Dave Andrews

Many Christians and Muslims believe religion is all about the ‘truth’. Author Francis Schaeffer once famously claimed that his religion was the ‘true truth’.

Both Christians and Muslims are taught to witness to the ‘true truth’ claims of their religion, over against the ‘false truth’ claims (or ‘lies’) of other religions.

Christians preach: “Jesus is the way the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) And “For those who reject the truth and follow evil there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:8)

Muslims reply: “Never will … the Christians be pleased with you till you follow their religion. Say: “Verily, Islâmic Guidance is the only Guidance.’ (2:120) “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islâm, it will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be one of the losers.” (3:85) “As to those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe torment in this world and in the hereafter” (3:56)

Stated in these terms it seems there can be no resolution to this conflict. Thus, many sincere Christians and Muslims see this conflict between competing truth claims, as a zero-sum game, a win-lose ‘clash of civilisations’ – like a creedal fight to the death

But the reality is the heart of religion is not about ‘truth’ – but about ‘love’. Or more accurately ‘the essential existential truth of religion is its all about love!’

• Our ‘Creeds’ are useful up to a point, but they miss the point. The most important point is: “God is love”. 1 John 4:8. But it’s not in any of the creeds, even the Apostle’s Creed.

• ‘Our Ideas’ are critical, but our ‘Attitudes’ are crucial too. “If I speak in the tongues of humans or of angels, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” I Cor.13:1 We need to “speak the truth in love” Eph 4:15

• Our ‘Faith’ is important, but not as important as our ‘Love’. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Cor.13:13 ‘

And our Muslim friends agree that ‘the greatest is love’. On October 13th 2007 C.E., a gathering of a wide range of Muslim leaders from a broad range of Muslim groups, organizations and denominations, wrote an Open Letter to Leaders of Christian Churches, everywhere. In this Open Letter[1] they said:

‘The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity.

Of love for God, the Holy Qur’an (says): devote thyself to Him with a complete devotion (Al-Muzzammil, 73:8). Of love for neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad said: “None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself.”

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ said: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. / And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. / And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

Thus we as Muslims invite Christians to come together with us on the basis of what is common to us, which is also what is most essential to our faith and practice: the Two Commandments of love.’

What an invitation! This is an invitation that no sincere person should reject. Our Muslim brothers and sisters are calling Christians to practice what we preach: to practice the love of God and the love of neighbour together. It is only as a coalition of love we can overcome our ‘Not-So-Holy Holy Wars’.

 

Jesus or Isa is the Messiah or Masih for both Christians and Muslims.

Mohamad Abdalla regarded as one of Australia’s most respected Muslim leaders, told me: ‘Muslims have always believed in the Prophethood of Jesus – or Isa – (peace be upon him) because it is an integral part of their faith. It is profound, to say the least, that Islam is the only religion (other than Christianity) that recognises Jesus and makes it compulsory upon its adherents to believe in him’.[2]

The Qur’an says Jesus was the ‘kalimatullah’ – ‘the Word of God’ (4.171) And John says of Jesus “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 Note the order. ‘Grace’ – First. And ‘Truth’ – Second.

It was never Jesus’ intention to start a religion, still less a monopolistic religion that saw itself in competition with other religions for people’s allegiance. Jesus said he simply came ‘to bring life and life in all its fullness’ (see John 10:10). Thus he would 1 confirm all that is life-affirming and 2 confront all that is life-negating in the world’s religions – especially in the religion that now bears his name.

Jesus appreciated God was bigger than his religion, and worked in the lives of people of other religions – like Naaman the Syrian, who was healed of leprosy, when many Jews weren’t. (Luke 4.16-30) Jesus appreciated people of other religions could not only have great faith, but also have greater faith than many people of his own religion – like the Syrophoenician Woman, whose feisty faith he was confronted with. (Mark 7:24-30) And Jesus appreciated people of other religions could be better examples of true religion than even the leaders of his own religion – like the ‘Good Samaritan’ whom they despised. (Luke 10.29-37) Unlike many Christians, Jesus could truly honour the ‘good’ in other religions.

