A Pilgrimage to Akbar’s Tomb

Victor Edwin SJ

Whenever Jesuits discussed their trip to Taj Mahal (Agra), I invariably asked whether they had visited the tomb of Akbar (Sikandra). Often the reply was that they did not. Some also asked ‘What is the significance of Akbar’s tomb in the context of a trip to Taj Mahal?  The glory and splendour of Taj Mahal and its ‘la jawab’ beauty overshadows the significance of Akbar’s tomb for Jesuits. If the Taj Mahal attracts a Jesuit for its aesthetic beauty, the tomb of Akbar should attract him for a theological reason. I would like to explain why I think that Jesuits should visit Jalaluddin Akbar’s (that was his full name) tomb.

Akbar rose to the Mughal throne in 1556 CE. While in 1573 he was in Gujarat on a military campaign he met a deputation from Goa led by one Antony Cabral, a Portuguese. This could be most probably Akbar’s first meeting with Christians. Akbar was struck by their valour and courtesy. A few years later, in 1576, Akbar heard about two Catholic priests in Bengal who refused to give absolution to some Christian merchants who defrauded the Mughal treasurer. Their honesty attracted Akbar’s favourable attention. Those Catholic priests were Jesuits. Then in the year 1577, one Pedro Tavares, the commandant of Satgaon in Bengal arrived at Akbar’s court with his wife.  Akbar esteemed Tavares for his sound sense and upright conduct. These meetings open Akbar’s mind towards Christianity, the religion these Portuguese and Jesuits practised.  He was interested in finding out the Law that governs the life of Christians. This is a clue to his attraction towards Christianity. 

The first Catholic priest who arrived at the court of Akbar was Julian Pereira. Right away, Pereira entered into bitter polemics with the Muslim courtiers at the court of Akbar. However, Pereira was unable to explain the Christian faith ‘reasonably’ and he himself suggested that Jesuits from St Paul’s College, Goa, would be able to help the Emperor as they are more learned than him. Soon a farman from the Emperor reached Goa. Akbar asked for Jesuit priests to come to his court and explain to him the Law of Christ. Paul Jackson explains: “Although the Church authorities were very suspicious about the whole affair, they ultimately decided to accede to the Mughal Emperor’s request, arguing that the mission could lead to great advances for the Christian Church or, at worst, provide it with three new martyrs”.

On their arrival Jesuits were received cordially in the Court of the Emperor. They were given large sums of money and accorded quarters in the palace. The Jesuits politely refused the large sums and accepted only what is needed for their sustenance. They also preferred to live in a modest quarters than in the palace. These gestures expressed the interior life of the Jesuits. Akbar was impressed by the simplicity of the Jesuit priests. The Jesuits received their meals from the royal table, which was no ordinary gesture of the Emperor.

On several occasions Akbar demonstrated his love and friendliness towards Jesuits openly. When Antony Monserrate was ill, Akbar visited him and wished him in Portuguese. Many times the Emperor asked the Jesuits to sit next to him even as a gesture of familiarity and love. He walked with his hands around the neck of Rudolf Aquaviva. He used to take them to his inner chamber for private discussion. He shook hands with Jesuits in a most familiar way. Such gestures were simply Akbar’s expression of his love for Jesuits. No other person in his court would even dream of such familiarity with the Emperor.

Akbar showed great respect while entering the Jesuit chapel.  He appointed his minister to teach the Jesuits Persian and asked the Jesuits to teach him Portuguese and good morals. He charged Abu’-l-fazl to translate the gospels into Persian.  He gave full freedom to the Jesuits to preach and make converts. He appreciated the love Jesuits had for one another. When Monserrate rushed to meet Aquaviva on learning he was sick, Akbar openly praised their concern saying: “See, how they love each other”.  Akbar’s relation with Jesuits was really warm and friendly.

Jesuits on their part respected the Emperor. As suggested, they aimed at converting him and though him the whole Hindustan. To achieve this end, Jesuits demonstrated the articles of Christian faith through reason. They expounded the reasons for the authenticity of the Jewish and Christian scriptures.  Then they fired from their motivational cylinders full-scale attacks on the Qur’an, on Muhammad and on Islam. They first attacked the fallacies and errors of the Qur’an. Second, they contrasted: the holiness of the life of Jesus with the irregularities in the life of Muhammad and the holiness of the Law of Christ, and the pure life of those who spread it with the impurity of the Law of Muhammad and its spread by sword. Such attacks raised the anger of Muslim courtiers in the Court. However, Akbar allowed the Jesuits to complete their arguments. Later his only suggestion to the Jesuits was to be moderate in their arguments. Akbar was practicing a high level of religious tolerance around the time when Giordano Bruno was burnt at stake for heresy at Campo dei Fiori in Rome.

