Pope’s
Visit to Blue Mosque
By Dr. Mohiuddin Waseem,
Gulshan Iqbal, Karachi
God Almighty in the Holy Qur’an
says, “Nearest to the Muslims in love wilt
thou find those who say, ‘We are Christians’:
Because amongst them are men devoted to learning
and men who have renounced the world, and they
are not arrogant” (Holy Qur’an, 5;
85).
Time and again Muslims have witnessed the truthfulness
of these divine words, and most recentl, this
humbleness was shown by Pope Benedict XVI when
the pontiff paused in silent prayer during his
visit to the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
Standing alongside the Mufti of Istanbul, the
Pope faced Mekkah and adopted the posture of Muslim
prayer with his forearms crossed above the naval,
showing his respect to the second largest world
religion after Christianity.
According to the Vatican official website the
Pope is trying to outreach Muslims; and in Istanbul
he tried to mend the fences after offending the
Muslim world with comments he made in September
2006. I think it is time for Muslims too to move
forward and establish a relationship with the
Christian world based on respect for each others
point of view and religions.
It is important to recall that Prophet Mohammad
(PBUH) had a congenial interaction with the Christians
of his time. We know from history books that the
Prophet had meetings and dealings with several
Christians, including Waraqah bin Nawfal a Christian
scholar of Mekkah; Bohira, a monk of Syria; and
the Christians of Najran from Southern Arabia.
The willingness on the part of the Abyssinian
King, Negus, to accept Muslims as immigrants in
his land during the Mekkan period of Prophet’s
ministry was also proof of significant interaction
between the Christian King and the Prophet.
But the most significant interaction between the
Christians and the Prophet was the visit of a
Christian delegation of Najran to Madina. This
period of history can serve to guide contemporary
Muslims as to what a “dialogue” between
Christians and Muslims should be like. Prophet
Muhammad had been sending official letters to
different countries and their rulers, inviting
them to accept Islam and Najran too was no exception
in this regard.
At that time the Christians of Najran had a highly
organized religious society and a few among them
had converted to Islam. Their conversion aroused
the interest of their elders who wanted to know
what the new religion, Islam, was all about. A
small delegation of scholars was dispatched from
Najran to Madina with the express purpose of learning
the nature of the revelations that Prophet Muhammad
received.
Prophet Muhammad warmly welcomed the delegation
and arranged their stay in Madina in a secure
place close to his mosque. When Sunday approached
the Prophet allowed them to pray in Masjid al-Nabawi
where the Muslims prayed, a gesture somewhat similar
that the Pope recently experienced in Istanbul.
Even though Islam and Christianity share many
commonalities in Christology, including Jesus’
miraculous birth, his prophet-hood, his miracles
including ascension to heavens and a belief in
his second coming, what makes them different is
the Christians’ belief of Jesus’ divine
essence and therefore of trinity. It is needless
to say that though the debating parties were not
able to reach a consensus in theological terms,
the delegation’s visit signified the first
peaceful dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
It also demonstrated the open-heartedness of the
Prophet who allowed the Christian delegation to
pray in his mosque.
In conclusion, accepting theological differences
“as they are,” was the first step
in establishing peaceful relations between the
Christians and Prophet Muhammad some fourteen
hundred years ago. Despite all the disagreements
they had, both parties were able to pen down a
social pact keeping the larger good of humanity
in mind. It is through the Prophet’s Sunnah
(act) we learn that Islam teaches primacy of peaceful
co-existence with other religious communities.
Needless to say, what we need the most today is
a similar gesture of goodwill.
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