Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Salaam JANUARY 2009

Editorial

Salaam alei Kum!

26/11 is still fresh in our minds. The terrorists stormed into Chatrapati Shivaji Train Station and other famous land marks of Mumbai: The Taj, The Oberoi and the Nariman House and started shooting indiscriminately killing a number of people. We watched the entire episode spellbound over television for more than two days, which shook the whole world. As the result of the attack, a number of innocent people lost their lives and we lost a number of police and security personnel. The unanswered question that daunts us is, 'Why do such terrorist attacks take place in our country?'

India is a land with an ancient civilization. The most striking feature of our country is the variety of its people who are heirs to ancient cultures, religions and traditions. The world is amazed at the intricate mosaic of its many cultures, languages, beliefs and traditions. India is the melting pot of the world's major religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam and is the birthplace of many other spiritual traditions such as – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. We too have a number of traditional or tribal religions with varying degrees of structured ritual and formal religious teachings.

Indians take pride in their religious and cultural values, such as love for silence and contemplation, simplicity, harmony, detachment, non-violence, the spirit of hard work, discipline, frugal living, and the thirst for learning and philosophical enquiry. We hold dear the values of respect for life, compassion for all beings, closeness to nature, filial piety towards parents, elders and ancestors and highly developed sense of community. Our family ties are quite strong and we hold the family to be a vital source of strength, a closely knit community with a powerful sense of solidarity. Indians are known for their spirit of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

In spite of tensions and violent conflicts due to various religions and cultures our people have demonstrated a remarkable capacity for accommodation and openness to our mutual enrichment. These spiritual insights and moral wisdom is the core of 'being Indian'. In spite of the rich religious and cultural heritage, we are confronted with the onslaught of religious fundamentalism and terrorism. The time has come for introspection into our democracy, polity, religiosity and the mindset. We are pained and certainly ashamed to note the emergence of religious "Terrorism", in spite of belonging to an ancient culture of spiritual tolerance and mutual existence.

I read the statement of the accused Mohd Ajmal Amir Qasab aged 21 years, of the terrorist attack in Mumbai 26/11. It is sad to note the way he was led into the terrorist training camps in various places in Pakistan. An illiterate boy who had his education in a government school up to standard IV, and his search for an employment got him into such heinous criminal activity. He quarrelled with his father due to lack of experience of love in the family which piloted him into such a destructive way of life. He had rigorous training for almost five months in three different camps in different places before he was given the task of the terrorist attack in Mumbai. He was trained to handle all kinds of weapons, hand grenades, rocket launchers and mortars: AK–47, Green-O, SKS, Uzi gun, pistol and revolver. During these laborious and severe training he was also shown the clippings highlighting the atrocities on Muslims in India. It is an unfortunate story of an innocent boy, who was initiated into the LeT training camps due to various factors.

We have our affiliations to our religious beliefs and traditions, but should not despise, hate or deride the religious traditions of the other. We should live and let others live in harmony and peace. The venom of religious intolerance would only beget hatred and violence. We need to be careful about those initial perpetrators of religious violence, intolerance, hate-campaign and fanaticism in our country. The law of the land should tackle those individuals. Finally the government has come out with a new legislature to combat terrorist activities by introducing National Investigation Agency Bill.

More of inter-religious activities are to be encouraged to bring about awareness of pluri-religious presence in our country. Such initiatives are to be highly recommended and initiated. On October 13, 2007, an open letter by 138 Muslim representatives was sent to the Pope and other heads of Christian Churches and ecclesial communities. The Pope noted that the open letter "has received numerous responses, and has given rise to dialogue, specific initiatives and meetings, aimed at helping us to know one another more deeply and to grow in esteem for our shared values. The great interest which the present seminar has awakened is an incentive for us to ensure that the reflections and the positive developments which emerge from Muslim-Christian dialogue are not limited to a small group of experts and scholars, but are passed on as a precious legacy to be placed at the service of all, to bear fruit in the way we live each day".

The Pope reiterated the fact that only by starting with the recognition of the centrality of the person and the dignity of each human being, respecting and defending life which is the gift of God, and is thus sacred for Christians and for Muslims alike - only on the basis of this recognition, can we find a common ground for building a more fraternal world, a world in which confrontations and differences are peacefully settled, and the devastating power of ideologies is neutralised.

Therefore fundamental human rights will have to be protected for all people everywhere. Political and religious leaders should ensure the free exercise of these rights in full respect for each individual's freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. God's name can only be a name of peace and fraternity, justice and love. Let the people of good will come together and shoulder the responsibility of establishing peace and harmony in the society, in India and in the world at large.

Khuda Hafiz!

TWO STORIES – CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM

Paul Jackson, S.J.
Introduction
The aim of this article is to get an idea of the Christian Story and then of the Muslim Story. Both will be given in the broadest of outlines. The question a Christian or a Muslim reader is invited to ask is: "Do I recognize my story as it is told here?" Complete agreement is not the aim. After all, do any two people tell a story in exactly the same way? This is even more true when the stories themselves are different.

