The Pope, the Christians and the Muslims
Let the Dialogue Begin (Part 2 of 7)
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
CA

That Islam was spread by the sword is a falsehood that has been perpetrated by European writers since the Crusades. Lately, it has become the mantra of an Islamophobic press. Although all religious traditions (including Islam) have been used to further political-military agendas throughout history, the record of Islam on this score compares favorably with that of Christianity.
In the seventh century, as Arab armies swept across the Eastern Roman and Persian empires, the Caliphs in Damascus became masters of a vast realm extending from the Amu Darya in Central Asia to the Pyrenees in Europe. They established regional military cantonments and imposed the jizya but otherwise left the local populations alone. Egypt continued to follow the Coptic Church and the Persians remained Zoroastrian. It was some fifty years later, during the reign of Caliph Abdel Aziz (d 719) that extensive conversions took place in Egypt and Persia. This was due to the abolition of the jizya and discriminatory taxation and the ecumenical efforts of this benevolent Caliph.
In later centuries the Turks of Central Asia, the Indians in Malabar and the Indonesians in the Archipelago peaceably entered the fold of Islam and made enormous contributions to its civilization. Despite more than five hundred years of Muslim rule, southeastern Europe and northern India remained predominantly non-Muslim. The historical truth is that the sultans were more interested in tax collection to support their lavish lifestyles than conversion to further their faith.
As a doctrine, Islam abhors violence. The Qur’an is unequivocal about this issue: “Do not take life, which God has made sacred…) (17:33). It is opposed to forced conversions: “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error”. (2:256). It is true that Muslims have not always lived up to these commandments. But the Pope’s comments were a thrust at Islam and the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), not Muslims.
The reasons for violence are political, not religious. Violence, so endemic in nature, has become endemic to the world of man. There is an extraordinary amount of violence today, much of it inflicted by states on individuals. Political correctness prevents us from articulating names in these uncertain times. Suffice it to state here that a vast majority of those at the receiving end are Muslim men, women and children. There has been group violence too. Witness the genocide perpetrated by the “Christian” Serbs against Bosnian Muslims (1992-94). There is also individual violence, committed by Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Witness the LTTE in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the right wing press, in a sustained, directed and rising barrage of propaganda orchestrated over the last two decades, has made it appear as if all violence is committed by Muslims.
No matter what its source, violence has no place in a civilized encounter. It exacerbates the very political grievances that it claims to mitigate. It must be stopped through international cooperation.
Building up on layers of myths and misinformation, an Islamophobic press in Europe and America has created the impression that Islam condones violence. The truth is exactly the opposite. The violent acts of individual Muslims are an aberration. Such acts may be packaged in a religious rhetoric but they are contrary to the very essence of the universal teachings of Islam, whose root meaning is peace and the presence of the divine.
Whatever may have been his intent, Pope Benedict XVI seems to have departed from the welcome ecumenical initiatives of his predecessor Pope John Paul II and has injected more stress along civilization fault lines. His comments have provided ammunition to the Islam-bashers, squeezed moderate Muslims and reinforced the fringe groups on all sides.
The episode increases the pressure on the fragile and young Islamic communities in Europe and America who may be the ultimate target of the Islam-bashers. Religion has been on the decline in Europe. People are increasingly looking to the spirituality of the East, including Islam, to provide them a spiritual anchor. Add to this the substantial immigration of Muslims from North Africa and Turkey into Europe. The changing social scenario has raised alarm bells among the right wing politicians and the old establishments. The result is a burst of reactionary anti-immigrant rhetoric and Islamophobic propaganda.
A close reading of the Pope’s lecture would also explain why he has been opposed in the past to the admission of Turkey in the European common market. To Pope Benedict XVI, Europe was created by a convergence of Biblical faith, Greek philosophical inquiry and Roman heritage. He also asserts that “Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe.” It is not hard to see how this position would have difficulty accommodating a non-Christian Turkish Republic.
The Pope has articulated a vision of a Eurocentric Christianity. By emphasizing the Greco-Roman-Christian foundations of Europe he has thrown open the question of Jewish and Muslim presence in that continent. From a global perspective his position raises questions about the accommodation of Asians and Africans in a faith whose roots are Hellenistic and whose heritage is Roman.
Our initial reaction to the Pope’s speech was one of dismay. His subsequent call for a dialogue between Christianity and Islam is a most welcome change. Among the great religions of mankind, Islam was the first ecumenical faith. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) invited Christians to Medina and housed them in the mosque to hold a dialogue with them.
The Pope has laid out the Greek logos, or reason, as the basis for dialogue across cultures. This issue has had a checkered history in both Christianity and Islam. Nonetheless, we can start a dialogue on a rational basis, folding in the advances made in recent times in the empirical-positivistic sciences, and examine afresh the reach and limits of reason in a divine discourse.
An ethical alliance between the Catholics and the Muslims will create a constituency of 2.5 billion people, embracing more than a third of humankind which can provide the engine for a peaceful evolution of human civilization based on faith. It is time to set aside the few doctrinal differences that separate Christianity and Islam and focus instead on the vast similarities between our two Abrahamic faiths. It is time to talk. (To be continued)


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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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