Archive for Christianity
Islam: What’s in a Name?
[An edited version of this article was originally published in two parts at ReadingIslam.com]
It is a common practice of Muslim scholars writing on some field of knowledge to define its basic terms; when it comes to Arabic words, this involves looking at their root meanings as well as their usage.
This practice is certainly useful when seeking to understand Islam as a faith and way of life, as there are many things to learn from the very fact that it is so named. Generally speaking, when naming something new, or a new addition to the family, we choose a name that reflects the appropriate and desired meanings.
In this article, we shall explore five significant features of the name Islam, making special reference to how the Qur’an speaks of Islam and being Muslim. We shall note that the word reflects the concept of peace, that it is a name used right from the start, that it was specially chosen by the Creator, that it reflects an action and way of life, and that its meaning has a universal meaning and appeal.
Christmas and the “Muslim Jesus”
So it is Christmas again, and I wish all my readers the choicest greetings. I have previously posted some of my reflections on Christmas as a Scottish Muslim. Here in Egypt it will be celebrated by the Coptic community on 7th January, and it is also a national holiday. Idris Tawfiq, who was a Catholic priest before becoming a Muslim, has also presented his thoughts on the occasion at Reading Islam.
On a related note, I have noticed an increase in usage lately of the phrase “The Muslim Jesus”. Former Cambridge professor Tarif Khalidi wrote a fascinating compilation of Muslim traditions related to the Prophet Jesus (on whom be peace), and there was an ITV documentary broadcast in 2007 by the same title. Emel magazine has given this title to its latest issue, as did – more surprisingly – the New Statesman magazine of 14th December 2009. The latter featured an in-depth, very interesting article by Mehdi Hasan in which he outlined Islamic doctrine concerning this great prophet, and explored its significance in the field of inter-religious dialogue.
One particularly interesting excerpt that chimes with my experience:
But the real significance of Mary is that Islam considers her a virgin and endorses the Christian concept of the Virgin Birth. “She was the chosen woman, chosen to give birth to Jesus, without a husband,” says Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam in Leicester and assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). This is the orthodox Islamic position and, paradoxically, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr notes in ‘The Heart of Islam’, “respect for such teachings is so strong among Muslims that today, in interreligious dialogues with Christians . . . Muslims are often left defending traditional . . . Christian doctrines such as the miraculous birth of Christ before modernist interpreters would reduce them to metaphors.”
For what it’s worth, I question how effective the expression “Muslim Jesus” actually is, as it seems to miss the point that religious people today, like millions throughout history, have exerted their efforts to understand the implications of this unique man’s short life on earth and the message he brought. Indeed, this struggle was manifested in the earliest days in divisions between competing sects – which repeatedly turned towards violence and oppression. Did each group have its own Jesus, or was there a greater truth at stake?
To Muslims, Jesus (on whom be peace) is an example to be followed, a perfect worshipper of Almighty God. This is what we must contribute to the discourse first and foremost, as we understand Islam (wilful submission to God) to be the religion of Jesus and all prophets and their followers. Thus we expect all religious people to seek to be the best “small-m muslims” they can be, even if they do not agree with us that this consists in being a “big-M Muslim” who follows Muhammad, the successor to Jesus – peace be upon them.
Common Word: “now for action”
There is an article at IslamOnline about a recent conference in the USA developing the dialogue initiative now well known as A Common Word:
Religious scholars, politicians and experts agree that a Muslim dialogue initiative for the Christian world needs action to address all the challenges still standing between the followers of the two Abrahamic faiths.
“I think what we are addressing… is how to develop out of ‘A Common Word’ a common work together and common partnership,” John Esposito, professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, told IslamOnline.net.
Esposito was among a galaxy of international religious scholars and experts participating in a two-day conference sponsored by Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the office of Georgetown University President.
The conference, “A Common Word Between Us and You: A Global Agenda for Change”, is a follow-up on an October 2007 letter from Muslim scholars to the world’s Christian clergy urging dialogue to declare the common ground between Islam and Christianity.
For more details of the project itself, see the official website: A Common Word Between Us and You
Esposito was among a galaxy of international religious scholars and experts participating in a two-day conference sponsored by Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the office of Georgetown University President.
The conference, “A Common Word Between Us and You: A Global Agenda for Change”, is a follow-up on an October 2007 letter from Muslim scholars to the world’s Christian clergy urging dialogue to declare the common ground between Islam and Christianity.
Declining Christian worship? A sad thing
I gave a quote for a piece on former church buildings being used for Muslim worship, which appeared in UAE-based paper The National:
As Christian church attendances continue to fall, more church property may transfer to Muslim ownership. “There is sometimes opposition,” said Sohaib Saeed, a young volunteer imam and scholar at Cairo’s renowned Al Azhar University. “But others appreciate that the buildings are still put to religious use. I remember passing a church that had become a nightclub, seeing people outside with glasses of beer and feeling regretful, not because I thought it should be a mosque but because I wished it had still been a place of worship.”
