Truth
For Muslims
For a pdf
copy of this 16 page document, go here.
This edition, October 29, 2006.
TOLERANCE
BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS
IN AMERICA
Copyright
© 2002, 2003, 2006 by John Marion, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
“Islam
is strict as regards apostasy…punishment is death for a person who, after
having adhered to these dogmas, rejects them.”
Dr. Niaz Faizi Kabuli in Democracy According to
Islam.
Pluralism and tolerance are highly valued in American society. In the context of these values, how can Muslims and Christians live together while retaining their beliefs?
CONTENTS:
MUTUALLY
EXCLUSIVE RELIGIONS
Exclusive
prophets.
Exclusive books.
Seeking converts.
INTOLERANCE
Pluralism
and intolerance.
Tolerance
without substance.
Exclusivity
and inclusivity in the Old Testament
Jesus and plurality
Irreconcilable differences
Equality
of convictions.
Civility in
conversation.
Mutual learning.
Relevant questions.
TRUE TOLERANCE AND OPEN
CONVERSION
Speaking freely.
The Law of
Apostasy.
Honoring
and protecting tolerance.
Christianity and Islam are mutually exclusive religions. This can be understood by examining a few of the core beliefs of each faith. Both religions claim to have,
a) A particular messenger from God – exclusive prophets – Jesus vs. Mohammed.
b) Special revelation from God – exclusive books – the Bible vs. the Quran.
c) Exclusive access to God and seek conversions to their faith.
| In John 14:6 Jesus says he is the only way to God, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” |
| In Acts 4:12 Peter
proclaims that Jesus is the only way of salvation, “And there is salvation
in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given
among men, by which we must be saved.” |
| In Philippians 2, Paul writes that Jesus is supreme over all and that one day every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. |
No allowance is made by Jesus and his
disciples for ideas that would even suggest another way to God other than
through Jesus.
Islam teaches that Mohammed is the only way
to God.
The one sentence creed of Islam proclaims
that there is only one God and that Mohammed is the prophet of God:
“There is no deity except God and Mohammed is the apostle of God.”
This statement is the creed of Islam. This belief in the oneness of God and that Mohammed is a prophet of God is the foundation of Islam.
The Quran clearly states the exclusive nature of Mohammed’s role in bringing God’s message to people.
| 47:2 – And those who believed, and did good works, and accepted that
which has been sent down to Mohammed – and it is the very truth from their
Lord – Allah removed their sins from them and set their condition right. |
| 48:29 says that “Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.” |
| 33:40 - Mohammed is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. |
Another body of writings revered by Muslims is called the Hadith. The Hadith are filled with references about Mohammed being an Apostle of God. In one Hadith Mohammed says of himself:
“I am the most fearing of Allah, and know in Allah (the exalted and almighty) better than all of you.” (Bukhari, vol. 1, #20.)
One Muslim scholar of the Quran, Maududi,
writes,
“To become a true Muslim it is necessary to have complete faith in Muhammad.”1
The Quran, the Hadith, and the orthodox
teachings of Islam allow no room for any other way to God than through Mohammed.
The exclusive nature of both Christianity
and Islam rests firmly on the claim that each one has received special
revelation from God.
Christians claim that the Bible is the word
of God, while Muslims claim that the Quran is the word of God.
The Bible says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
(1 Peter 1:20-21)
The Quran
says, "This Quran could not have been invented (by one) apart from Allah."
(Sura 10, verse 37)
Although Muslims believe that God gave
revelation to previous prophets, such as Moses, David, and Jesus, they also
believe that the records of these revelations as recorded in the Bible are not
accurate. The Muslim believes that the Bible has been changed by Jews and
Christians.
Muslims do not look to the Bible as a source of revelation from God. While recognizing that God did give revelation to other prophets, the Bible is not considered an authoritative source to learn of that revelation. The Bible cannot be trusted as a source of revelation for the Muslim today.
Islam teaches that the Quran was given to Mohammed by God through the angel Gabriel. The Quran is the perfect, unchangeable, and in some Islamic beliefs, the eternal word of God. It contains no errors whatsoever and is not to be questioned by any Muslim.
