Trisha Mae R.

Torres January 9, 2020

8 – PRUDENCE ENGLISH

“WHAT CHRISTIANITY A ND ISLAM HAVE IN COM MON”

There are many people today who argue Islam and Christianity are locked in a
civilizational war, a view that has become a rationale for a number of the Trump
administration’s policies.

This argument, however, is an inaccurate and simplistic assessment of the

relationship between these two faiths. Quite distinct from the apocalyptic struggle many
espouse, an examination of the foundations of the Islamic faith shows respect for
Christianity.

Islam is part of the same Abrahamic tradition as Christianity. Key figures within the
Bible — Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Mary (Maryam), and Jesus (Isa) among others
— are all respected prophets and figures within Islam. There is a chapter in the Quran
about Mary and, within the Quran, Jesus is the only person who can perform miracles.

Within Islam, Christians and Jewish people are therefore treated as “People of the
Book” whose rights and religious traditions were to be fully protected as monotheistic
faiths with revelations understood to be earlier versions of the same revelation to the
Prophet of Islam.

The protection that Christian communities were meant to receive under Islam was
enshrined in a letter of protection from Prophet Muhammad to the Christian monks at St.
Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai in the early seventh century. This letter promised the monks
that, under Islamic rule, the Christian community, as a “people of the book”, shall have the
freedom to practice their religion and be protected from any unlawful interference or
molestation, whether in their communities or while traveling. Distinct from a war with
Christianity, Prophet Muhammad further stated, “No one shall bear arms against
[Christians], but, on the contrary, the [Muslims] shall wage war for them.”

The respect that Muslims have for Jesus in particular is demonstrated by the verses
of Hafez, the most famous and beloved of Muslim poets from the 14th century. In one
stanza, he writes, “I am a hole in a flute that the breath of Christ moves through/Listen to
this music.”
 Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the UK and the Ibn
Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, who I was privileged to have
worked for as a researcher, reflects today this same admiration when he stated
unequivocally in an interview, “For me as a Muslim, Jesus is the ultimate symbol in the
Quran of compassion, love for humanity, piety, and simplicity.”

This kind of respect is not just a one-way street. Even America’s Founding Fathers
spoke with admiration for Prophet Muhammad and respect for the rights of Islam in the
United States. John Adams called the Prophet one of the world’s “sober inquirers after
truth,” and Benjamin Franklin cited him as a model of compassion for the world.

The foundational principles of our country set down by George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson, who owned a copy of the Quran, was to be open and receptive to people
of all religions, including Muslims who would be under the “mantle of [the law’s]
protection”.

Far from a civilizational war, we see a situation in which two religions have much in
common, but this commonality is too often lost in the turmoil and din of antagonistic voices
who push a politics of fear and division.

There have been many problems and conflicts that have unfortunately existed
between Christians and Muslims over the centuries, and will continue to exist, as the close
relationship and theological bonds were forgotten under the pressures and priorities of
contemporary politics. But these political conflicts do not negate this rich history and
theology.

For many of the conflicts and challenges across the Muslim world, the Trump
administration and politicians around the country should not be working to promote
further conflict between Christianity and Islam through the frame of a civilizational war.
They should, rather, focus on what is held in common between these two great world faiths
in order to work together to solve any seemingly insurmountable issues.

Pushing these two faith communities further apart will do little to halt the mistrust
and violence that currently exist and make any real problems even more difficult to solve.

Harrison Akins
Published 6:02 a.m. CT April 24, 2017
https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2017/04/24/what-christianity-and-islam-
have-common/100578084/
Tennessee