The Christian Story
God created heaven and earth and everything on the face of the earth. Finally, He created human beings, Adam and Eve, in His own image and likeness. They sinned, however, by disobeying His explicit command, and He drove them out of the Garden of Eden. The man had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow, and the woman had to endure the pangs of childbirth. God promised to send someone to defeat the wily serpent, Satan, who had tricked Eve into sinning, followed by Adam. Their son, Cain, killed his brother Abel. The whole long chain of human sin continued. Things got so bad that God finally destroyed human beings by sending a flood, except for Noah and his family, as well as the animals saved along with them in the Ark.

The next great event was the call of Abraham who was to become the model of all who believed in God as uniquely One. Through his son, Isaac, he became the father of the Jewish people. God tested him by requiring him to sacrifice his son Isaac but, at the last minute, He intervened to save the boy, as Abraham had been completely and utterly obedient to His command. God greatly blessed Abraham.

Joseph was providentially sold into slavery and ended up as second only to Pharaoh in Egypt. He was thus able to save his whole family when famine struck the land. After many generations had passed, a later Pharaoh made slaves of the Hebrews and forced them to work ever harder. God chose Moses to lead His chosen people out of slavery in Egypt by means of mighty deeds, including leading the people safely through the parted waters of the Red Sea. After a long sojourn in the wilderness of Sinai, Joshua led the next generation of Hebrews into the Promised Land, after crossing the Jordan River, which parted before them. God first sent Judges to rule over the people and, when they pined for a king, He gave them Saul, followed by David, Solomon and others. He promised David that a ruler would come from his family and initiate an everlasting kingdom. Solomon built Him a magnificent temple.

Even though the prophets repeatedly called the people back to faith in God, to repentance for their sinful behaviour, and to the practice of justice, they were stiff-necked and turned a deaf ear to them. God then sent the Jewish people into exile in Babylon. The prophets assured them that God would lead them back to the Promised Land one day. God made use of Cyrus the Great to do so.

After the return from exile, the Chosen People still had much to suffer at the hands of foreign invaders. The Maccabees fought for the freedom of their people so they could practise the Law given to them by God through Moses. When Jesus was born, the Holy Land was part of the Roman Empire. There was a Roman Governor and Herod was a puppet king.

The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to Mary to invite her to become the mother of Jesus. Gabriel told her that Jesus would be conceived miraculously, without the agency of a human father, and would be called the Son of the Most High. Mary agreed. God informed her fiancé, Joseph, of this miraculous event in a dream, and told him to take Mary as his wife. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem and was placed in a manger.

When Jesus grew up and was about thirty years of age he went to the river Jordan and was baptised by John the Baptist. A voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. He then went into the desert, fasted for forty days, and resisted the temptations of the Devil. After this, he went around preaching, especially in Galilee, announcing that the Kingdom of God had come. He also cured many who were sick, blind, deaf, dumb or lame, and even raised some dead people to life. Disciples gathered around him and he chose twelve of them whom he called ‘Apostles.’ He also had the habit of rising early and going to a quiet place to pray to God Whom he addressed as Abba, Father. Moreover, when his Apostles asked him to teach them how to pray, he told them to begin by saying, Our Father in heaven…

Huge crowds of people flocked to hear his words and be cured. They even wanted to make him king. They thought he was the promised Messiah. His Apostles also believed he was the Messiah. They thought that he would drive out the Romans and establish a kingdom in which they would have the top jobs. The Jewish religious leaders did not like what they saw and plotted to have him arrested, brought before Pilate, the Roman Governor, and put to death. His followers fled. When he was crucified only one disciple, John, was at the scene, as well as his mother, Mary, and some other women. He was hurriedly buried, as the Sabbath was approaching. The Apostles were dejected and frightened. They gathered together in an upper room. All their dreams had been shattered! Their whole dejected frame of mind was realistically portrayed by two disciples walking to Emmaus. Then the unheard of happened. Jesus appeared in his glorified and risen body to Mary Magdalene, to the Apostles, and to the disciples on the way to Emmaus! He would suddenly appear in a room, but he also ate before their very eyes. There was a mysterious aura about him which evoked respect and awe. He finally departed from them, promising that he would send them the Holy Spirit. This he did on Pentecost Sunday and, filled with the Spirit, the Apostles went outside and boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and Risen Lord. Thousands of people believed and became followers of this new Way. This was the beginning of the Christian community.

The Muslim Story
The Muslim story has many similarities. The creation, sin and expulsion from Eden of both Adam and Eve are along the same lines as the Christian story. The first major divergence occurs at the time of Abraham’s sacrifice. Although the Quran does not name the son who was about to be sacrificed, Muslims believe it was Abraham’s elder son, Ishmael, the father of the Arabs. Both Abraham and Ishmael travelled to Mecca, where they built the Ka`ba.

The story of Joseph is narrated in great detail. Moses is accepted as God’s special apostle sent to the Jewish people. The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, was given to Moses by God. The book of Psalms was given to King David. Many of the figures found in the Bible, beginning with Adam, and including Abraham, David and Solomon, are mentioned in the Quran, and they are referred to as prophets or apostles.