Christians look to the Bible as the final source of divine revelation and have never viewed the Quran as a source of revelation from God.
Christianity and Islam are also religions
which seek to make those outside of their faith aware of the teachings of their
faith and to invite others to join their faith. A few of the biblical passages
regarding this point include the following:
| Jesus told his followers, in Matthew 28:19, to go all over the world and
make disciples of all nations. His followers have been doing this for the
last two thousand years. |
| In Acts 10 the Apostle Peter is directed by God to go and speak with a
non-Jew named Cornelius. In verse 42 Peter says to Cornelius, “And He
ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the
One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” |
| Peter later writes to followers of Christ saying, “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15.) |
Several similar passages are found in the Quran, including these:
| In 41:33 of the Quran it is stated, “And who could be better in speech
than one who calls others to Allah, does what is right, and says: ‘I am
one of the Muslims.’” |
| 16:125 of the Quran says, “Invite (all) to the path of your Lord with
wisdom and kindly exhortation, and reason with them in the most courteous
manner. For your Lord knows best those who have strayed from His path, and
those who are rightly-guided.” |
| “Let there arise from you a nation who invite to goodness and enjoin what is right, and forbid evil.” Quran 3:104. |
Christianity and Islam are both religions which are exclusive in their
teachings about the way to God and the revelation of God. They are also
religions which seek to win converts among non-believers.
Both teach they have the true prophet, the true revelation, and call
others to join with them on their one true path.
America is a pluralistic society. That is, American society is made up of a wide diversity of ethnic groups, religions, and cultures. Americans are taught in the public education system to tolerate this wide diversity. Diversity and tolerance are valued in modern American life.
Most cities in America today are
pluralistic. It seems most world religions are practiced in every American city.
Throughout America there are even various denominations of each religion.
America has been ethnically diverse since its founding. Many urban centers
reflect a vast mosaic of cultures, languages, and religions among its
population.
The development of pluralization within America has been leading toward an intolerance of ideas that would be exclusive of all other ideas. The process of pluralization has virtually removed the exclusive teachings of Christianity out of public discourse.
Most view points about life and religion and a wide variety of lifestyles are not only tolerated in American society, but many times certain ideas and lifestyles that are believed and practiced receive special attention. Americans are expected to not only be tolerant in their attitudes but to promote the ideas of others through praise and affirmation.
Many Christians feel that the one idea which is not really tolerated in America today is the idea that Jesus may indeed be the only way to a right relationship with God and that the message of Christ is exclusive. The one who promotes the Christian message today is considered to be forcing their ideas on the those who don’t believe in Christ. One Christian writer commenting on the issue states that intolerance is considered to be a sin in America today and that the greatest sinners are Christians. (Daniel Taylor, Christianity Today, January 11, 1999.)
An example of this intolerance toward Christians
is shown in the response to Franklin Graham’s prayer at the inaugural ceremony
for President George Bush in 2001. Mr. Graham prayed in the name of Jesus. In
response to this prayer, Harvard Law School professor, attorney Alan Dershowitz
wrote in the Los Angeles Times,
Invoking “the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ” and “the Holy Spirit,” [Franklin Graham] excluded the tens of millions of Americans who are Muslims, Jews, Buddhist, Shintoists, Unitarians, agnostics and atheist from his blessing by his particularistic and parochial language…..This was surely not the first time in our long history that Jesus has been invoked at an official governmental assembly. But we are a different and more religiously diverse nation than we were in years past. There are now many more Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and others who do not accept Jesus as their savior. (LA Times, Jan. 24, 2001)
According to Professor Dershowitz, Christian prayer in the name of Jesus
should no longer be tolerated because there are now more non-Christians who will
hear the prayer and feel excluded than there used to be in earlier times of
American history.
In order to accommodate the advancement of
pluralization, Christian and Muslim leaders are suggesting new forms of their
religions. These new forms of Christianity and Islam seek to diminish the
exclusive teachings of Christ and Mohammed. Instead, attempts are made to
highlight the inclusive nature of each religion.
