Before I retired I had to take a business trip to
Morocco. I did not speak any of the local languages, so I arranged for an
English-speaking guide. We traveled together to several cities ----
Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Marrakech. He was the driver, but he also knew
much about current events in Morocco and its history, so we had interesting
conversations. I was glad I had some time to become well-acquainted with
him and with that country.
On one of our long drives between cities we found ourselves
talking about religion. He said he was a Muslim, an adherent of Islam. I
told him I was a Christian, and we started to compare notes.
It turned out we had a number of things in common.
Both faiths value prayer, worship (humbling ourselves before God) and
fasting. Both faiths shun the worship of idols. We both honor and
remember Adam, Noah and Moses. We both believe we are descendants of
Abraham, the patriarch of both our faiths, as well as of the Jewish faith ----
for the Jewish people it is through the line of Isaac, and for Muslims through
the line of Ishmel.
In fact, my Moroccan guide said, Christians and Jews are
recognized within the Qur'an (Koran), the Muslim holy book, as "people of
the Book." Muslims even honor Jesus Christ as a great prophet, he
continued, and we also believe that Jesus will return to earth.
I was surprised and pleased that there were so many
commonalities between the Muslim and Christian faiths. But now the
conversation became a little more difficult. Remembering my guide's reference
to the Qur'an, I asked him what he believed about the Bible.
He paused a moment, and then said that for Muslims, God's
revelation came in their holy book, the Qur'an, a code of laws, rules
and regulations given by Allah (their name for God) to govern life and
society. I responded that Christians also submit ourselves to a holy
book. We believe that the Old and New Testaments are the word of God with
the power to change lives. However, I emphasized, Christians believe that
God's full revelation in our lives came in the life and death of Jesus Christ.
I said the Bible's purpose is to lead us into an intimate relationship with
God. Throughout the Bible, the God of the universe is portrayed as
seeking relationship with us, to cultivate peace in our relationship with one
another.
My Muslim friend wanted to respond with the Muslim view of
man's relationship with God. The Qur'an, he said, describes our
relationship with God in terms of master and slave. But, while Allah is
distant in his relationship with mankind, the Qur'an also describes Allah as
merciful and compassionate to mankind. This latter point pleased me,
because Christians also affirm this view of God ---- our Scriptures describe
God as a merciful and compassionate, although more intimate, master.
Even though Jesus holds a high place in Islam as a great
prophet, surprisingly the Qur'an teaches that Jesus was never killed. God
is sovereign, the Qur'an teaches, and therefore God would not have allowed
Jesus, His son and the great prophet, to die such a violent death.
"Because Muslims don't share the Christian belief in
original sin," said my Muslim friend "Muslims wonder why Christians
even need the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross." I told him
that from the Christian point of view, the pain and death on a cross of Jesus
(the Son of God) provides us with the greatest gift imaginable. Jesus'
humanity and suffering demonstrate the extraordinary lengths to which our
Creator goes to lavish great love and forgiveness on us, in spite of our sinful
ways.
"Well," my friend asked, "why don't you obey
the teachings of our great prophet Muhammad?' I had to be careful
here. I said Christians believe that Muhammad's teachings contain much
truth, but they are not part of our Biblical tradition. Don't be
offended," my friend said, "but Muslims believe that in his teachings
Muhammad corrected corrupt texts in the Bible."
The prevailing view in Islam apparently is that everything
Muhammad said and did was inspired by Allah (their God), even though unlike
Jesus, Mohammad was wholly human. The Qur'an claims that Muhammad has
God's seal of prophethood, Muhammad being the last and final messenger to
Islamic humanity. "But while Muslims venerate and imitate the
prophet," my guide continued, "they stop short of worshiping him or
regarding him as divine."
My Moroccan friend had one more great question:
"If salvation is an "automatic" gift through God's grace
(the Christian view) why do we need to do good works?" Muslims and
Christians share a linear view of history, a belief that our destiny in Heaven
or Hell depends on how we live our lives on earth. We both believe in
individual death, judgment and the resurrection of the body. My friend
continued: "In Islam, those whose good deeds to others outweigh their bad
deeds, will attain salvation. Those whose bad deeds to others outweigh
their good deeds will abide in Hell."
Apparently, it is love for Allah and a desire to please him
that motivates the faithful Muslim to keep striving for good. Paramount
among the good behaviors to which Muslims aspire are the Five Pillars of Islam:
confession of faith, prayer, tithing (giving to the poor and helping in other
ways people who are in need), fasting and (for some Muslims) pilgrimage to
Mecca.
While Islam calls men and women to submit to their God's
law, Christianity understands that Jesus has already fulfilled God's law on
behalf of the world. Muslims submit to God's law with the passionate belief
that their actions are working to bring in the reign of God. Christians
believe that God's kingdom has already come. That, Jesus Christ has
already accomplished the ultimate reign of God, and therefore we strive as
hopeful heirs of the promised kingdom.
"The Christian emphasis on God's grace could be seen as
an easy pretext for personal and societal lawlessness," continued my
Moroccan friend. He certainly had a good point. History provides
many examples of people who claimed to follow Jesus and yet were perpetrators
of evil. On the other hand, the Islamic emphasis on absolute submission
to God's law could be interpreted as unforgiving legalism, from a Christian's
perspective.
These conversations left me with the hope of some greater
harmony between our two faiths, or at least greater mutual tolerance and
respect. What forms could this greater harmony take? For our Muslim
friends perhaps some movement toward believing in grace and forgiveness.
For Christians, greater obedience to the teachings of Jesus as our
greatest example of living by God's laws.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this winter at CPC.
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