and others motivated by a genuine desire to make a positive difference.
• It says kindness is an antidote to isolation, can reduce stress and can deepen friendships.
• The NHS lists giving to others as one of its 5 steps to mental wellbeing, because it can create positive feelings, a sense of purpose and self-worth, and connection with others.
• NHS examples include thanking someone, checking in on a friend and really listening to the answer, spending time with someone who needs company, and volunteering.
• Kindness to yourself counts too: the Mental Health Foundation notes it can protect against shame and support self-esteem.

Respect and the Golden Rule

• Some version of the 'Golden Rule', treat others as you would want to be treated, appears in almost every ethical tradition, according to philosopher Simon Blackburn.
• Islam: 'None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself' (An-Nawawi's Forty Hadith, number 13).
• Judaism: Hillel taught, 'What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow' (Talmud, Shabbat 31a). Christianity: 'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Matthew 7:12).
• Confucianism: 'What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others' (Analects 15.24). Similar teachings appear in Hinduism, Buddhism and secular philosophy.
• Respect in practice: use people's correct names and pronounce them properly, do not mock accents, food, dress or faith, and ask questions out of curiosity rather than judgement.

What tolerance means

• UNESCO's 1995 Declaration of Principles on Tolerance describes tolerance as respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures.
• The UN marks 16 November each year as the International Day for Tolerance.
• Tolerance does not mean you must agree with everyone or give up your own beliefs. It means treating people with dignity even when you hold different views.
• It also does not mean accepting cruelty. You can respect a person while firmly rejecting bullying, hate speech or harm.

Tolerance in the UAE

• The UAE created a Minister of State for Tolerance post in 2016, and in July 2020 the ministry became the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence (u.ae).
• The National Tolerance Programme was also launched in 2016, and Federal Decree Law No. 2 of 2015 addresses combating discrimination and hatred (UAE Cabinet).
• 2019 was declared the Year of Tolerance. Its five pillars included teaching young people the values of tolerance and coexistence, and cross-cultural dialogue.
• Everyday symbols include the Tolerance Bridge over the Dubai Canal, named in November 2017, and the renaming of a mosque in Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, as 'Mariam, Umm Eisa' (Mary, mother of Jesus).

The Document on Human Fraternity

• On 4 February 2019, in Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.
• It calls for spreading 'the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace' and states that each individual enjoys freedom of belief, thought and expression.
• It calls on everyone to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism.
• In December 2020 the UN General Assembly adopted, by consensus, a UAE-backed resolution proclaiming 4 February the International Day of Human Fraternity, observed every year from 2021 (UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Disagreeing respectfully

• Attack ideas, not people: 'I see it differently' instead of 'That is stupid.'
• Ask before you assume: 'What does that tradition mean to you?' is respectful; guessing and joking is not.
• In group chats, do not forward jokes that target a nationality, religion or disability, even if you did not write them.
• If you get something wrong about someone's culture, apologise simply and learn from it. That is respect in action.