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that God would bestow a son on her without her having intercourse. When Jesus was born, he spoke miraculously from the cradle, and even breathed on little clay birds and brought them to life. When Jesus grew up he went around preaching, miraculously curing people and raising the dead. He is considered a great prophet and apostle, as God bestowed the Gospel upon him. He was also referred to as the Messiah, Isa Masih. He was handed over by the jealous Jewish leaders to be crucified. God, however, did not allow them to put to death a prophet of his eminence. He raised him up to heaven and substituted someone else in his place. His second coming will be a portent of the Day of Judgement.

Muhammad’s father died before he was born and his mother died when he was about six years of age. His paternal uncle, Abu Talib, brought him up and became his guardian. As a young man, he began to work for Khadija, the widow of a rich merchant. Impressed by his sincerity, she married him. She was about forty years old, and he was twenty-five. Muhammad had developed the habit of praying in a cave on Mt. Hira, near Mecca. On one occasion the angel Gabriel appeared to him and began the process of revealing the Quran to him. Khadija was the first to believe that God had spoken to him. His cousin, Ali, also believed in him, as well as some other family members; a few distinguished people, like Abu Bakr, and a number of poor people and slaves. As his influence increased so too did the opposition of the leading Meccan families. They thought his uncompromising teaching about the uniqueness of God and his branding the gods and goddesses as mere ‘names’ would have an adverse effect on their prosperity. Why would pilgrims flock to Mecca and the Ka`ba if the images of all the gods and goddesses were removed? A persecution began. Eventually Muhammad migrated 400 kilometres north to Yathrib, which became known as Medina, at the invitation of the people of that city. This occurred in the year 622 A.D., and marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. In Medina Muhammad acquired the role of political leader in addition to that of being a prophet and religious leader. Circumstances compelled him to fight several battles. Eventually he returned victoriously to Mecca, where he issued a general amnesty. He returned to Medina. He led the farewell pilgrimage to Mecca early in 632. On his return to Medina he fell ill and died on 8th June 632. As he was the Seal of the Prophets, the line of prophets came to an end with him. Abu Bakr succeeded him as Caliph, the religious and political leader of the Muslim community.

Growth of the Communities
Before outlining in brief the growth of these two communities, it should be pointed out that the early part of the Christian story is, in fact, the Jewish story. Whereas Christians accepted Jesus as the prophet and promised Davidic Messiah, Jews considered him to be no more than an itinerant rabbi. They are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah.

Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond but, for the first three centuries, it had no political power. From time to time there were persecutions in the Roman Empire during which large numbers of Christians were put to death. At the religious level, however, the Church quickly became organized into units known as dioceses according to a hierarchical structure. Each diocese was headed by a bishop who had priests and deacons to assist him. The Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, was the leader of the Universal Church.

Because of challenges in understanding the reality of Jesus, believed by Christians to be the Son of God, several different interpretations arose. Hence an Ecumenical Council of all the bishops was convoked in Nicea in 325 in which the orthodox understanding was elaborated. This was further refined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. There have been a number of ecumenical councils down the centuries, usually called to clarify or combat some heretical interpretation. The last one, Vatican II, was held between 1962-65. It was not called to combat any heresy, but to enable the Church to face up to the realities of the modern world and to understand its position and role in the world. It was a great modernising council.

After the Roman Emperor, Constantine, became a Christian, the Catholic Church gained political power. It fully endorsed and supported the Crusades. It used the Inquisition in order to eradicate heresy. Catholics and Protestants were engaged in the wars of religion that swept through Europe in the sixteenth century. The Pope was also the leader of what was known as the Papal States. Some Popes of this period even took to the battlefield. Christians made use of their status in the colonial powers in order to foster the spread of Christianity, though there were also times when European political power subjugated Christian missions, as happened in South America.

The present policies of the Catholic Church are based on the documents of Vatican II. While the Church insists on its right to propose and teach moral values, based on the Christian understanding of the dignity of the human person, in both the private and public domains, it eschews direct political power. It strongly advocates religious freedom, whereby a person is free to follow his or her religion; to propose it to others; and even to change it. This was not always so, as the sixteenth-century Inquisition reminds us.

Islam, on the other hand, quickly spread, as a religion and as a political power, beyond Arabia after the death of Muhammad. His successor, Abu Bakr, inherited a combined religious and political leadership role in 632 A.D. After quelling some local revolts he sent armies under extremely capable commanders to fight against the Byzantine and Persian empires. The combination of personal hardiness and fighting ability, when harnessed to capable military leadership, proved irresistible. The Caliph’s forces conquered Egypt, moved across North Africa and crossed over into Spain. They penetrated to Central Asia and to Sindh. At the same time Arab traders, who had embraced Islam, carried their religion to the shores of Southern India and beyond. The Caliphate lasted until 1258 when it gave way, formally as well as in reality, to numerous regional sultanates. Three great Muslim empires arose on the world scene: the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire and the Mughal Empire. It was the Ottoman Empire which was in direct conflict with Europe, particularly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Ottoman Empire considered itself as the successor of the Baghdad Caliphate and was often referred to as the Turkish Caliphate. Attaturk formally abolished this situation in 1924 when he set about reshaping Turkey as a modern nation state.