It is worth mentioning that Akbar’s court reflected the court of Caliph al-Ma’mûn (probably around 829) in this aspect.  While the Greek orthodox bishop of Abû Qurra debated with the Muslim interlocutor ‘Abd Allāh al-Hāshimi on a number of elements of Christian Faith, at a certain assertion of Abû Qurra, al-Hāshimi protested to the Caliph against the Christian bishop. The Caliph encouraged Abû Qurra and said: “This is a court of justice and equity: none shall be wronged therein. So advance your arguments and answer without fear, for there is none here who will not speak well of you . . . Let everyone speak who has the wisdom to demonstrate the truth of his religion.” The role of reason in the public space was thus affirmed. 

Something very important that the Jesuits did not seem to have picked up while at the Akbar’s court: Emperor Akbar was impressed by the personal life, honesty and valour of Christians. What he wanted was to hear from them the ‘reason’ behind their life and faith commitment. When he asked for the Law of Christ to be explained to him, did he not ask for an account of their hope (1 Peter 3:14)? The Jesuits entered into polemics instead of giving account for their hope. It looks that the Jesuits completely misread Akbar and his intentions. The Jesuits can be likened to a student who wrote his answer without bothering to know what question has been asked!

On a larger scale Akbar enquired into the traditions of different religions not as a pastime philosophical pleasure but to learn to deal with people who follow different traditions in his kingdom. He was in search of a new paradigm. He wanted to unite his kingdom not by using his power alone but his wisdom. His political wisdom whispered in his ears that the unity of his kingdom will be achieved by the good will of all people living their faith traditions without fear. For, he had inherited a kingdom greatly diverse in the religious affiliation of its peoples. 

In other words how to deal with plurality? Akbar, first of all accepted plurality. One cannot read a religious reason into his acceptance of plurality by saying that he accepted plurality as God’s design. As suggested above it was for good politics and governance, Akbar realised that the ruler should accept the plural situation of the kingdom. Second, he affirmed a dialogical commitment and respect towards different religions and towards the believers of those religions. He called for exchange of views and conversation. Both, the dialogical commitment to diversity and exchange of views are interlinked with an integrated understanding of the diverse society.  Third, he recognised that the pursuit of reason is crucial to build up social harmony. He emphasised the greater importance of open discussion rooted in reason than on reliance on tradition. He organized dialogue between religions in his court.  By supporting open dialogue he sort of emphasised the public reasoning is crucial for governance. It was the conviction of Akbar that ‘reason in the public space’ is crucial for harmony among all people. The Jesuits at Akbar’s court did not pick up this deeper dimension of the Emperor’s wisdom. 

For a Jesuit today, Akbar’s kindness and personal love towards their brother Jesuits and his patience with them in the face of their polemic spirit demonstrate a great lesson of tolerance and interfaith understanding.  Through his remarkable openness Akbar laid a foundation for interfaith understanding based on love and knowledge, interlinked by reason. Is this not enough reason for a Jesuit to visit the tomb of Akbar in a spirit of introspection and seeking inspiration?

Trappist nuns in Azeir, a sign of hope for Syria at war

(AsiaNews)

Located between Homs and Tartous in western Syria, the Monastery of Azeir continues to help Christians and Muslims, despite the fighting. What follows includes some excerpts from letters written by five Italian nuns living at the monastery posted online. Through simple actions like praying and gardening, the sisters have become a beacon of hope for Christians and Muslims devastated by the conflict.

Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, when the main noise has been the sound of bombs going off and the screams of those they wounded, there are still some places where the prevailing hatred is held at bay. One of them is a Trappist monastery in the small Maronite village of Azeir, located in western Syria between the cities of Tartous and Homs.  Five Italian nuns from the Monastery of Valserena (Pisa) call it home. Despite the fighting raging around them, they chose to stay in the country. "Despite our Italian nationality," said Sister Monica, superior of the Mother House, "and the resources we might have because of it, we are part of this community and cannot leave at a time of trial. Its fate is our fate."

