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A common heritage for global peace
Published 06 December 2007
It is just not good enough to say that love of God will conquer all differences and usher in peace and harmony all around
It's the season of peace and goodwill. So let us, Christians and Muslims, who constitute more than half of the world's population, put aside our mutual hatred and suspicion. Christianity and Islam are quite distinct religions, but there is considerable common ground for the followers of the two faiths to come together to work for peace. This, in essence, is the message of an open letter by 130 Muslim religious scholars to Pope Benedict XVI, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other church leaders.
When first published on 11 September, the letter was hardly noticed. Now it has whipped up a frenzy among certain groups of Muslims who are urging the Pope to reply in his Christmas message. The letter was issued by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan, and follows an earlier one, published on 15 October 2006, after the Pope's controversial remarks (which he attributed to the medieval emperor Manuel II Paleologus) describing Islam as a violent religion. The new letter appears to be from a wide-ranging group of scholars around the Muslim world. But, in fact, most of the sig natories are fellows of the Aal al-Bayt Institute, who gather once a year in Amman, and represent a rather narrow, conservative view of Islam.
This should not distract us from the message of the letter, however. It identifies two "foundational principles" on which Christians and Muslims are duty-bound to work together: love of God and love of one's neighbour. Love God, the letter states, is not only the basic message of the Quran; it is also the first and greatest commandment of the Bible. Jesus preached the need to love your neighbour as yourself, just as numerous injunctions in Islam emphasise the paramount importance of showering love and mercy on one's neighbours. This common ground, say Muslim scholars, is sufficient for the two faith groups to build permanent bridges of peace. We are not asking for "polite ecumenical dialogue", say the scholars. With Muslims and Christians locked in battle everywhere, fighting with the terrible weaponry of the modern world, "our common future is at stake". Christians and Muslims need to rise above their differences and vie with each other only in righteousness and good work.
I share these sentiments, but a few things in the letter concern me. Given that the scholars quote extensively from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran, why have they excluded Jews from the message of peace and goodwill? Since the most intractable problem of our time is a dispute between Jews and Muslims over Palestine, I would have thought it important to include Judaism. Surely, all three monotheistic faiths can collaborate on the basis of love of God and neighbours.
My other concern relates to love of God. The imperative to spread and share this love often translates, both in Christianity and Islam, as a missionary zeal. Some of the most obnoxious people I know are those who insist on imposing their love of God on others. They are hardly the kinds of folk one could describe as peacemakers. Evangelicals and Christian missionaries have done untold damage to non-Christian societies for the love of Jesus. Al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim terrorists perform their nefarious acts for the love of Allah. So it is just not good enough to say that love of God will conquer all differences and usher in peace and harmony all around.
Part of the problem with the notion of love of God is its association with Truth. Once this connection is made, attempts to impose a single truth on whole humanity appear nothing more than benevolent acts of love.
Something bolder is needed if peace is to be established between the three faiths. Each must accept that it is an institution built by the limitations of human interpretation. Hence, none can lay claim to possessing the whole Truth, whose only possessor and adjudicator is God, let alone to being the sole route to salvation. That would be a true expression of the love of God. And a positive demonstration of humility, courtesy and love of one's neighbour.
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