Right from the time of the death of the Prophet the Muslim community has experienced its own inner tensions. Some Muslims thought that Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, should succeed him as Caliph. Others followed the Arab custom of accepting, as the new tribal chief, a man chosen by the elders of the tribe. In this instance, Abu Bakr was chosen as Caliph. Struggles did take place, at the battle of Siffin, for example, but it was the killing of Husain, the grandson of the Prophet, along with his family members and a handful of retainers at Karbala, as he was making his way to Kufa, that fractured the community. This occurred in 680 A.D., (10th Muharram, 61 A.H., according to the Muslim calendar). Those who sided with Ali and his family are called Shias, while those who accepted Abu Bakr and his successors are called Sunnis. These latter form the great majority of the Muslim community. It was the martyrdom of Husain at Karbala that drove the wedge between these two groups. Even down to the present day there have been sporadic outbursts of sectarian violence. The Fatimids in Egypt and the Safavids in Persia were Shia dynasties. Present-day Iran is almost totally Shia, and about 60% of Iraqis are Shias, and Lebanon has an influential number of Shias.

During the period of European colonial expansion many Muslim countries came under colonial rule. After the Second World War these countries gained their freedom. They have different forms of government. Because of oil reserves, a number of Arab countries have become very rich and influential. This was due to the high demand for oil. Islamic law, in varying degrees, forms the legal framework for much of the lives of people living in these countries.

Efforts to Understand
Christians have the Bible as their scripture, while Muslims have the Quran. The Bible contains the Hebrew Bible of the Jews as well as the Greek New Testament, the specific scripture of the Christians. Christians see the fulfilment of God’s promises embodied in Jesus. The New Testament is a record of this fulfilment. For Muslims, the Quran is the final revealed Word of God and, as such, abrogates all previous scriptures. For Christians, Jesus is the Word of God in the fullest possible sense, while the Bible, though believed to be the Word of God, is considered to be so in a secondary and derived sense. While Christian traditions refer mainly to the early practices of the community, Muslims have a vast literary record of traditions which are said to go back to the words and deeds of Muhammad

Both the Bible and the Quran are given texts. Anyone can read them, either in the original languages or in translation, with the caveat that Muslims regard any translation of the Quran as simply giving its sense or meaning, but not as being the actual Quran. Christians do not make this distinction because, for them, the primary Word of God is Jesus. Textually, of course, the original Hebrew and Greek versions have precedence over any translation.

The texts are fixed documents, but the people who read them differ greatly. For example, they span many centuries, some twenty for Christians and fourteen for Muslims. They also differ according to language, race and culture. There are also the differences according to intellectual ability and language skills. Down the centuries there have been many believers who were illiterate and could not read their scripture. Each person reads – or listens to – scripture in the context of his or her total background. With the passing of the centuries many learned people have shared their reading and understanding of their scripture by writing commentaries. It is no secret that more commentaries have been written on the Bible and the Quran than on any other books. Indeed, the more serious and comprehensive commentaries often constituted the lifetime’s work of an individual scholar. They would work from the text in its original language and study the commentaries of previous scholars before giving their considered opinion. This means that individuals, with their own perspectives, whether of the Bible or the Quran, wrote all such commentaries. They were naturally influenced by the prevailing attitudes and assumptions of their particular age, locality and the community to which they belonged. The collective efforts of all such scholars constitute an enormous effort to understand these two books.

If we step back for a moment and look at another area of human knowledge we may get some insights about how to evaluate scripture commentaries. Take our understanding of what our earth looks like, for example. The ancient Hebrews thought the earth was supported on pillars and had a vast sea beneath it and a dome above it – the firmament – above which were more waters. Suspended in the firmament were the sun, moon and stars. If we trace the history of mapping we see how gradually ever more accurate maps came to be produced. We can see clearly the shapes of the continents. If we make use of a globe we get a more accurate picture of their relative sizes. Nowadays anybody with an Internet connection can go to Google Earth and zoom onto locations anywhere on the face of the earth, which is initially presented in the form of a globe which you can rotate as you like. If you are prepared to pay some $400.00 you can gain access to a much more detailed picture of anything on the face of the earth. This is because of the cameras in satellites. Never before has such detailed information been available, and on such a wide scale.