In letters written over the past few months and posted on the monastery's website, the nuns describe the tragedies of the war and the suffering endured by the residents of the villages that surround them.

For the sisters, the monastery is a tangible sign of hope. "A place where God is worshiped in his real presence, both Eucharistic and Ecclesial, through prayers and brotherly communion, is a blessing for all."

However, "Our neighbours are discouraged," said one of the letters posted. "Even in our small village, civilians and young conscripts have been killed."

"The country," wrote another, "has become a battleground for adversaries that are bigger than Syria, people who came to fight in this land and this people to settle their own conflicts."

In each post, the Trappist nuns call on all Christians to pray for the Syrian population that welcomed them.

According to them, "people want justice, freedom, democracy but also jobs and a chance to go out with the family."

During the months of war, Muslims came to the monastery, not only to ask for basic items, but also for some comfort.

"Some young people began turning to us because they needed someone to help them think, grow and reflect," one nun said.

The nuns responded to such requests with their life, full of prayers and small actions, like growing vegetables in the garden and tending the orchard, which produces all sorts of fruit," another nun said.

Bearing witness in this simple fashion helps people have hope and stand up to hatred,  mindful of the traditions of this land where Christians and Muslims have lived in peace for centuries.

"Our trust in man comes from Christian hope and it is stronger than all the horrors," Sister Monica wrote. "Christians are called to bear witness to it in the world. Since we have been called to Syria, why leave?"

Syria's civil war broke out in March 2011 in the wake of the Arab spring. Some 30,000 people have died since its start with almost a million forced from their homes. Some 200,000 have found refugee in neighbouring countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

After months of fighting and appeals by the pope and the United Nations for a ceasefire, UN and Arab League special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced today a possible truce for the Muslim festivity of the Eid al-Adha, which will be celebrated over the week-end.

A New Website on Christian-Muslim Relations

You may be interested in a new website that my professor Dr Chris Hewer have created called www.chrishewer.org on which you will find resources written by him: various articles, a couple of books and hopefully in due course documents relating to the work.  There are also some audio-visual resources available there: links to some TV programmes that I have done with Ahl al-Bayt TV and some educational resources with the “Seeking the Spirit of Islam” project.  Understanding Islam courses still run as intensive three-day residentials and there are some follow-up courses either as single days or residentials; all such that are open to everyone will be listed under his Calendar on the website.

If you go to the Newsletter button on the website, you will be offered the chance to put your name and e-mail address on the Newsletter subscription list, which will mean that you will receive occasional Newsletters from him when there are new articles or other postings on the site.

Dear Readers:

Welcome to October 2012 issue of Salaam.

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

Pushpa Anbu SVD editor

Victor Edwin SJ managing editor

1.                Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me – Christian W Troll SJ

2.                Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue - Victor Edwin SJ

3.                The Many Sides of Christian-Muslim Relationships – Prof Leo D. Lefebure

4.                There are more things that unite the humans than separate … Prof T. K. John SJ

5.                Assisi 2012 Where We Dwell in Common: Pathways for Dialogue in the 21^st Century – Prof Leo D. Lefebure

6.                Energizing Vision and Pioneering Mission: Jesuits in Pakistan – Victor Edwin SJ

Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me

Christian W Troll SJ

Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me more profoundly in South Asia, Christian W Troll SJ tells Francesco Pistocchini. An Italian traslation of this interview appeared in the POPOLI. Thanks to Pistocchini for providing us with the English text and also the premission to publish it in Salaam.

Pistocchini: At the beginning, could you briefly summarize the history of Jesuit involvement in Islam studies and in the dialogue with Muslim people?

Troll: Ignatius and his first companions understood the importance of reaching out to people on the frontiers and at the centre of society, of reconciling those who were estranged in any way. From the centre in Rome, Ignatius sent Jesuits to the frontiers, to the new world, to announce the Lord to peoples and cultures that did not know him as yet. The tradition of the Society included right from the beginning the concern to go among Muslims. However at the time the political realities made the work of missionary propagation in Muslim lands near impossible. An exception are the Jesuits missions to the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar of India and his immediate successors (late 16^th and beginning 17^th century). However, these missions to the Mughal Court did not lead then in the Society of Jesus to a lasting preoccupation with Muslims and Islam as such. This changed only much later, with the foundation of the Near East province and the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut (1881). Here was undertaken systematically, the study of Arabic language and literature and of Muslim faith and practice in past and present, as part of the overall objective to help the Christians of the Arab world in witnessing to Christ within the predominantly Muslim Arab societies of their countries.

