Musilim Scholars letter to Christian Leaders

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A Common Word between us?

October 15, 2007

The open letter written by 138 Muslim scholars to the Pope and other Christian leaders has received a mixed response from Christians around the world.

Its main thrust is to urge peace-making between Muslims and Christians. The letter sets the stakes very high. Muslims and Christians comprise more than half of the world's population, the two groups are intertwined as never before, "... no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake." (p16).

At that level it is to be welcomed as an irenical overture to Christian leaders. Any dialogue which promotes mutual understanding and respect it to be welcomed. It is encouraging that the letter focuses on those passages in the Qur'an which focus on good relations between the followers of the two faiths. Christians should have no argument with an appeal based on loving one's neighbor.

The letter has other emphases as well. One of the repeated themes, and what is stated as the ground from which the two Great Commandments rise, is the Unity of God (Section III, p13). The Shema in the Torah (Deut 6.4), the repetition of this by Jesus (Mark 12.29), and the Shahadah are all used to show that Christians and Muslims have a Common Word between them that is the basis for mutual respect, fairness, justice and kindness (p16). Christians of course are urged to behave like this towards others no matter what beliefs the others have, on the basis that God himself is kind.

But it is in this appeal to the common belief in the Unity of God that the letter shows one of its strengths as an inter-religious document. At least 12 times two passages from the Qur'an are quoted or commented on to the effect that God is one and has no associates or partners. In one section the praise of God as creator is commended (p5). In another it is acknowledged that there is a difference between the Christian and Muslim beliefs about Jesus (with a cheeky comment that "...Christians themselves anyway have never all agreed with each other on Jesus Christ's nature" - perhaps reflecting the fact that some of those addressed in the letter represent churches which have not agreed with the Definition of Chalcedon).

The strength of this approach is that it expresses what the Muslim scholars believe about God and Jesus. It is open and declared. It is not equivocal or disguised. Indeed the letter reads a bit like an evangelistic tract. I think this is a strength as long as the writers are really willing to listen and dialogue (one blogger called it a 'threatening letter'). It contrasts with a lot of Christian writing which removes or takes out the heart of the key beliefs of Christianity in the hope of an accommodation with whoever is the dialogue partner (another religion, (post-)modern western culture etc.).

However in the letter it is clear that the proposed Common Word is a word defined by Islam, not by Christianity. I think that is fine as long as we can discuss what the meaning of the Christian word might be. The difficulty many Christians have at this point is a confusion over the word 'God'. It is not a problem with the idea of the Unity of God, but a problem concerning what is being referred to when we use the word 'God'. The fact that two speakers use the same word does not mean they are speaking about the same thing. For example three people may agree that in their different sports each of their coaches says that they must 'keep their eye on the ball'. But the ball that the cricket player is referring to is quite different to the ball of the soccer player and that of the rugby player. They may have an equal devotion to watching the ball but be referring to quite different balls.

It is interesting that the letter makes a comment about the nature of Jesus Christ, because it is not the Unity of God that is the chief issue but the Nature of God. The one Lord who revealed himself to Moses and the prophets, later revealed himself through his Son, through whom he had also created the world (Heb 1.1-2). The Christian belief in the Unity of God is that the God who is One is known as Father Son and Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ is truly the child of Mary but also the divine and eternal Son of the Father, being one person and uniting in himself the true nature of God and the true nature of humanity (not mixing or confusing or replacing one with the other).

So although the letter asks that "this common ground be the basis of all future interfaith dialogue between us..." (p15), it is in fact not common ground at all, but rather close to the heart of what is different.

However the fact that we have different views of who God is, still leaves many things in common. Treating other people with mutual respect, fairness, justice and kindness is a core value in Christianity. Christians have already been told to love both their neighbors as well as their enemies. So any plea to talk and work together in peace and harmony is to be welcomed.

As long as we can speak to each other with the truth of our own faiths and listen to the other, and not let our differences be the basis for conflict or strife, we will be doing what St Paul urged us to do, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." (Romans 12.18)

Dale

Comments

Thank you very much for naming the Muslim letter after myself (irene). I am the person who feels that the letter is 'threatening', I regret to say.

This is because the letter is an obvious attempt to underplay the role of Judaism, the source of the two later religions. The quote from Mark, for example, is actually originally taken from Deuteronomy, which you might expect from a New Testament thinker.

In addition, it ignores both the role played in interfaith by Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism, to name just three and the really vicious attitude of modern Islam to these three major religions.

Finally, it is apparent from Ruth Gledhill's Times blog that Muslims do not believe that humanity was made in the image of God. This is a major tenet of Judaism and Christianity and maybe explains why there are no suicide bombers in these two religions.

Finally, there is no theory of 'diaspora' in Islam. They expect their laws to be enacted wherever they live, even to the point of barbarity. Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Christians and Sikhs do not have these views and are normally able to co-exist as minorities in their countries of residence.

In fact, maybe one should heed the words of the Dalai Lama, who has said:

'The Jews have learned the secret of survival in diaspora - and should teach it to others'.

So, until Islam recognizes that humanity is made in the image of God, that other beliefs are as valid as their own and do not constitute a threat, that diaspora is a valid residential situation for all and that the Koran should be interpreted to fit with the times in which is it read (like the Bible), that women should be afforded respect and that we are all created equal, whichever religion or ethnicity we are from, I don't think there is much dialogue to be had. Do you?

Posted by Irene on Friday, October 12, 2007 at 11:06:34