Has there been a comparable development in the accuracy of scripture commentaries? This is not a legitimate question. All forms of mapping, right up to Google Earth, are sense representations, whereas scripture commentaries are essentially directed to understanding the meaning of scripture. What can be said is that the tools needed for this work have become more potent with our vastly increased knowledge of languages, geography, history, culture and various social and economic dynamics. Let us take a simple example from the Bible. For more than fifteen centuries Christians unquestioningly accepted the first three chapters of Genesis as a literal account of creation. Nowadays Christian scripture scholars make a distinction. They say that these chapters affirm, as a religious truth, that God is the Creator of our earth and of the entire universe, but the description of how it took place is a mythical one. It is a story. It also attempts to explain the all-pervasive nature of sin by tracing it back to the very beginning of the human race. According to this understanding, Adam and Eve are mythical prototypes, not historical persons. In order to gain some understanding of the whole process of creation one has to make use of a variety of scientific disciplines. As a corollary of this, for example, the Catholic Church has had to admit that the assumptions that underpinned the condemnation of Galileo were incorrect.

In both Christianity and Islam there have always been varied theological currents which were intimately associated with particular philosophical schools. It is not possible to go into these in detail, but it is important to realize the existence of this variety. It is also important to notice that, while theological studies are important in both religious traditions, Muslim scholars have devoted a much greater proportion of their time and energy to studying Islamic Law than Christians have devoted to the study of Canon Law. On the other hand, because of difficulties in understanding the divine and human natures of Jesus, Christians have devoted much more time and effort to theological questions than have their Muslim counterparts.

One more dimension of both religious traditions has to be mentioned. This is the spiritual dimension. Both Christianity and Islam have long lists of recognized saints, usually called Sufis in Islam. Both have important traditions of religious orders, usually called silsilas in India. In both communities there are vast numbers of people who attach great importance to particular saints and are devoted to them. They seek their intercession for their various needs and look up to them as models of saintly behaviour. Moreover, the saints and their disciples, in both Christianity and Islam, have left behind a vast literary output of their understanding of what it means to make the worship of God the very centre of their lives. In both traditions this worship finds its flowering in service. It is not possible to over-emphasize the importance of the spiritual riches of holiness as constituting the lifeblood of both traditions. They provide comfort for hearts and nourishment for souls.

To sum up, we have listened to the stories of both Christianity and Islam. We have seen how both religious communities have grown and spread. We took note of the Bible and Quran as being the sacred religious texts of the two communities, pointing out the Christian understanding of the pre-eminence of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, over the text of the Bible. Finally, we noted that, although the texts are there for one and all to read, their interpretation, for a whole variety of factors, has varied. Hence we should not be surprised if, in our own day and age, various interpretations are found. Their legitimacy depends on their fidelity to the texts of the Bible and the Quran. Any particular passage has to be seen in its specific context and in the more general context of the text as a whole. This is what hermeneutics is all about.

AN INQUIRY

Fr. Paul Jackson SJ

Some years ago I was teaching in a Summer Course on Islam jointly organized by the Henry Martyn Institute and the Islamic Studies Association. It so happened that I was the only staff member present one evening for the after-dinner discussion. One student, a Protestant Pastor, said that Muhammad had not acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God because, if he had done so, he would have been obliged to become a follower of Jesus, a Christian, and would lose his status as a religious leader.

My standard response to the failure to believe in Jesus as the Son of God was to quote what Jesus said to Peter after his confession of faith: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” Faith in Jesus as the Son of God is a gift from God.

The particular objection raised by my young friend, however, was really an accusation of bad faith, implying that Muhammad really did believe in Jesus as the Son of God but, out of a desire for religious and political power, refused to acknowledge him as such.

If one turns to the Quran, however, one finds an abundance of evidence of the high esteem in which Jesus was held. He is sinless; a prophet; an apostle; bearer of the Gospel; miracle-worker; a model of poverty, alms-giving, devotion to his mother and to prayer; he is continuously blessed by God; he is a portent of the hour of doom; he has been taken up alive, in body and soul, to God; he is the word of God and a spirit from Him. It does not seem possible to extol him any higher than this. One gets the impression of a profound respect for Jesus. Moreover, there is no hesitation at all in ascribing to him qualities which the Quran does not ascribe to Muhammad, e.g. miraculous healings and even raising the dead to life.

Time and time again, whenever there is mention of the possibility of God’s begetting children, this is strenuously denied and God’s uniqueness is affirmed. The following passage illustrates this:
He brings forth the living from the dead, and the dead from the living. Such is God. How then can you turn away from Him?
He kindles the light of dawn. He has ordained the night for rest and the sun and the moon for reckoning. Such is the ordinance of God, the Mighty, the Knowing.
It is He that has created for you the stars so that they may guide you in the darkness of land and sea. We have made plain Our revelations to men who understand.
He sends down water from the sky…
Yet they regard the jinn as God’s partners, though He Himself created them, and in their ignorance ascribe to Him sons and daughters. Glory be to Him! Exalted be He above their imputations!
He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He had no consort? He created all things and has knowledge of all things. This is
God, your Lord. There is no other god but Him, the Creator of all things (Q6,95-102).

Referring to the three famous goddesses of the Meccans, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat, the Quran is dismissively explicit: “They are but names which you and your fathers have invented” (Q53,23).