Pistocchini: Is there any network of Jesuits among Muslims? If yes, how does it work?

Troll: In the wake of the Second Vatican Council several General Congregations of the Order dealt in a special way with Jesuit involvement in intercultural and interreligious Dialogue. The then General Superior of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Pedro Arrupe (Superior General from 1965-83), nominated a member of the order in Rome, knowledgeable and experienced in the field, to counsel him on questions relating to the apostolate of Jesuits among Muslims. In 1995 the 34. General Congregation of the Order asked the General Superior (a t the time:  Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach) to establish at the Jesuit Curia in Rome a Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue in order to further the initiatives and coordinate Jesuit activities in the field of interreligious dialogue as well as to organize formation programs in interreligious dialogue for Jesuits world-wide. The Secretary also published a Bulletin to serve the exchange of experience and theological reflection in the area of dialogue. As far as Jesuit-Muslim relations are concerned, over the years there have taken place different places meetings of the loose group or network ‘Jesuits among Muslims’ (JAM).  In 2009, Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, who had succeeded Fr. Kolvenbach as General Superior in 2008, modified this structure. The Secretariat was discontinued and instead advisors of interreligious dialogue were appointed who from their own involvement and study in the field would inform Fr. General about their respective area of dialogue. Once a year all the advisors come to together for a meeting with Fr. General to share with each other perspectives on dialogue on their different fields.

Having been appointed advisor on matters concerning Christian-Muslim Relations,  in 2010  I convened a JAM meeting, in order to renew the network after a break of several years. The man objective was to promote the exchange of information and to further shared reflection. Members of this network would be Jesuits who have given regularly a considerable amount of their time to this specific apostolate in its most varied forms: Spiritual/contemplative contact and study, research in the field of Islamic studies, teaching, formation, education, Christian-Muslim collaboration in social and related fields, in other words, Jesuits who have had the opportunity to study and reflect upon Muslim societies and Islam in a sustained manner, in the spirit of dialogue and collaboration as defined by the relevant Church documents since Vatican II. Younger Jesuits, preparing for this apostolate via studies and in other ways, were especially invited. Thus a meeting of 37 Jesuits took place at the Gregorian University in Rome from Sept 16-19, 2011. The overall theme was ‘Approaching Islam in the Light of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises’. The special objective of the meeting was to reflect upon the motives and the that would mark Jesuit engagement in dialogue with Muslims.

Pistocchini: Is there a specific Jesuit perspective in this field?

Troll: The Jesuits were founded as an apostolic group called to go where the needs were more universal and more urgent, and into frontier situations. We are supported in this apostolic drive by the Spiritual Exercises. The spirituality is marked by openness to the working of the Holy Spirit in and around us, not least in groups and religions outside the visible confines of the Church including the world(s) outside the visible Church. The approach will be marked by the ‘discernment of spirits’ which, when applied to interreligious realities, includes intimate familiarity with the world of faith, practice and religious thought of, in this case, Muslims in their great cultural and religious variety. It will also be marked by the effort ever anew to contextualize the Christian message and life in the various social and cultural settings that condition our world-wide apostolate. We should also mention here the particular call which has been addressed to us Jesuits by recent Popes, especially Pope Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI., to reach out in our day to people on the frontiers, where cultures and religions meet in a climate of tension and questioning. 

Pistocchini: You have been scholar in different parts of the world. Where did you more deeply develop your knowledge of Islam? 

Troll: I have had the privilege to meet Muslims from the late 1950’s onwards as co-students, as colleagues, as regular interlocutors in dialogue in the various parts of the Christian-Muslim world, wherever my extended years of study and then my teaching activities lead me. However, nowhere has the depth of Muslim sense of prayer and spirituality touched me more profoundly than in South Asia, where I was privileged to spent 12 active years, after preparing for this in and from London University, where I studied under and with Muslims  Urdu language and literature and Islamic history.

Pistocchini: “Muslim ask, Christian answer”: could you explain what is it? What are its origin and goals?

This is the title of a relatively little book that now exists in seven languages. It also forms the basis of an interactive website answering questions by Muslims about Christian faith and practice (see: www.answers-to-muslims.com; www.risposteaimusulmani.com). This grew from my experience in Ankara/Turkey, where I taught in the Faculty of Muslim Theology as guest professor on Christianity, and where I saw that younger Muslims do have many questions about Christianity. It is their right to receive answers to these by us Christian believers. Furthermore, without sound mutual information, it would seem to me, no true Christian-Muslim dialogue on that level makes sense.

