Exploring Tolerance and Coexistence Through Language

This study examined how international students and faculty at Mohamed Bin Zayed University for Humanities (MBZUH) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) interpret tolerance and coexistence through the Arabic language. For data collection, the researcher conducted interviews with ten participants (five students and five faculty members) and analyzed classical Arabic texts, including the Quran, pre-Islamic poetry, and prophetic hadith. The study examined how participants interpreted Arabic terms such as tasamuh (tolerance), ta’ayush (coexistence), hilm (forbearance), sabr (patience), and rahma (mercy), and how learning these concepts influenced their intercultural interactions. Findings suggest that engagement with cultural heritage was linked to shifts in how participants described tolerance, moving from passive acceptance toward more active engagement with people from different cultures. Participants reported experiencing real behavioral changes when interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, applying concepts such as karam (generosity) and husn al-khuluq (good character) in everyday situations. The study demonstrates that classical Arabic texts are effective educational resources for developing intercultural competence in multicultural university settings. These exploratory findings indicate that the UAE’s approach of combining cultural heritage education with multicultural environments may offer a useful direction for further study in other institutional contexts.