27 March 2010
Dear Friend,
Greetings and thank you for forwarding me the document that you received from your friend, outlining the arguments that former Muslims were using against their former religion. I am a learner and always anxious to discover more about Islam. Although you did not mention the reason you forwarded this article to me, based upon its contents, I would assume that this was a caution that we as Christians should be careful about accepting the statements of Muslims that Islam is a religion of peace.
I accept this call to be cautious. In fact, on December 31, 2009, as I was having my normal morning quiet time, I read a passage from Ephesians 6:18b, which I accepted at that time as a key verse I should especially concentrate on during 2010. It simply says, “. . . be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Seventeen days later, Jos erupted in violence and I have been forced to be alert ever since. Certainly, as we are passing through a time of social and religious turmoil, this is a time to be alert. However, there are many ways to be alert and there are many things that we should be alert about. For example, here are some specific issues we should be alert about:
- Be alert that there are many people trying to use our religions to stir up hatred and animosity among us.
- Be alert that there are propaganda pieces floating around, actually created by the “other side.” In fact, I have received positive confirmation that some of these supposedly written by Muslims were not indeed written by Muslims.
- Be alert that our greatest enemy, the devil, is prowling around, seeking to use his greatest weapon, which is deceit and his other heavy weapons such as mistrust, hatred, and violence. It is not just within the Muslim community that the devil is prowling, but within the ranks of the Christian community as well.
Therefore, my practical caution is that we should be careful about forwarding around messages that could be misunderstood and could potentially stir up anger, misunderstanding and mistrust. I suggest this for the following reasons:
1. Interpreting the Documents of Other Religions. We must be cautious about interpreting the documents of Muslims and giving the impression that we understand their religion better than they do. We can obviously read the English translation of the Qur’an very well and understand the words but just understanding the words does not mean that we understand their context and their meaning and the way that they have been interpreted and applied by the practitioners of that religion over the years. Of course, there are statements in the Qur’an which tolerate and perhaps even encourage violence in certain instances. And, I think that most of our Muslim friends would agree that Islam has a slightly higher tolerance for “violence” than Christianity. Though we still may not accept their explanations, they would explain that we Christians hand over issues of justice and war to the state (Romans 13:4). However because Islam is a holistic religion that covers every part of society, issues of justice and war are still viewed within the realm of the religion. Without a much greater understanding of Islam than most Christians have, it seems unwise for us to make pronouncements about Islamic beliefs especially those that contradict the practitioners. We must give them the respect to interpret these things themselves and explain what they mean.
Within Islam, as within Christianity, there is a great variety of interpretations. Some, like the Bin Laden followers, focus on the verses that encourage violence and ignore the verses that promote peace. Others, which I think are the great majority of Muslims worldwide, tend to play down the violence verses and stress the peace verses. Certainly, all of my Muslim friends fall into the second category. And these are the people we must work together with to restore peace and mutual respect in Jos once again.
2. Opinions of Former Muslims. Obviously former Muslims know a great deal more about Islam than the typical Christian. However, I still believe we must be cautious about using arguments of former Muslims to provide a definitive understanding of Islam. The document you sent was written by those who identify themselves as “cultural Muslims” but who have rejected their former religion. In all fairness, would we appreciate it if people who identified themselves as “cultural Christians” but who had actually rejected our Christian faith, were to try to explain what Christianity teaches? I think we would say that the fact they have abandoned their Christian faith disqualifies them from speaking with any authority about Christianity.
For example, there are many homosexuals who have abandoned Christianity because of the church’s rigid stand on homosexuality. If a practicing homosexual, who now professes to be a former Christian, were to write something about the legalism of Christianity on sexual issues, we would say that person’s personal experiences have skewed his interpretation of Christianity. By rejecting the teachings of the Bible, he no longer has any ability to speak with any degree of authority about Christianity. Therefore, I am not sure how much weight we should give to former practitioners of the religion.