Pistocchini: What are the main questions? What are the most challenging theological and cultural arguments?

Troll: Besides the classical questions (incarnation, trinity; sin, salvation and redemption through the Cross of Christ) many questions concern issues of social ethics and bioethics, the structures of the Church, including papacy and the papal teaching office (magisterium), pluralism and truth claims in the context of contemporary democratic societies, family and celibacy.

Catholic Christians are, on the whole, little aware of the extraordinary gift God has bestowed upon them. They must be made aware of the moral duty to share, or at  least to desire to share, it in dialogical ways with persons belonging to another faith tradition such as Islam. Christians are called in the spirit of friendship to invite to fellowship with Christ. 

Pistocchini: You have a central role in the Catholic-Muslim Forum. Could you take stock of the initiative? 

Troll: The Church has regular meetings with various groups of Muslim representatives. Thus, the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) over the past decades has established regular contacts with a number of important Muslim institutions world-wide: The Al-Azhar University in Cairo; the Muslim Call Society of Libya, Shiite clerical bodies in Tehran… More recently the PCID has formalized contacts with the group of Muslim leaders and thinkers who formulated and/or signed the famous ‘Common Word’ document of 2007 which set out and declared that the dual love commandment is as central and binding on Muslims and their tradition as it is to the Jewish and Christian religion. The main figures behind the ‘Common Word’ initiative were Prince Ghazi of the Royal House of Jordan, Prof. Timothy Winter alias Abdul-Hakim Murad of Cambridge, UK, and Dr. Aref Nayyed of Libya. 

After the first seminar of the Forum in Rome in 2008 the impression was that with the Common Word group of Muslims there had opened the possibility of entering more deeply and frankly into essential themes and of successfully expressing, with greater clarity and fidelity, that which unites and differentiates Christians and Muslims. The final joint declaration of the 2008 seminar contained important statements about respect for persons and their choices in matters of conscience and religion [and] on the equal dignity of men and women. In his speech to the delegates at the end of the first Seminar in November 2008 Benedict XVI invited the two sides to unite their efforts, with the goal of overcoming incomprehension, overcoming prejudices and correcting the distorted image of the other. He stated that the often bloody conflicts between Christians and Muslims in various parts of the world had made the dialogue complex and difficult, but that they must not hamper or stop it. Comparing the text of the final declaration of the first seminar in Rome in Nov. 2008 with the final declaration of the Second Seminar of November 2011, organized by Prince Ghazi in Jordan, at the Baptism site, clearly shows that certainly one is able to talk about the Christian and Muslims understandings of basic points of the teaching on matters as basic, broad and removed from everyday reality as  ‘Reason, Faith and the Human Person’, but that, on the other hand, one is not able to frankly discuss and even less to agree upon any concrete measures that would seem to follow from the double command of love of God and love of neighbor, such as for instance  the respect of individual religious freedoms and equal citizens rights. However, the Vatican will continue fostering colloquia on the international level, since they provide many opportunities for unique, informal exchanges. Such do constitute opportunities for mutual learning through conversation in small groups and under four eyes. There is no alternative to dialogue on that large international as well as on other levels, independent of how much or little palpable results they generate at the moment.

Pistocchini: Islam is taking a new role in the political turmoil of these months? How do you evaluate this role and the possible developments, especially in Arab countries?

Troll: Instead of saying ‘Islam is taking a new role’ I should formulate: Muslim individuals and Muslim groups and parties -- in the name of their understanding of what Islam means and demands in the given concrete situations -- have played and continue to play a significant role in giving shape to the developments in the Arab world that have been termed ‘Arab Spring’, ‘Arab revolution’ and the like. The overall situation is very complex and the constellations in different Arab countries vary considerably. Knowledgeable and experienced Christian partners in Muslim-Christian relations are challenged to discern on the basis of precise and comprehensive information the various trends and the programs that are being worked out by various religious-political parties. It is not easy to assess the respective weight of certain movements at the moment, and any predictions concerning the future would seem to be hazardous. The key question, however, remains wider open: will Muslim majorities emerge that seriously question and even effectively oppose the traditional pattern of political-religious Islamic synthesis; will a majority of Muslims develop a consciousness that accepts the basic Human Rights as spelled out in the Un Declaration of 1948. Will political parties win majorities who stand for granting to all inhabitants of Muslim-majority Arab countries equal rights to all its citizens, irrespective of ethnical and religious allegiance. In my opinion we are still far removed from the realization of these demands or even only the trend towards this. This fact has to be taken into account realistically.

Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue

Victor Edwin SJ

Dr. Marcia Hermansen, the Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and a Professor in the Theology Department at the Jesuit Loyola University Chicago, presented a lecture on Hizmet Movement (here after HM) at Indialogue Foundation, New Delhi on 7 March 2012. Dr. Hermansen teaches courses in Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion. In the course of her research and language training she lived for extended periods in Egypt, Jordan, India, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Her personal contact with the followers of HM made her lecture personally attractive. I am grateful to Ali Akiz and Ahmet for inviting me to this program. I was also given the happy opportunity to moderate the session which was enriching.

In this short article, I will spell out what I have learnt about HM and its founder. HM is a global movement that is inspired by the Turkish Muslim thinker and activist Fethullah Gülen.  He stresses that ignorance, poverty, and conflict are the three greatest enemies of humanity. He encourages his fellow citizens to root out these evils from the human family. The followers of Gülen in the HM through education and dialogue tackle these vices and work for a more humane society.

 

What impresses me most about Mr Gülen is that he is a moral exemplar. His words and deeds inspire followers towards action for the transformation of society through service to the less privileged. He motivates his followers to make sacrifices in their personal lives in order to serve others. This is seen from the fact that his followers volunteer to go to different parts of the globe, even leaving their families, to serve those who are in need. There is no discrimination at the schools and other centers established by HM. Moreover, the business men who finance these projects around the world do not just give from their excess but generously with a deep concern for the other. It could be said that their service is qualified by their commitment to the other.  As a Christian I cannot but notice the sacrificial content of such service that is also very much part of the Catholic Church’s devotion to humanity, which becomes truly holy when it is rooted in the personal element of sacrifice.

 

As a religious thinker Gülen does not confine himself only to religious issues but he also touches upon social, economic, educational issues. Thus he has developed a comprehensive vision of the world and persons in the world. Such an integral vision is operationalized only when we are involved at a personal level in terms of volunteering to working for others. His methodology is impressive. 

 

One needs to appreciate Gülen’s discernment in his work. When he began as a religious preacher he began to influence the minds of many young students and professors at the universities. Soon there were suggestions that he should establish more mosques for worship.  However, his keen analysis showed that his people needed more schools rather than mosques. This art of discernment is the fruit of a deep commitment to his faith and to his people. So he established schools and dormitories. Here was a novel idea that provided students with a caring place, when they were away from home. These dormitories were truly a home away from home! They provided women students with a safe place to stay during their education. They gave many women an opportunity to pursue a university education. In this way they promoted women’s education in a big way. This dormitory setup also helped students learn to live with one another, appreciating their many differences. Thus these student dorms’ were the seed-beds for HM’s dialogical mission. In the words of Dr Hermansen, Hizmet is rooted in the culture of dialogue.

 

Gülen’s vision is truly global. The volunteers of HM live and work in 154 countries! They plan to expand their operation to places where they have not yet reached. It is said that in the early years of his work Gülen placed a map of Turkey on his office wall and later changed it to a world map and finally replaced the world map with a picture of the globe from space. This photograph symbolically represents his openness to the whole world and emphasizes his passion to be at the service of the human family without any discrimination.  Gülen’s global vision challenges his followers to lose themselves in the collectivity of humanity. This vision prepares them for a truly international world view.

 

The idea of networking is fascinating in the life and work of the followers of HM. There are a lot of people doing good work. But often they remain isolated without bringing much desired fruit. How does one transform a good work into an outstanding work? Without hesitation one could say, by net working! The followers of HM are great net-workers. Net working produces synergy. It is said that one plus one in mathematics is two; but, in human relations, it could be two, four or more, it could also be zero. The answer depends upon the quality of relationships. It appears to me that the followers of Gülen provide an opportunity to multiply the impact of their service by great networking. They are good at identifying their talents and at shaping them for a quality service. 