“When Mary’s son (i.e. Jesus) is cited as an instance (i.e. of the signs from God), your people (i.e. the Meccans) laugh and say: ‘Is he better than our own gods?’ They cite him to you merely to provoke you” (Q43,57-8). This is Dawood’s translation. It seems to me that he has caught the nuances of the exchange better than other translations. The Meccans know of Muhammad’s great respect for Jesus and realize that, by tauntingly equating him to their own goddesses, they can provoke him to an angry outburst.

For the sake of argument, Muhammad even goes so far as to say: “If the Lord of Mercy had a son, I would be the first to worship him” (Q43,81). But this is not so, and could never be so! God is infinitely above such a conception! The classic expression is: “Say: ‘God is One, the Eternal God. He begot none, nor was He begotten. None is equal to Him’” (Q112).

CONCLUSION
It seems to me that there are two models of God in Muhammad’s mind. One is of a god who has a consort by whom he begets sons and daughters. This was the faith world of the Mecca Muhammad grew up in. The other model was of the One, Unique, Creator God, Exalted far beyond such considerations, Peerless in Majesty and Power, Who has only to say, “Be! And it is.” In this conception the greatest possible sin, shirk, is to put anyone or anything on the same level as God, while the greatest dignity any human being can be raised to is that of being a Messenger or Apostle.

Muhammad forcefully rejects the first model and whole-heartedly embraces the second.
This seems to explain the exalted status of Jesus as a sinless prophet, apostle, miracle-worker etc., combined with a vehement denial that Jesus is the Son of God.

An Interview with Prof Christian W Troll SJ

Prof Christian W Troll was a professor of Islamic Studies at Vidya Jyoti, Delhi, lecturer for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Birmingham and professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. In 1999 he took over the direction of Christian-Islamic Forum of the Catholic Academy in Berlin. Since 2001 he is professor of the Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology of St Georgen, Germany. Recently, the Holy Father appointed him to the Catholic-Muslim Forum. He speaks to Victor Edwin SJ about the first meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum.

Is ‚Christian Muslim Forum’ a new chapter in the history of relations between Islam and Christianity?
I would not yet go so far as to qualify the creation of this Forum
as a new chapter in the total history of relations between Islam and Christianity, although it has the potentiality to become this. In any case, the Forum certainly adds to the important existing institutionalized, regular Catholic-Muslim dialogue initiatives – for instance, with al-Azhar University, with the Shiite establishment in Teheran and with the Muslim Call Society in Libya – an important new element.
New in the initiative of the core groups of Muslim leaders and scholars who have written the so-called ‚Letter of the 138’ is that their letter was able to gain the signatures of up to now 271 important Muslim personalities and, furthermore, that this Letter declares in unambiguous und eloquent ways the dual love commandment to be central not only in the light of the Hebrew and Christian Holy Scriptures but also of the Koran. In fact it quotes and discusses in some detail the relevant texts from these Scriptures.

Did the Conference give to both Muslims and Christians the opportunity to explain their understanding of the commandments to love God and love neighbour?
Yes, in their letter of October 2007 the Muslims had declared the dual love commandment to be the focus and centre of the Islamic doctrine. The Christians were able at this conference gratefully to take note of this Muslim declaration which is remarkable in the light of how the Muslims previously used to present Islam and Christianity. The Christians at the Conference made it however also clear, that for them the core of their faith is the affirmation of the primacy of the Love of God (cf. 1 Jn 4:16), made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ and in his love of God his Father and of the neighbor. They pointed out that it is God’s redeeming, liberating and transforming love that alone enables the believers to overcome sin, understood as alienation from God and the fellow human beings. And they spoke of the prayer to become instruments of God’s love who in the power of the Holy Spirit may practice the dual love of God and neighbour.

In the Common Word, Muslims argued that both faiths shared the dual commandment of Love for God and love for neighbor. What does this mean for both Christians and Muslims and how it can foster harmony between them?
From the point of view of the two delegations who in a short time were able to enter into a deep and mutually challenging exchange the sincere effort to practice love of God and neighbor should lead to palpable consequences in, for example the following areas: the recognition of human life as precious gift of God and the effort to preserve and honour it in all its stages; the respect of the human dignity of every person; the unconditional recognition of the person’s identity and freedom by individuals, communities and governments, supported by civil legislation that assures equal rights and full citizenship; the extension of human dignity and respect on an equal basis to both men and women; respect for the freedom of conscience and religion; respect of religious convictions and practices; the right to own places of worship; special care for the less privileged; the providing of sound education in human, civic, religious and moral values and providing accurate information about each other’s religions; the promotion of love and harmony among believers, and for humanity as a whole; renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice for all.

What are the common responsibilities of Christians and Muslims in today’s world, emphasized by the conference?
In addition to those mentioned already I should underline the call of the conference upon believers to work for an ethical financial system in which the regulatory mechanisms consider the situation of the poor and disadvantaged, both as individuals, and as indebted nations. Furthermore the call upon the privileged of the world to consider the light of those afflicted most severely by the current crisis in food production and distribution and to work together to alleviate the suffering of the hungry, and to eliminate its causes. Another responsibility is to provide for the young people above all – who increasingly live in multicultural and multireligious societies – a solid formation not only in their own religious traditions but also objective information about other cultures and religions.,

What are some mechanisms developed during the Conference by which the Forum can carry forward dialogue?
The Conference agreed to convene a follow-up conference in approximately two years. The next meeting will be convened in a Muslim majority country yet to be determined. Furthermore, the conference agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a permanent Catholic-Muslim committee to coordinate responses to conflicts and other emergency situations.
Dialogue would be successful only if all believers have equal rights
everywhere, which is not the case in some Muslim countries.

