Posted February 15, 2005 Book: Guidelines for Dialogue between Christian and Muslims Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Prepared by Maurice Borrmans Paulist Press, NY, pp.132 An Excerpt from the Foreward: The impetus to interreligious dialogue given by the Second Vatican Council found a concrete expression in a series of booklets published by the Secretariat for Non-Christians around 1970. These aimed at providing theoretical and practical indications regarding the encounter with the followers of the major religious traditions of the world. Among these publications was a slim volume entitled Guidelines for Dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Translated into various languages, it was soon out of print. It can be said to have played an historic, and in some ways a pioneering, role. Ten years later it was decided to bring out a new edition, taking into account the experience of Christian-Muslim relations in the intervening period. The task of preparing this new edition was entrusted to Fr. Maurice Borrmans who combines a deep knowledge of the sources and the development of Islam with much practical experience in dialogue with Muslims. The result is no ordinary book. It is the fruit of wide knowledge and practical experience, but above all of much reflection in order to find the “right word” with which to speak about our Muslim brothers and sisters. And the right word is that which is inspired by love, as the Christian writer Ferdinand Ebner has pointed out. This book, born out of love, aims at promoting that “civilization of love” which will be possible only when partners recognize the image given of them to be a faithful one. Knowledge of one another and mutual relations are true and sincere in proportion to the love that one bears for the other. Love is the only way to overcome the gap which will always exist between one’s knowledge (self-interpretation). Dialogue and communication can really take place only when self-interpretation and interpretation by another coincide in love. This is of particular importance for Christian-Muslim relations. The images we carry of one another do not correspond to our own self-understanding. As W. Montgomery Watt has remarked: Among the world’s major religions it is certainly Islam that the Westerner has the most difficulty in approaching objectively. The reasons for this are rooted in past history. Because of the Crusades, in the 12th and 13th Centuries many learned people in the West wanted the religion of Islam to be better known. But the image they portrayed of Islam can be quite accurately qualified as ‘distorted.’ Western opinion about Islam and Muslims was based for centuries on this ‘distorted image.’ Even the more objective research of the last hundred and fifty years has not entirely succeeded in correcting the image of Islam in the minds of present-day Western observers. It was because of the persistence of this distorted issue that the Second Vatican Council declared: Although in the course of the centuries many quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christian and Muslims, the most sacred Synod urges all to forget the past and to strive sincerely for mutual understanding. On behalf of all mankind, let them make common cause of safeguarding and fostering social justice, moral values, peace, and freedom. Christian-Muslim encounter finds its deepest motivation, and its platform, in faith in the One God, Almighty an Merciful, Creator of the world and Lord of history, who will judge and requite human beings according to their deeds. Vatican II was clear on this point, and since then the Popes have constantly emphasized the spiritual bond between Muslims and the followers of Jesus Christ. “I believe,” said Pope John Paul II on the memorable occasion of his meeting with young Muslims in Casablanca on August 19, 1985, “that we, Christian and Muslims, must recognize with joy the religious values that we have in common, and give thanks to God for them. Both us believe in one God.” From this faith in God springs an understanding of the human person which is virtually the same: created by God, “servant of God”, and crowing element of the universe, steward of God’s gifts, subject to the law of good and evil, called to attain to God as ultimate end. Christians and Muslims can therefore join hands, again in the words of John Paul II at Casablanca, “in building a world where God may have first place in order to aid and to save mankind.” It would be wrong, however, to think that dialogue is easy. For while it is true that dialogue with Muslims, as indeed with Jews, is based on the common platform of biblical theism, it should not be forgotten that the image of God and connected values have been handed down to Christians and Muslims respectively through the historical mediation of Jesus and Muhammad, as to Jews through that of Moses. The spiritual outlook of Jesus is profoundly different from that of Muhammad. Consequently the historical mediations of the founders stamp Islam and Christianity with characteristics which remain irreducible despite common spiritual structures. For this reason Christians who engage in dialogue often feel frustrated at the ambiguity of Islamic terminology, and Muslims have the same experience in dealing with Christians. Basic terms and concepts, such as faith, revelation, prophets, law, sacred books, freedom, human rights, ethics, and salvation, have different meanings and resonance in Christian and Muslim contexts. Hence there is a constant risk of misunderstanding and of reaching a point of incommunicability. This vital aspect of dialogue was not passed over by the Pope in his Casablanca address. He stated quite simply and confidently: Loyalty demands also that we should recognize and respect our differences. Obviously the most fundamental is the view that we hold on the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth . . .whom Christians recognize and proclaim as Lord and Savior. These are important differences, which we can accept with humility and respect, in mutual tolerance; there is a mystery there on which, I am certain, God will one day enlighten us. An Excerpt from the Book: Is Islam Fanatical? Muslims are often annoyed when they hear themselves accused of fanaticism and of having used force to make converts to their religion. They are quick to point out that Islam practices tolerance (samaha) and affirms that “there is no compulsion in religion.’ When appropriate they quote verses from the Qur’an that show a favorable attitude toward Christians, and they recall the distinct benefits granted to the People of Scripture by their “protected states” (dhimmis) in Islamic society of the classical period and in the Ottoman Empire. They do not have to look far in history to find excesses of Christian fanaticism, which make the occasions of Muslim fanaticism seem less blameworthy. If the stereotype of Muslim fanaticism remains very strong among Christians, however, it may be because there are in certain parts of the Islamic world examples of social pressure and communal solidarity that non-Muslims interpret as forms of latent intolerance. However, it should be remembered that in every mixed society the relationship of majority to minority is subject to sociological dynamics that do not necessarily involve the faith of the various peoples. Here again Christians need to learn precisely what is the Islamic point of view regarding the world and faith. Muslims are proud to belong to the “Community of the Prophet” and to the “House of Islam”, entities which, to them, are synonymous with peace, justice and brotherhood. In their zeal to see the “rights of God” prevail throughout the world, so that the duties and rights of human beings might be respected everywhere, they may use means which are not forbidden by Islam, for example, the giving of alms to “those whose hearts are to be reconciled,” and for use in “the cause of Allah”. That which might be taken for fanaticism is usually the result of an all-encompassing vision, an almost totalitarian understanding of the relationship between religion and state. Today, though, one of the most pressing problems is that of the new relationships between political power and diverse religious communities in the most modern nations, where religious and cultural pluralism is the rule. Perhaps the main objection made against Islam is that it practices “holy war” (a poor translation of the word jihad). There is too much confusion among Christians about this subject. The Qur’an has many verses about jihad, dealing with its conduct and its outcome, as well as the manner of dividing spoils. Later classical Islamic law developed this institution into an international code for warfare, with the intention of regulating the practice of war and reducing its ill effects. In history war and religion were often joined together, unfortunately, whether in the holy wars of the Muslims or the Crusades of the Christians. All historians are agreed today that there is no more place for such practices, that humanity will not put up with violence committed in the name of law and religion. On the contrary many Muslims at the present time seek to follow the teachings of their saints and mystics, speaking of engaging in the “great jihad,: as one of the hadith words it. This “great jihad” is a spiritual struggle against all forms of injustice, hate and war, beginning with their predisposing factors in the human heart: selfishness, pride and violence. In quite a few Muslim countries jihad is now identified with the struggle of the whole population against economic and cultural underdevelopment. In this perspective the most appropriate endeavor is the struggle for justice, love and brotherhood, although to carry it out may necessitate a resort to violence occasionally. It is also understood that the “great jihad” is identical with the effort of all people of good will to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to apply faithfully the measures that are derived from it. Table of Contents: I. The Partners in Dialogue 1. The Christians: their churches and their communities 2. Muslims in their unity and their diversity a. Muslims of the working class b. Muslims with religious training, whether traditional or reformist c. Modernist Muslims, those having two cultures d. Muslim fundamentalists or literalists II. Places and Paths of Dialogue 1. Places and times 2. Paths and ways a. Accepting each other b. Mutual understanding c. Life alongside each other and sharing d. To venture and to run risks together 3. Christians and the faith of others 4. Believers in Dialogue a. Dialogue in God’s presence and in dependence upon Him b. Conversion to God and reconciliation with one another c. Holding one another to highest ideals of witness d. Undertake the impossible, but accept the provisional III. Recognizing the Values of Others 1. Submission to God 2. Meditation on a book 3. The imitation of a prophetic model a. Abraham b. Moses c. Jesus d. Muhammad 4. The solidarity of a community of believers 5. Testimony to the transcendence of God 6. Sober rites of worship 7. Obedience and faithfulness to the prescriptions of the law 8. Ascetical and mystical achievements IV. Dealing with Present Obstacles 1. Recognizing an then forgetting wrongs of the past 2. 2. Elimination of prejudice a. Is Islam fatalistic? b. Is Islam Legalist? c. Is Islam morally lax? d. Is Islam opposed to change? e. Is Islam a religion of fear? 3. Discovering the Muslim view of Christianity 1. The claim that the Christian scriptures have been falsified 2. the claim that the Christian mysteries are ineffectual 3. The claim that Christianity is not a pure monotheism 4. The claim that the Church is only an earthly power 5. The claim that Christians have been unfaithful to the message of Jesus 4. Obstacles that remain 1. Dietary restrictions 2. Mixed marriages 3. The duty of the apostolate 4. The problem of religious minorities V. Areas of Cooperation 1. The fulfillment of creation 2. Service to humankind a. What is the origin of human dignity? b. How human dignity may best be promoted c. Who is most deserving of service? 3. Organization of society a. The dignity of marriage and the family b. Development of the arts and culture c. Economic and social justice d. Political harmony e. The community of nations and international peace 4. Human imitation of divine action VI. Potential Areas of Religious Agreement 1. The Divine Mystery 2. The gift of the word 3. the role of prophets 4. The support of communities 5. The secrets of prayer 6. The ways of holiness