Let us broaden out these reflections from the HM. Prof Tom Michel once wrote: “Many people see the need for interreligious and intercultural dialogue but are not sure where to begin. I have often been asked, ‘How do you go about starting up dialogue with others?’ Especially because I am a Christian who has lived and shared life with Muslims for many years, they ask, ‘How do you go about beginning a dialogue with Muslims? Where do you start?’ I believe that the first thing we have to do is to look around at the society in which we live to try to identify those who are our logical partners in dialogue. Who are the individuals and groups with whom we find ourselves sharing ideals, whose vision of the future is at least compatible with our own, whose value system intersects with ours at various points? Thus, for the Christian who wants to enter into dialogue with Muslims, the first step is to distinguish and recognize the movements, organizations and communities of Muslims who are open to dialogue with us, who have something to say to us from which we might learn something, and who are also ready to listen to us, to hear our stories, and to appreciate our religious and humane vision of life, even as they remain committed to their own spiritual path”. The followers of HM are one such group of people among many others whose vision is inclusive and consequently inspiring. I find them as my co-pilgrims in my dialogical journey. 

The Many Sides of Christian-Muslim Relationships

Leo D. Lefebure

Historical Background

Since the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E., Muslims and Christians have related to each other in a wide variety of ways, ranging from friendship and cooperation to bitter conflict and military combat.  The great medieval historian R.W. Southern asserted, “The existence of Islam was the most far-reaching problem in medieval Christendom.  It was a problem at every level of experience.”  The major options for relationship were: “Crusade, conversion, coexistence, and commercial interchange.”  Meanwhile, theologically, “it called persistently for some answer to the mystery of its existence: what was its providential role in history?” (Southern 3).  Historically, Islam is the most successful competitor that Christianity ever encountered prior to modern secularism; most of the heartlands of early Christianity, the sites of the early church fathers and councils and some of the oldest sees, are today predominantly Muslim.  No other movement had this type of success on traditional Christian soil.  This left medieval Christians profoundly uneasy with Islam.  Christians could argue that the subordinate situation of the Jews demonstrated God’s anger at them for their rejection of Jesus; Islam, however, was from the beginning immensely successful in the military and political field. 

          In the early Middle Ages Muslim cultural and intellectual life far surpassed developments in Western Europe.  Islam had more vibrant cities, wealthier courts, better scientists and doctors.  Hrosvitha of Gandersheim (ca. 935-ca. 1002) described Muslim-ruled Cordoba as the most splendid of cities:

In the western parts of the globe, there shone forth a fair ornament, a venerable city, haughty because of its unwonted might it was a city well cultured, which the Spanish race held in possession, rich and known by the famous name Cordoba, illustrious because of its charms and also renowned for all resources, especially abounding in the seven streams of knowledge, and ever famous for continual victories. (Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, Passio S. Pelagii, verses 12-18; cited by von Grunebaum 57.)

The Christian tradition in general and the Catholic Church in particular have had a profoundly ambivalent relationship to Islam.  Dante Alighieri, perhaps the greatest poet in the entire history of Christianity, represents and symbolizes this.  Nearly a century ago, the Spanish scholar Miguel Asín Palacios demonstrated that in conceiving the Divine Comedy, Dante was directly dependent upon Muslim accounts of the Night Journey of Muhammad to heaven, where the prophet reportedly met and conversed with Abraham, Moses and Jesus (Asin Palacios).  The achievement of Dante would have been unthinkable without the contribution of the vibrant culture of early medieval Islam.  Yet when the great Christian poet describes Muhammad’s place in the afterlife, Dante finds the prophet in the Eighth Circle of hell reserved for schismatics.  The punishment Dante envisions for Muhammad is to be repeatedly split from the chin through his torso over and over again for all eternity (Inferno 28:22-36). 

Similarly, Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries developed scholastic theology in constructive dialogue with Muslim thinkers Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna).  Thomas deeply respected Ibn Rushd’s interpretation of Aristotle, and Aquinas accepted Ibn Sina’s distinction between existing and essence as a way to move beyond Aristotle’s metaphysics in understanding creation ex nihilo.  Nonetheless, Thomas, like Dante, could imagine no place in heaven for Muhammad, Ibn Rushd, or Ibn Sina.  For Thomas, implicit faith in the mystery of Jesus Christ and the Trinity could have sufficed for salvation prior to the time of Christ; but after the Incarnation, “when once grace had been revealed, all were bound to explicit faith in the mystery of the Trinity,” as well as in Jesus Christ (Summa Theologiae 2-2.2.8; 2-2.2.7).