Jesus criticized people of all religions, including his own, for promoting domin-eering leadership (Mark 10:42-43); acting as closed groups that are not open to others (Matt. 5:47); and practicing empty rituals, which embody no practical compassion. (Matt.6:7) But he told his disciples that when they were criticizing others they needed to proceed with great care: ‘Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the plank is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye”. (Matt. 7:3-5) This principle should shape any approach to interfaith engagement.

We say Jesus is the ‘Way’. And the way Jesus related as a Jew to Samaritans, particularly the woman at the well (Jn:4:4-42) is the ‘Way’ people of different religions, like Christians and Muslims, should relate to each other. We should:

1. Recognise how much we owe to Jews who came before us. (Jn.4:22)
2. Acknowledge particularities – distinct rituals of worship (Jn.4;19-21)
3. Affirm universalities – all true believers worship in truth (Jn.4:23)
4. Never denigrate others – ‘don’t call down fire’ on them (Lk.9:54-5)
5. Take a conciliatory approach – ‘if not against you, for you’ (Lk.9:50)
6. Always accept hospitality – share food and drink together (Jn.4:7)
7. Practice respectful dialogue – explore the significance of Isa/Jesus as the Masih/Messiah – but not expect others to change their religion (Jn.4)

Note –While Christians believe Jesus is the ‘Son of God’ (1 John 5.20), Jesus never required his followers to accept him, address him or worship him as the ‘Son of God’ in order to be his disciple. His preferred term to describe himself was the ‘Son Of Man’.(Mk 10.45) It seemed that Jesus had no problem with his disciples discussing and debating his identity as one of the ‘prophets’ and/or the ‘Messiah’ (Math 16. 13-15) And we should create the same space for our Muslim friends. Like Jesus we should trust the Spirit to lead people into truth. (John 16.13-14)

Wherever we go in the world we can assume that the Spirit is already at work, seeking to lead people into truth whether people recognise it or not. Our role is not to generate the work of the Spirit, but to validate it, celebrate it, participate in it and collaborate with it, cooperating with the work of the Spirit that is evident in the ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, tolerance and self-control’ in a community. ‘Against such things there is no law’. (Gal 5.22-23)

Jesus didn’t call his followers to convert others. Conversion is God’s work not ours. And we can do great damage when we play God at other people’s expense. Instead Jesus called his followers to witness to others. He said ‘you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts1:8) And he suggested a good way to witness was by working whole-heartedly for the common good. Jesus said: ‘let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.’ (Matt.5:16)

 

The ‘Bismillah’ introduces every sura or chapter in the Qur’an except one. ‘Bismillah’ or ‘bismi Allah’ means ‘in the name of Allah’, which is not the Muslim name for God, still less the name of a Muslim God, but the Arabic name of the One True God. And for us to recite the Bismillah is to recall there are not many gods but One God and that One God is not a Muslim or Christian or Jew, but the One whom we belong to and who belongs to us all, whether we are Muslim, or Christian or Jew, etc.[3]

In the light of the Bismillah, it makes sense Maulana Wahiduddin Khan says ‘God has the same compassionate relationship with every man as a father has with all his children. Therefore it is alien to the divine scheme of creation that this earthly plane should be marred by hatred and violence. It is God’s most cherished desire that love should be returned for hatred and violence should be met with peace. According to the Qur’an, paradise is God’s neighbourhood and in this neighbourhood only those who have compassion, living in a way (their) actions are of benefit to others, find acceptance’.[4]

Farid Esack says Muslims frame their relationships ‘to others’ in terms of ‘iman’ and ‘kufr’ usually translated as ‘belief’ and ‘unbelief’. He says that originally these terms were seen as ‘qualities that individuals may have’ but as Islamic theology became more rigid these terms were ‘no longer seen as qualities (of) individuals’ but ‘qualities of groups’.[5]

According to the Qur’an the term iman and its noun, mu’minun are defined as follows: ‘Indeed the mu’minum are only those whose hearts tremble whenever God’s name is mentioned; and whose iman is strengthened whenever His ayat (signs) are conveyed unto them; and who place trust in their Sustainer. Those who are constant in prayer and spend on others what We provide for them as sustenance. It is they who are truly the mu’minum.’ ( 8:2-4)

