In an article first published in The Age newspaper, religion editor BARNEY ZWARTZ says a letter from Muslim leaders to Christian ones can be a start for dialogue…
At the core of both Christianity and Islam is the double command to love God and neighbour. Earlier this month, 138 Islamic leaders wrote to the Pope and “leaders of Christian churches everywhere” saying world peace depended on recognising that.
The letter, which some scholars hailed as unprecedented, was signed by Grand Muftis, theologians and academics from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Europe and the US, representing Islam’s Sunni, Shiite and Sufi traditions – and scores of millions of followers.
“Some of their grievances are real, but the enemy is not Christianity. It was once, but Christianity has lost most of its political power in the West.”
Written to build bridges and defuse tensions, the letter was sent at a highly symbolic time, the Eid festival that celebrated the end of Ramadan last weekend. Titled A Common Word Between Us and You, it says: “Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world.
“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.” The leaders write that with the terrible weaponry of the modern world – and with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before – no side can unilaterally win a conflict. “Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.”
They quote Jesus’ words in the New Testament, “for he who is not against us is on our side”, and invite Christians to consider Muslims as “not against” them, and therefore with them.
There is a caveat: “We say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them — so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes.”
This reflects the widespread opinion among the Muslim world that the West’s war on terror is really a Christian war on Islam.
Some of their grievances are real, but the enemy is not Christianity. It was once, but Christianity has lost most of its political power in the West.
The Pope and most church leaders argued strongly but vainly against invading Iraq, and the most active advocates for disadvantaged Muslim communities in the West are usually Christian. What the caveat shows is that the Islamic world struggles to understand the secular nature of the West, just as the West struggles to understand the diversity of religious attitudes within Islam.
But the leaders also remind Muslims that the Koran commands religious freedom for Christians and Jews, and they rebuke extremists who seek “conflict and destruction”. They say: “Our very eternal souls are all also at stake if we fail to sincerely make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony.”
As well as the Pope, the letter was sent to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Orthodox patriarchs, and several Protestant world leaders. Williams, the Anglican spiritual head, welcomed it; so did the Vatican, though more cautiously. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who heads the inter-religious department, called it encouraging and said it showed “good will and dialogue are capable of overcoming prejudices”, but Pope Benedict has not commented.
“It is not acceptable that Muslims in the West face prejudice, disadvantage or violence, but in the main they are considerably better off – and safer – than Christians in most Muslim countries. These Christians need an advocate.”
Benedict has – rightly in my view – focused on what he calls reciprocity, seeking the same rights for Christians in Muslim countries as Muslims have in Christian countries. It is not acceptable that Muslims in the West face prejudice, disadvantage or violence, but in the main they are considerably better off – and safer – than Christians in most Muslim countries. These Christians need an advocate.
But despite (or perhaps because of) his speech in Regensburg last year, in which he quoted a Byzantine king that the only new things Islam brought were evil and inhuman, he recognises how important diplomacy is in inter-religious dialogue.
Some commentators greeted the letter with suspicion. Hal Lindsey of World Net Daily viewed the overture as an ultimatum: make peace with us or we’ll kill you. Others doubted the signatories’ sincerity, seeing it as a ploy to pretend peace, or dismissed their analysis of Christian theology. And the letter acknowledges irreconcilable theological differences remain.
In The Times, Simon Jenkins said the letter encouraged militarist fantasies of extremists on both sides because it implied Islam had political and military power to match the West, feeding jihadist ambition and Western paranoia.
I think suspicion is misguided; the letter should be warmly welcomed. This sort of initiative is exactly what critics in the West have been demanding Muslims do. Why not take it at face value, as a genuine attempt by a broad cross-section of very senior Muslims to improve relations? Why assume implicit threats or a hidden agenda – what could such an agenda achieve? Why rebuff such an overture? The letter doesn’t propose any particular action; it’s simply a proactive gesture of goodwill. The sheer labour involved in getting 138 leaders from around the globe who disagree on all sorts of issues to agree to this statement shows how seriously they mean it.
A discussion between religious leaders and theologians might seem peripheral to sceptics, but it’s a good start. It might reduce antagonism at the grassroots level, and could lead to more fruitful interaction between policy-makers and politicians. And it’s much better than the alternatives.
Barney Zwartz is religion editor at The Age. This article was first published in the newspaper.
~http://blogs.theage.com.au/thereligiouswrite
~ www.acommonword.com