Read the whole thing here: Empty churches, full mosques
A Muslim Christmas?
I wish all my readers a joyful ‘Eid al-Fitr and pray that Allah accepts the efforts of all who fasted and prayed in the blessed month that just left us.
Do check out this informative and entertaining article by Mr Moo (Musab Bora), which originally appeared in the Guardian: Is Eid the Muslim Christmas?
Speaking of Muslims and Christmas, below I’ve reproduced an article by yours truly, published (in reduced form) last Christmas in the Edinburgh Evening News…
“Your own personal Jesus”
I received this by e-mail and shared my responses. It looks an interesting way to gather diverse perspectives, so do take part if interested.
The National Portrait Gallery of Scotland will be hosting an exhibition later this year entitled Rough Cut Nation.
This unique multimedia project draws together a group of young artists from around Scotland to create a dramatic collaborative installation. For the Edinburgh Festival they will construct a remixed version of Scottish history as informed by street art and graffiti culture, painted, pasted and projected directly onto the walls of the Portrait Gallery.
The project updates William Hole’s original decorative mural scheme of 1889-1898, depicting important events from Scotland’s past. This new installation exploits the empty space produced by the Gallery’s current closure for redevelopment.
The original mural by William Hole portrays elements of Scottish history with strong religious and at times Protestant overtones.
As one of the artist duos involved, we are interested in exploring religious iconography and the use of Jesus as a moral or social catalyst within both Scottish history and contemporary culture.
With that in mind we would like to ask you three questions:
1. In one word, describe who was/is Jesus?
2. In one word, what does Jesus have to do with Scottish History?
3. What impact has Jesus had on Scotland past, present and future?The answers that we collect from these questions will potentially form part of the final artwork, but will not be attributed to any one individual.
To take part: http://dufi-art.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-do-you-say-i-am.html
Vatican praises Islamic finance
This is news from March 2009 – Today’s Zaman reports:
As world markets suffer under the weight of the ongoing global financial crisis, the Vatican has put forward a new suggestion, arguing that the principles of Islamic finance may represent a possible cure for ailing markets.
The Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, recently published an article titled “Islamic finance proposals and ideas for the West in crisis,” prepared by Italian economists Loretta Napoleoni and Claudia Segre, in which it was suggested that the basic rules of Islamic finance could relieve suffering markets and particularly international financial systems. Noting that Islam prohibits “riba,” Arabic for the usurious loaning of money, the article argued that “sukuk bonds,” securities that comply with Islamic law, may be an alternative to interest. The article stressed that sukuk bonds are always real investments and never speculative.
The article said that in this atmosphere of crisis banks should take Muslims as an example and that the Islamic finance system may pave the way for the establishment of new rules in the Western world. The Vatican has suggested that the current capitalist system has failed. Pope Benedict XVI recently harshly criticized the capitalist system and the greediness of bank owners in the West. In the meantime, the Vatican itself has been badly affected by the crisis. It had recorded an 18 billion euro budget surplus in 2007, but this number had declined to 6 billion euros by the end of 2008 and is expected to fall further in 2009.
And according to Bloomberg.com:
Bismillah (in the name of God)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful…
Welcome to a new blog which has existed in my mind for quite some time. My intention here is to explore and expound the principles of meaningful, effective dialogue on the subject of religion. Please see the About page for more details of the spirit of this diablog.
Since I have started in the name of God, it seems fitting to share a thought-provoking article by Dr Umar Farooq Abd-Allah:
“One God, Many Names” (PDF download)
It is a fairly brief exposition of the use of the name “Allah” to refer to the One God, and corrects a number of misconceptions that exist surrounding this.One of them is the hesitance some Muslims have to use other names in reference to Allah, such as the standard English term God (with a capital ‘g’).
More significantly, I have found many Christians (usually more among those with a keenness for evangelism) who believe that the names “God” and “Allah” have two different referents, so one of them is the true “God of the Bible” (Who of course is referred to by other terms in the Bible’s original language) and the other is a “false god” – or even, according to one particularly wild theory, the “moon god”. We often find the media manipulating this perception in the minds of the public by translating a whole speech by some fanatic or other but not translating the term used for God, Allah. We always read of extremist Muslims who “kill in the name of Allah” – this phraseology obviously being chosen to imply a particular fanaticism among those who use this term to refer to the same God, in Whose name(s) other people do kill.
It is a very crucial point that Jews, Christians and Muslims (and of course we can extend this list) worship the same God, even if their doctrines differ sharply in numerous ways. My Christian friend believes that God is a trinity, made up of Father, Son and Spirit. I point out that the only one of these Who is God is the One he is describing as “Father”, while the others are not equal persons. But more importantly, I emphasise that we may have different beliefs and descriptions of God, but that does not mean we are referring to two different entities. Both of us are saying that we worship the One Who created all things, and neither of us would admit that there is any more than One Who can be truly described as such. So our monotheism (however different its expression) leads us to the conclusion that there is One God upon Whose description we need to work to agree, in the pursuit of true belief and worship.