American mainline protestant denominations in particular have been developing a form of Christianity which seeks earnestly to discover areas that they can agree with those of other faiths. The Episcopal Church, for example, seeks to explore areas of agreement with other religious traditions rather than focus on that which is exclusive to the Christian message. [http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ecumenism/interfaith/princip.html, accessed November 6, 2002 or a similar page, http://www.episcopalchurch.org/71796_ENG_HTM.htm, accessed April 21, 2006]
Some evangelical Christian groups who seek to train Christians to evangelize Muslims, such as the Caleb Project, highlight the similarities between Islam and Christianity and even speak about a "deep debt that all modern societies owe to Islamic civilization" and "encourage Christians to apologize sincerely for wrongs carried out against Muslims" by Christians. The Caleb Project also gives thanks to Muslim groups, such as the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, for trusting the Caleb Project to include their articles in the Caleb Project's training course in Muslim evangelism while "clearly presenting our desire to obediently share our faith in Jesus Christ with Muslims." [http://www.encounteringislam.org/index.php?YToyOntzOjQ6InBhZ2UiO3M6NDoiYm9keSI7czoyOiJpZCI7czoyOiIzNiI7fQ%3D%3D, accessed April 21, 2006]
In
November 2005 the Prince of Wales visited the White House and met with President
Bush to "plead Islam's cause".. In a speech given at the opening of the Jameel Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London,
Prince Charles spoke of "the huge debt we in the West owe to Islam".
[http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speeches/religion_18072006.html,
accessed October 29, 2006].
Prince Charles has moved beyond tolerance and actively promotes Islam. In this particular case, according to the Prince, Islamic art serves to show us in the West just how great Islam is as an ideology. Prince Charles has given various speeches emphasizing the point that the West should look to Islam for answers to important issues afflicting Western society (see Prince Charles Promotes Islam to President Bush).
The Catholic Church recognizes that such approaches have little value. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., a Jesuit priest, writes,
[Pope Benedict XVI] has never fallen into the behaviour found in certain Christian circles in the West marked by “do-goodism” and by guilt complexes. Recently, some Muslims have asked that the Pope ask forgiveness for the Crusades, colonialism, missionaries, cartoons, etc. He is not falling in this trap, because he knows that his words could be used not for building dialogue, but for destroying it. This is the experience that we have of the Muslim world: all such gestures, which are very generous and profoundly spiritual, to ask for forgiveness for historical events of the past, are exploited and are presented by Muslims as a settling of accounts: here, they say, you recognize it even yourself: you’re guilty. Such gestures never spark any kind of reciprocity.
[http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=53826&eng=y, When Civilizations Meet: How Joseph Ratzinger Sees Islam, accessed September 15, 2006]
In another article, entitled "Islam and Christianity: encounter/confrontation, but also conversion," Samir writes about the conversion of Muslims to Christianity and speaks of his experience with Christian clergy who seem to demonstrate a type of tolerance without substance. He writes,
A conversion to Christianity is something desirable, a choice which is worthy and full of value. Unfortunately, I come across clergy figures and even some bishops who fear thinking of such a thing, counting it out as a possibility, in the name of a false religious respect.
[http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=4129, accessed September 15, 2006]
Christian presentations to Muslims which diminish the exclusive nature of Christ in the name of dialogue is a type of tolerance without substance. The result is actually a presentation of another Jesus. But Muslim leaders have also been trying to present Islam in a new light since the violent actions of some Muslims in America on September 11, 2001. These Muslim leaders seek to de-emphasize the Median Suras of the Quran and the Hadith in an attempt to create a form of Islam which is compatible with Western civilization. This is a presentation of another Mohammed.
Shortly after that event President George
Bush issued Ramadan greetings to American Muslims, invited Muslim leaders to a
special ceremony at the White House, and visited the Islamic Center of
Washington. President Bush made a number of declarative statements including:
“These acts
of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic
faith and it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that….The
face of terror is not the true faith of Islam.” (MSNBC
“[Islam’s] teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah” (Washington Times, September 22, 2001)
In the Old Testament portion of the Bible, the nation of Israel and the Jewish people are said to be God’s chosen people. Access to God could only be gained by associating with the Jewish nation. Although God revealed himself to the Jews and instituted the priestly caste among one of the tribes of Israel, this access was open to all nations and was not exclusive for the Jews only.