Esack says three interconnected themes may be discerned from this text: ‘the dynamic nature of iman’ (to be ‘attained’), ‘iman as a personal response to God’, (‘hearts tremble with awe when God is mentioned’) and the ‘interrelatedness of iman and righteous deeds’ (‘spend on others out of what [God] provide[s] for them as sustainence’).[6]

Esack says given that the fact iman requires righteous deeds it cannot be attained simply by ‘the practice of rituals’ and ‘given the fact that iman is a deeply personal response to God’, it ‘cannot be confined to a particular socio-religious community.’ He says ‘such attempts would be a denial of the universality of God. This is why the Qur’an is explicit about the iman of those outside the socio-religious community of the mu’minum.’[7]

Esack says we need to see ‘islam’ as verb rather than a noun. He quotes Toll who says: ‘priomordial and universal islam, i.e. that is the attitude of surrender to the Absolute in co-fraternity, can be discerningly discovered and acknowledged in the most varied patterns of belief and action, in the religions and ideologies of the past and present.’[8]

That there are people, of other ‘religions’ and of other ‘ideologies’, which may be very different from Muslim traditions, who may serve God in the same way sincere Muslims do, is made very clear in the Qur’an when it says: ‘Not all of them are alike; among them is a group who stand for the right and keep nights reciting the words of Allah and prostrate themselves in adoration before Him. They have faith in Allah and in the Last Day; they enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong, and vie with one another in good deeds. And these are among the righteous.’ (4:113)

According to the Qur’an there is only one ‘din’ or ‘religion’, but there are many a ‘ummah’ or ‘community’, and God has sent to each different ‘ummah’ or ‘community’ a different guide with a different ‘shir’ah’ or ‘path’ and ‘minhaj’ or ‘way’ to the ‘tawhid’ or the ‘Oneness of God’. The same din ‘was enjoined on Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus’ as Muhammad. (42:13) ‘For every ummah there is a messenger’. (10:47) And ‘unto every one of you We have appointed a (different) shir’ah (path) and minhaj (way).’(5:48) [9]

It is important to note while the Qur’an frequently associates iman with the followers of Mohammad (55 times), it often associates iman with the followers of Moses (11 times), and associates iman with the followers of many other prophets too. (22 times) [10]

The Qur’an says ‘To every community We have appointed acts of devotion, which they observe; so let them not dispute with you in the matter…’ (22.67) So why the disputes?

In spite of the Qur’anic call to recognize unity in diversity and respect diversity in unity, the reality is that ‘the tension in the religious-ideological relationships between the Muslims and the People of the Book (ie Jews and Christians) was inevitable’. [11] Each of these groups, contrary Qur’anic advice about not getting involved in disputes, set themselves up as guardians of their sacred texts, defined and defended their interpretations in terms of separate, competing and conflicting Closed Set Religions, denounced those who disagreed with their interpretations of their sacred texts as ‘kufr’ and declared ‘Not-So Holy’ So-Called ‘Holy War’ on one another to prove their superiority in the disputes.

In the Qur’an the word ‘kufr’ stands for the ‘rejected other’ and the ‘rejected other’ is one ‘who reject(s) the signs of God’, not a chauvinistic or xenophobic exclusion of ‘the other’.

The Qur’an says ‘Verily as for those who are reject/ungrateful (yakfur) for the signs of God, and slay the Prophets against all right and slay those people who justice, announce unto them grievous chastisement. It is they whose works shall come to nought both in this world and in the life to come, and they shall have none to succor them’. (3:21-2)

There are number things we need to note in this passage – first, it is talking about an active attitude of an individual (or collection of individual) not an ethno-socio-religious group; second, that the attitude identified is not of one who is simply an ‘other believer’, an ‘unbeliever’ or an ‘infidel’, but one who is completely ungrateful, totally rejects the grace of God and violently lashes out against the Prophets, (not only Muhammad, but also Moses and Jesus and others) and attacks everything they taught about grace; and third, that the ‘grievous chastisement’ to be visited upon them (on the Day of Judgment, by God,) is to be announced by believers, not to be visited upon them by the believers.[12]

