Do we need to talk more about Jesus and Mohammed and less about Christianity and Islam?
This is a response to a piece published today on the Archbishop Cranmer
blog
There is a lot that is
interesting in this piece, and some of it true. It clearly is a nonsense for an
Anglican to say that someone who claims to be a Muslim is not a Muslim, but
then, that is exactly what some Muslims do: they do this 'Takfir' thing:
'You're not a Muslim' the violent Jihadis say to the majority, 'if you don't go
round causing terror.' After all, one of the classic prayers of the Church of England prays for 'all who call themselves Christian' and not just those we recognise.
Religions are real, present,
living things. They are not (despite what theologians, Bishops, Imams and
Rabbis might claim) simply people following a set of rules. Every religion has
its spectrum. And Islam and Christianity, have texts which are supposed to be
authoritative, but are always to some extent ignored, adapted, and interpreted.
How many Christians actually follow Jesus’ advice to hate their family?
To ask questions about Islam
means seeing what Muslims actually do. It is the same with Christianity. Some
Christians follow sets of rules (usually not the Bible, but traditional
regulations) absolutely and many follow bits. Many Muslims have a similar pick
and mix practice. I was interested when living in Jordan and Syria to see how
people who were very lax in their observance of Islam were strict in Ramadan.
Why drink and fornicate in other months, but not in Ramadan the pedant might
ask? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that is what people do.
I don’t care whether the mass
murderers were Muslims or not. If they were it is not the sort of Islam I met
while living in the Middle East, nor the Islam of the Ophthalmologist who dealt
with me kindly having been fasting for 11 hours yesterday. But then there are
Christians who (basing their argument on Scripture) will kill abortionists or
spout hatred against gays, bomb innocent cities, and spout hatred against their
opponents.
What I do know is that most
British Muslims (and in fact many Muslims whom I know well in different
countries) are not stuck in a ‘fundamentalist’ world which ignores 14 centuries
of intellectual thought and argument. I know it is not for me to tell them
whether to eat a bacon sandwich, or to take off a face-veil, any more than they
should tell me not to worship Christ our True God.
I know that when York was
flooded 18 months ago is was mosques from far away who sent their young people
to help, and brought food to the victims. That was organised Islam,
mosque-based, community based coming to this very un-Muslim city to care for
the victims. No preaching, no ranting, just good people doing good because this is how they understand Islam.
The argument about Jihadis
and their faith is important. It is important for people who call
themselves Muslim, as well as the rest of us. I am not going to go into the
social causes of this violence but there are various researchers in King’s
College, London, the LSE and elsewhere who are doing that.