The nation of Israel was not to compromise their faith by the influence of other religions which were found among the nations at that time. Much is said in the Old Testament of how Israel was not to associate with the other nations because of the danger of the Jews being influenced by their religions and being turned away from God.
However, the nation of Israel was expected to be a light to the other nations about the one true God.
Solomon mentioned this inclusion of the nations in worship during his prayer of dedication for the temple in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 8:43)
The Psalms of David are filled with references of God’s glory among the nations and their worship of him.
|
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. Psalms 22:27. |
|
God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us-- Selah. That Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations. Psalms 67:1-2. |
|
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For Thou wilt judge the peoples with uprightness, And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. Psalms 67:4. |
|
All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify Thy name. Psalms 86:9. |
|
Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. Psalms 96:3. |
|
So the nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. Psalms 102:15. |
|
Praise the Lord, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! Psalms 117:1 |
The nation of Israel in the Old Testament was exclusive in its adherence to the revelation of God while inclusive of anybody from any ethnic group or nation who wanted to join with Israel in the worship of God.
In the New Testament, examples of religious and ethnic tolerance can be seen in the life of Christ.
When Jesus spoke with the Samarian woman in John 4, he departed from several cultural expectations of how a Jewish man should interact with others. Jesus took time to discuss religious ideas with a woman, and one who was living what would have been considered an immoral lifestyle. In addition, she was a Samaritan, an ethnic group with whom the Jews did not associate. For these reasons, his disciples were surprised to find Jesus speaking with her.
In his discussion with the Samaritan woman, Jesus tells her, “you worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” In this statement, Jesus proclaims what was clearly taught in the Old Testament. The Samaritans were a race of people comprised of Jews who had intermarried with other nations. They had formed their own system of worship, independent of the Mosaic law.
Jesus is telling the woman that salvation is from the Jews and points out that her worship falls short of true worship. In this encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is demonstrating the exclusive nature of true worship. But he does not stop with this exclusiveness.
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that the true worship of God is not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He says that the time has come " when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23)
A certain kind of tolerance can be seen in this encounter which Jesus has with the Samaritan woman. Although the nature of true worship is exclusive, true worship is open to all people who wish to worship God. The Samaritan woman responds to Jesus by telling other Samaritans about him and leading them to him.
Another time a Canaanite woman came to Jesus seeking healing of her daughter who was possessed by a demon. The response of Jesus was first to ignore the woman. His disciples were asking him to send her away. His answer to the disciples is that he “was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Jesus, once again, is declaring the exclusive nature of the revelation of God, that it has been given to the Jews. As the messiah, he is being sent to fulfill that which the prophets of God spoke about to the nation of Israel. Jesus is focused on the exclusive nature of being sent to the Jews as their messiah.
Jesus, using vivid language, tells the woman that it is not good for him to take that which is for the Jews and give it to another people. The woman impresses Jesus with her understanding of the exclusiveness of his message to the nation of Israel and she impresses Jesus with her faith in his message. It is precisely on the point of her understanding about who Jesus is and her understanding about the exclusive nature of his message that Jesus recognizes her as a woman of faith. Jesus then heals the woman’s daughter.
But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came to Him and kept asking Him, saying, "Send her away, for she is shouting out after us." But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. Matthew 15:23-28
Jesus probably had the most difficulty with the religious Jewish leaders when it came to the exclusiveness of his message. The Pharisees and Sadducees challenged the authority of Jesus and his teachings.
At times it seems that Jesus verbally abused the Pharisees and Sadducees in his response to them. A more careful examination reveals that Jesus had no tolerance for the teachings of the religious leaders which twisted the law of Moses in order to advance their own power and prestige in the community.
During one particularly intense exchange with the Pharisees, Jesus says to them,