Sure this passage raises serious issues about the making of judgments, about the Day of Judgment and about the idea of rewards and punishments meted out by God. But we will have to save those conversations for another time. For now, suffice it to say, as Maulana Wahiduddin Khan says, ‘In all the chapters of the Qur’an, with their hundreds of verses, there is not a single verse which gives the command to kill an abuser of the Prophet’.[13]

Recently Imam Mohamed Magid wrote an open letter to all Muslims around the world:

In the Name of God The Most Gracious, Most Merciful

‘Dear Fellow Brothers and Sisters in Islam,

‘Horrific acts of violence demand from us Muslims and people of all faiths around the globe to stand up against all those who perpetrate such horrific acts. Violence of any kind against any people cannot be ignored. Transgressions against people’s rights are occurring today across all boundaries. Regardless of what perpetrators of such acts claim to hold over any other person, to live safely is a right, and we must all stand up to protect the right for all people. “Stand for justice even if it is against yourself” (Qur’an Surat-un-Nisa, Chapter 4, Verse 135).

‘It is those who truly know the religion of Islam who, despite our differences, engage in peaceful dialogue and wholeheartedly forsake acts of violence like this. As dedicate worshippers we recognize that an injustice in one part of the world is never validated by another injustice. Human life is sacred and it is never acceptable to take a person’s life to promote a political agenda. Violence is never the answer. We must create a community of harmony with and respect for others.

‘This is the example of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the teachings of our faith. In a time of our history, Muslims were persecuted to the point that they had to flee from their homes, and we must remember it was the gracious Christian King of Abyssinia who opened his arms, welcoming the Muslims to live safely in his land, under his protection. He helped us preserve the tradition of our Prophet and the peaceful and loving religion of Islam. Muslims must use the King’s example in all of our interactions with people of other faiths. Umar ibn al-Khattāb, the second leader of the Muslim community after Prophet Muhammad’s death (May God be pleased with him), out of respect for the Church decided not to pray in a Jerusalem Church so that Muslims would not incorrectly feel that they had any entitlement to take it over in the future. He taught us that it is the responsibility of Muslims to protect the religions and religious places of worship in lands in which Muslims are the majority or minority.

‘The beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever violates the rights of the People of the Book, I will complain against them on the Day of Judgment.” There is none amongst us who wants to be complained against by our Beloved Prophet and teacher. We share with you the words of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah:

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah,

as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity,

near and far, we are with them.

Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers

defend them,

because Christians are my citizens; and (by God!)

I hold out against anything that displeases them.

No compulsion is to be on them.

Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs

nor their monks from their monasteries.

No one is to destroy a house of their religion,

to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.

Should anyone take any of these,

he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet.

Verily, they are my allies

and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.

The Muslims are to fight for them.

If a female Christian is married to a Muslim,

it is not to take place without her approval.

She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.

Their churches are to be respected.

They are neither to be prevented from repairing them

nor the sacredness of their covenants.

No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant

till the Last Day (end of the world)”.[14]

 

[1] An Open Letter (2007) A Common Word Between Us And You http://www.acommonword.com/

[2] Dave Andrews Isa – A Christian-Muslim Ramadan Reflection, Mosaic, 2013

[3] Bismillah al rahman al Rahim http://wahiduddin.net/words/bismillah.htm

[4] Maulana Wahiduddin Khan The Prophet of Peace Penguin New Delhi 2009 p16

[5] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p114-5

[6] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p118

[7] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p125

[8] Christian Troll The Qur’anic View of Other Religions: Grounds For Living Together, Islam And The Modern Age 18 (1)1987 p5-19

[9] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p166

[10] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p118

[11] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p151

[12] Farid Esack Qur’an, Liberation And Pluralism OneWorld Oxford 1997, p134ff

[13] Maulana Wahiduddin Khan The Prophet of Peace Penguin New Delhi 2009 p207

[14] Imam Mohamed Magid Muslims Must Stand Up Against the Horrific Attacks Against Christians in Nigeria http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-mohamed-magid/muslims-stand-up-against-nigeria-anti-christian-violence_b_1171584.html