I personally would prefer to deal with more official Muslim sources in trying to understand what Muslims believe rather than renegade Muslims, either those who are extremists in their views of violence or those who have abandoned Islam. For example, if you would like an official summary of what Muslims believe about key issues, I would suggest that you see “A Common Word Between Us and You,” a document signed by 138 scholars and Muslim leaders from all over the world, including the Sultan of Sokoto. The document attempts to point out some of the commonalities between Christianity and Islam. See http://www.acommonword.com/index.php?lang=en&page=option1
If you want to see a summary of the official views of Muslim scholars and leaders about warfare and violence and other contemporary issues, see “An Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI” a letter signed by a similar group of scholars and leaders, which outlines these three basic issues about Islam and war/violence:
1. Non-combatants are not permitted as legitimate targets. This was emphasized explicitly time and again by the Prophet, his Companions, and by the learned tradition since then.
2. Religious belief alone does not make anyone the object of attack. The original Muslim community was fighting against pagans who had expelled them from their homes, persecuted, tortured, and murdered them. Thereafter, the Islamic conquests were political in nature.
3. Muslims can and should live peacefully with their neighbors. And if they incline to peace, do thou incline to it; and put thy trust in God (al-Anfal ). However, this does not exclude legitimate self-defense and maintenance of sovereignty. See http://ammanmessage.com/media/openLetter/english.pdf
3. The Other Side of the Coin—Manipulation of the Bible. We must remember that the words of the Bible can be manipulated also. As I am sure you know, the Bible contains much language that is capable of making those who accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God look very violent. Consider these scriptures:
- 1 Samuel 15:2: Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.
- Exodus 21:17 Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
- Matthew 10:34: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
- Luke 22:36: He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
These are all verses from our Holy Bible. Do we as Christians believe that it would be legitimate for anyone today to “put to death men and women, children and infants”? Do we believe that a young person who curses his father or mother should be put to death? Do we believe that Jesus really taught that his servants should go out and buy swords and use them to defend themselves against the Jews and Romans? Though we do believe that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable to us (2 Timothy 3:16), we do not believe that Christians should practice those things. Our theologians and even many laymen can explain how those things should be interpreted and how they relate to Jesus’ teachings of non-violence. Therefore, just as we would resent someone taking verses from the Bible and trying to use them to describe Christians as violent people, I am reasonably sure that Muslims resent us trying to do the same with the Qur’an.
4. Christian Examples. We must remember that many things have been done in the name of Christianity that are not consistent with historic mainstream Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. It is easy to point to the actions of Muslims over the centuries to demonstrate that they are simply following the violent teachings found in their scripture. However, when they look at us, they can also point out violent tendencies within Christianity. For example, Dr. Ahmad Shafaat, who represents a fairly typical Arab/Muslim perspective, makes these statements:
In Rwanda the tribe that perpetuated a holocaust of another tribe follows the Catholic religion. The most cruel tyrant in history (Hitler) came from a Christian country and there has been no shortage of other somewhat less ruthless dictators in Christian countries, especially in South America and Africa. Even in terrorism, associated in the media mostly with the Muslims, it is the Christians that hold the record when it comes to the number of children and other innocent people killed . . . Terrorism in Northern Ireland which is a direct result of a sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants and is often supported by the religious leaders, has probably killed more children and innocent people than Middle East terrorism . . . Several doctors have been murdered by anti-abortionists . . . Black churches have been burned in America . . . Such acts are often carried out by members of groups who also carry crosses. And in South Africa the inhuman system of apartheid was maintained by the church-going white community with the blessing of the churches and indeed the apartheid was practiced by the churches themselves. (first published in Al-Ummah, Montreal, Canada in 1983. Copyright. Dr. Ahmad Shafaat. See http://www.islamicperspectives.com/Violence.htm)
Of course, we immediately cry out that these linkages are unfair. These people were not “real Christians.” However, I think many of our Muslim friends would say that the extremist actions of Muslim terrorists and other violent people are not the actions of “real Muslims.” Until we get our own house in order and stop “Christians” killing Muslims and stop other “Christian” acts of retaliation and violence, I am not sure we have a lot of moral authority to complain about the violent verses in the Qur’an.
5. Documents of Unknown Origin. As an academic, I am normally suspicious about documents of unknown origin. There are thousands of documents like this that bounce around the Internet. However, any document about such an important subject that does not carry the name of the author and some way to verify the original source is suspect. It is generally accepted in the academic world that sources without proper documentation are considered unreliable for establishing truth.