Did the Conference discuss the issue of religious freedom?
The conference dwelled repeatedly, and at moments emotionally, on this point. The equal rights to private and public worship was unambiguously demanded in the final declaration. The catholic delegation comprised four bishops from Muslim-majority countries: the Apostolic Delegate for the diocese of Arabia (who resides in Abu Dhabi), the Archbishop of Kerkuk in Iraq, the Greek Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo in Syria and Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan in Pakistan. They spoke about the fundamental importance of this right in a plastic and urgent manner. The Grand Mufti of Bosnia, H.E. Mustafa Ceriç, on his part insisted vehemently on the same right from the point of view of an important Muslim minority in Europe.

What was the message of the holy father to the delegates and to the world in the end of the conference?
The Holy Father’s address echoed in a striking manner the main points of the final document of the Conference. The key passage of it, to my mind, is the following: “We should thus work together in promoting genuine respect for the dignity of the human person and fundamental human rights, even though our anthropological visions and our theologies justify this in different ways. There is a great and vast field in which we can act together in defending and promoting the moral values which are part of our common heritage.”

What are the main features of the joint declaration?
I have in this interview already hinted at the main content. I appreciate that the 15 points of the Final Declaration do not waste time with non-committal compliments. It emphasizes the straight connection between commitment to love of God and neighbour and the practical and shared responsibilities that follow from it for Muslims and Christians alike and make them responsible for acting together wherever possible.
--

FINAL DECLARATION OF CATHOLIC-MUSLIM FORUM

The final declaration of participants in the First Seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum, which took place in Rome on November 4 – 6, 2008 on the theme: "Love of God, Love of Neighbour".
Each of the two sides in the meeting was represented by 24 participants and five advisers who discussed the two great themes of "Theological and Spiritual Foundations" and "Human Dignity and Mutual Respect". Points of "similarity and of diversity emerged, reflecting the distinctive specific genius of the two religions" the English-language declaration says.

1. "For Christians the source and example of love of God and neighbour is the love of Christ for His Father, for humanity and for each person" reads the first of the fifteen points of the declaration. "Love of neighbour cannot be separated from love of God, because it is an ex-pression of our love for God. ... Grounded in Christ's sacrificial love, Christian love is forgiving and excludes no-one; it therefore also includes one's enemies".
"For Muslims ... love is a timeless transcendent power which guides and transforms human mutual regard. This love, as indicated by the Holy and Beloved Prophet Muhammad, is prior to the human love for the One True God".

2. "Human life is a most precious gift of God to each person. It should therefore be preserved and honoured in all its stages".

3. Human dignity is derived from the fact that every human person is created by a loving God and has been endowed with the gifts of reason and free will, and therefore enabled to love God and others. On the firm basis of these principles, the person requires the respect of his or her original dignity and his or her human vocation. Therefore, he or she is entitled to full recognition of his or her identity and freedom by individuals, communities and governments, supported by civil legislation that assures equal rights and full citizenship.

4. "We affirm that God's creation of humanity has two great aspects: the male and the female human person, and we commit ourselves jointly to ensuring that human dignity and respect are extended on an equal basis to both men and women.

5. "Genuine love of neighbour implies respect of the person and her or his choices in matters of conscience and religion. It includes the right of individuals and communities to practice their religion in private and public.

6. "Religious minorities are entitled to be respected in their own religious convictions and practices. They are also entitled to their own places of worship, and their founding figures and symbols they consider sacred should not be subject to any form of mockery or ridicule.

7. "As Catholic and Muslim believers, we are aware of the summons and imperative to bear witness to the transcendent dimension of life, through a spirituality nourished by prayer, in a world which is becoming more and more secularised and materialistic.

8. "We affirm that no religion and its followers should be excluded from society. Each should be able to make its indispensable contribution to the good of society, especially in service to the most needy.

9. "We recognise that God's creation in its plurality of cultures, civilisations, languages and peoples is a source of richness and should therefore never become a cause of tension and conflict.
10. "We are convinced that Catholics and Muslims have the duty to provide a sound education in human, civic, religious and moral values for their respective members and to promote accurate information about each other's religions.

11. "We profess that Catholics and Muslims are called to be instruments of love and harmony among believers, and for humanity as a whole, renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice for all.

12. "We call upon believers to work for an ethical financial system in which the regulatory mechanisms consider the situation of the poor and disadvantaged, both as individuals, and as indebted nations. We call upon the privileged of the world to consider the plight of those afflicted most severely by the current crisis in food production and distribution, and ask religious believers of all denominations and all people of good will to work together to alleviate the suffering of the hungry, and to eliminate its causes.