A few medieval Christians had a reasonably accurate understanding of Islam, but the majority learned about Islam through polemics, lies, and slanders.  The last chapter of John Damascene’s book, Concerning Heresies, is entitled, “The Heresy of the Ishmaelites,” and describes Islam in insulting terms as the hundredth heresy.  John refers to Saracens (one etymology is that the word means “empty of Sarah,” i.e., driven out by Sarah from Abraham’s home) rather than Muslims and “the heresy of the Ishmaelites” rather than using term “Islam.”  John ridiculed Islam, charging that Muhammad fabricated stories of revelation to justify his sexual appetites and that Muhammad invented the teachings of the Qur’an based on instruction from an Arian monk (later named Sergius in Byzantine and Western legend, Sargis-Bahira in Syriac and Bahira in Arabic) (Daniel 15, 109-110).  Nicetas of Byzantium argued that the God of Islam is actually a devil.  Muhammad himself was vilified, often being portrayed as an epileptic who invented stories of an angel to excuse his fits.  Medieval Christians largely refused to understand Islam on its own terms and viewed it as a Christian heresy or schism.  As Christian and Muslim warriors encountered each other on the battlefield off and on for over a millennium, the threat of a decisive Islamic victory hung over Christian Europe.  In this context, Christian attitudes toward Islam were often bitter and fearful. 

          Toward the end of the Middle Ages, in fifteenth-century Spain, many Catholics respected their Jewish and Muslim neighbors and their religions.  One commented, in contradiction to the teaching of the Catholic teaching authorities of the time, “the good Jew and the good Muslim can, if they act correctly, go to heaven just like the good Christians” (cited by Kamen 6). At least at times, Christians, Muslims, and Jews gathered together to share their wisdom, exchange translations of ancient Greek texts, and make possible the spread of knowledge across religious boundaries.  The rebirth of Western medieval scholarship in the twelfth and thirteen centuries was made possible by the open dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Spain and the Middle East. 

          In various settings Jesuit missioners continued both sides of the earlier tradition.  Some, like Francisco Ignacio Alzina, S.J., who came to the Philippines in 1632, commented bitterly in his Historia about "that infamous sect of Mohamet, which has infected many of the islands of this archipelago before our true one arrived here."  Meanwhile, in Mughal India, Jesuit missioners participated in lively debates with Sunnis and Shiites, as well as Hindus and Jains, under the supervision of the Emperor Akbar.  Akbar personally supported the work of the Jesuits; but his goal was to establish an amalgam of the best of the world’s religions, with a particular focus on himself.  The Jesuits, for all their skill in debating and their acceptance at court, did not make major inroads into India at this time.  Nonetheless, the Jesuits’ scholarship and translation of Christian texts into Persian did have a major impact on the Mughal court and earned them the respect of their Muslim debating partners.

Contemporary Relations

In the current time of international tension, the vilifying of Islam continues unabated in some quarters, as the violence done in the name of Islam is identified with the center of the religion itself.  Nonetheless, in many areas Christians know Muslims as neighbors, co-workers, and friends.  Through first-hand knowledge, stereotypes can be set aside and healthy relationships formed.  Vatican II affirmed that Catholics and Muslims worship the one God (Lumen Gentium 16, Nostra Aetate 3) and called Catholics and Muslims to forget past animosities and “train themselves towards sincere mutual understanding” in the service of social justice (Nostra Aetate 3). 

Blessed Pope John Paul II clearly distinguished authentic Islam from the actions of the terrorists and was a leader in developing relations with Muslims.  On May 6, 2001, he became the first pope ever recorded to visit a mosque—the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which was built on an earlier Byzantine Christian church honoring the grave of St. John the Baptist.  John Paul II said: “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict.  It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justify hatred and violence. . . . In Syria, Christians and Muslims have lived side by side for centuries, and a rich dialogue of life has gone on unceasingly. . . . For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and offer each other forgiveness.”  The challenge echoes still.

References:

Asín Palacios, Miguel.  Islam and the Divine Comedy. Trans. and abridged by Harold Sutherland. London: Cass, 1968.

Daniel, Norman.  Islam and the West: The Making of an Image. 1960; reprint, Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.

Grunebaum, Gustave E. von.  Medieval Islam: A Study in Cultural Orientation. 2^nd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953.

Kamen, Henry.  The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical Revision.  London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997.

Southern, R.W. Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 1962.