All of us who have lived in Jos during the last few weeks have seen emails and text messages and photocopied documents that contain all kinds of information. However, it is my conviction that these documents from unknown sources are generally unhelpful at best and often forgeries or propaganda at worst. For example, recently there has been a text message going around warning people that NASA has predicted acid rain during the last ten days or so of March. Fortunately, this has been totally debunked by NASA, but it is still believed as the gospel truth by many and the phone companies are making plenty money through our foolishness. There are enough facts related to violence that we have to deal with in Jos right now that are clear and undisputed. I believe it is wise to focus on those facts that we know and not worry so much about unsigned documents.
I might add that there are things about this document that cause me to question the professionalism and competence of the writers. For example, in the description of the article the word Muslim is misspelled “Muslin” and in the next paragraph the word “muslim” is not capitalized. The holy book of Islam is referred to both as Qu’ran and Qur’an. The translator of the English version used in this work is referred to as Yusufali rather than Yusuf Ali. Although these are not substantive issues, they do suggest a level of carelessness that makes one wonder if the authors were equally careless with the other facts in the document.
6. Distrust and Suspicion. It is my opinion that documents like these only create greater distrust and suspicion on the part of Christians toward Muslims. Such documents confirm in the minds of Christians what others are already telling them and that is “Muslims are violent people who are looking for an opportunity to kill you. Therefore, have nothing to do with them.” Does the history of Jos really bear that out? Our city is desperately suffering from a lack of trust and suspicion by practically everyone. We do not need to add to that by circulating unsigned documents of unknown origin that further flame the fires of mistrust.
I am convinced that what we should be doing right now is trying to focus not on the things that divide us but the things that unite us. This is the time when we must emphasize not our differences but our similarities. This is the only way that we are going to build bridges that will bring about peace. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19) and Hebrews 12:14 says “Make every effort to live in peace with all men.” Those verses suggest that as much as we can maintain a conscience that is clear before God and man (Acts 24:16), we must make a deliberate effort to create peace and avoid things that will disturb the peace.
7. Time for All Things. We must remember there is a time for all things (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is nothing inherently wrong with investigating the claims that are found in this document and challenging our Muslim friends and colleagues to answer the objections these people raise about their former faith. The document does raise disturbing issues that should be addressed. However, dialogue over highly emotional issues like these is not something that can be done in a tense and suspicious atmosphere like we now have in Jos. The first African proverb I learned 22 years ago was “What you have not said, you can always say.”
Jesus said, “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). However, there is a time and a place for all truth. For example, in our HIV/AIDS work, we talk very straight to young people about the dangers of pre-marital sex. We warn them that if they play around sexually, they can contract a disease that can cause them to die young.
However, when a young man goes to the clinic and suddenly learns that he has tested positive for HIV, he no longer needs the same message as he needed before. He does not need to be told about the consequences of his immoral behavior. The consequences are staring him in the face. He does not need to be reminded that he may die young. What he needs now is hope. He needs to know God can forgive him if he has been immoral. He needs to be reminded that his life is not over and that with proper care, he can still live many years. Though the other things we were telling him before are still true, that is not the particular message he needs at that moment.
I hope the point is obvious. We now are infected with the “disease” of violence. Therefore, we need a different message than we may have needed before. We need a message of hope and peace. We need to appeal to the verses on peace in the Qur’an and urge the moderates to emphasize them rather than pointing out the verses on violence, which have the ability to incite Christians to react. Now is not the time for circulating documents that have the ability to stir up anger and create more distrust. Now is the time to focus on the positive and do things that will cool tempers and encourage reconciliation.
For peace to be restored in Plateau, I recognize that the government must do some things and Muslims must do some things. However, I am most concerned about what Christians should do. I believe every Christian must make an active commitment toward peace which includes:
- Condemning violence in no uncertain terms. Violence certainly involves taking up weapons and fire, but violence may also include violence with the tongue and pen.
- Speaking words of non-retaliation, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
- Renewing the spirit of trust in our communities by reaching out to our Muslim neighbors in understanding, compassion and practical deeds of kindness.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).
Grace and Peace!
Prof. Danny McCain University of Jos