13. "Young people are the future of religious communities and of societies as a whole. Increasingly, they will be living in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. It is essential that they be well formed in their own religious traditions and well informed about other cultures and religions.

14. "We have agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a permanent Catholic-Muslim committee to co-ordinate responses to conflicts and other emergency situations.

15. "We look forward to the second seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum to be convened in approximately two years in a Muslim-majority country yet to be determined".
The declaration concludes by affirming that all the participants "expressed satisfaction with the results of the seminar and their expectation for further productive dialogue".

CONCLUSIONS OF CATHOLIC-MUSLIM MEETING
Here is the final statement of the 11th colloquium of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Islamic Call Society, which ended on December 17, 2008 in Rome. The theme of the Colloquium was "Responsibilities of Religious Leaders especially in Times of Crisis."
The Catholic and the Muslim participants agreed on the following:

1) The first and most important responsibility of religious leaders is one of a religious nature, according to their respective religious traditions, to faithfully fulfill them through teaching, good deeds and example, thus serve their communities for the glory of God.

2) Considering the role religions can and should have in society, religious leaders also have a cultural and social role to play in promoting fundamental ethical values, such as justice, solidarity, peace, social harmony and the common good of society as a whole, especially the needy, the weak, migrants and the oppressed.

3) Religious leaders have a special responsibility towards youth, who require particular attention so that they do not fall victim to religious fanaticism and radicalism, receiving rather, a sound education thereby helping them to become bridge builders and peace makers.

4) Taking into consideration that crises of diverse nature, including in interreligious relations, are possible, on a national or international level, religious leaders should learn to prevent, cope with and remedy these particular situations, avoiding their degeneration into confessional violence. This requires a mutual respect and reciprocal knowledge, both cherishing personal relations and building confidence and mutual trust, so as to be able to confront together crises when they occur.

The participants were honoured and pleased to be received by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who expressed his satisfaction and strong encouragement. The two sides agreed to hold the next colloquium in Tripoli within the next two years.

THEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES SEPARATE ISLAM FROM CHRISTIANITY: THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, admitted yesterday that the Christian and Muslim faiths are so fundamentally different that both sides are still unable to understand each other properly.

Dr Williams, speaking at an interfaith conference in Cambridge, said that it was possible for Islam and Christianity, two of the three Abrahamic faiths, to agree around the imperatives to love God and "love your neighbour". Muslims and Christians agree about the need to alleviate both poverty and suffering, he said.

But at a theological level there was still massive disagreement. Dr Williams contrasted the "self-emptying" aspect of Christianity, a faith built on the failure and weakness of its founder through his death on the cross, to the Islamic narrative of "trial and triumph".

The Archbishop said: "Even in its narratives of Jesus, [Islam] questions or sidelines the story of the death of Jesus as Christians tell it – an issue that is still a live one as between our faiths."
He said that the two faiths' concepts of martyrdom were also different. In Christianity, martyrdom was a way of validating failure while in Islam, it constituted part of the "struggle" in fighting evil. "And how far an Islamic ethic would see love of neighbour as essentially involving the kind of self-abnegation privileged by Christianity is a point worth exploring," Dr Williams said.

The Archbishop was criticised earlier this year following a BBC interview in which he suggested that the adoption of some aspects of Islamic sharia law in the UK seemed "unavoidable". His lecture in Cambridge, however, illustrated a clear understanding of the issues at stake between the two faiths. Dr Williams did not in any form come across as an apologist for Islam but as someone using his formidable intellect in an attempt to bridge the divide.

Dr Williams was one of a number of leading Christian and Islamic scholars addressing the conference, A Common Word at Cambridge University. It marked the first anniversary of the publication of A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter from 138 Islamic scholars, clerics and intellectuals promoting understanding and tolerance between the two faiths. Addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders, the letter warned that the survival of the world could be at stake if Muslims and Christians could not make peace with each other.
"If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world - with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before - no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants.
"Our common future is at stake," the letter said. "The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."

The conference will make recommendations on how the two faiths can work better together, to be unveiled at Lambeth Palace, the London office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Wednesday. The closer cooperation will not just be at the level of religious organisations but will be enacted across charities and secular bodies at all levels of society.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr Ali Gomaa, who also addressed the conference, welcomed the Archbishop's speech. "It is clear from your response that you are fully prepared to enter into dialogue on a profound level. For our part we would like to tell you that we share your willingness for dialogue and that we take this great deal of common ground to be a foundation for promoting respect and understanding that will in turn lead to a deepening of our relationship. We hope this conference will result in new, practical, and groundbreaking recommendations," he said.

"Effective communication is our powerful tool for containing and managing crises.....Every action now in any place will affect others either positively or negatively. Isolation and seclusion are no longer an option. The only choice is to live together on this Earth. So what should we do? We must engage in dialogue and lay down foundations for it as God intended."

He said he hoped the two sides would be able to transcend dialogue and find partnership.