Muslim Christian Dialogue-Part One

Introduction

Dialogue between religions has many advantages. It can serve to foster peace and harmony, increase understanding of various religions and cultures, and create links between various social groups. Interfaith discussion, according to a piece on Academia.edu, can help you gain a better understanding of the "other" religion while simultaneously helping the people you are speaking to gain a better understanding of your own religion.

Additionally, it can foster greater understanding amongst followers of other religions, which is good for society as a whole. According to another article on Mohammed Amin, participating in interfaith discussions can improve your understanding of your own religion by allowing you to study it in-depth and discover how it responds to important challenges.

Furthermore, it can benefit society as a whole by fostering greater respect between followers of other religions. Last but not least, a piece on ABC Radio National proposes that interfaith communication can aid in the peaceful resolution of global issues, which is crucial given that religious tensions are frequently a contributing factor. In this blog, we will examine some common questions directed at Muslims by people of the book, especially Christians, and strive to provide logical and rational answers to resolve those queries.

The First Contact between a Christian and a Muslim

1-Why have there been in the last decade many discussions held between Christians and Muslims about their beliefs?

The answer is that both Abrahamic faiths have several things in common. Both believe in the One Creator who had sent many Prophets and in Jesus (PBUH) as the Messiah as well as in the Word of God which had been denied by the Jews.

"Remember when the angel said:, 'O Mary! Verily Allah gives you the glad tidings of a Word from him, his name will be Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and in the hereafter, and of those who are near to Allah." (Holy Quran; 3-45)

Dialogues have been held everywhere in Europe, Canada, the USA, and Australia. Even the Vatican is not spared where discussions were held between Vatican theologians and Egyptian Muslim scholars in Rome in 1970 and in Cairo in 1974 and 1978 as well as between Vatican theologians and Saudi Arabian Muslim scholars in Rome in 1974. Discourses have also taken place in Colombo, not to mention Muslims having been invited by many churches to present Islam.

2- If Christianity is nearly two thousand years old and Islam is more than fourteen hundred years old, why were these discussions not held centuries ago?

For the last three to four centuries, many Asian and African countries dominated by Muslims were colonized by Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. Many Christian mission colonists tried to convert as many Muslims as they could by whatever means they had, by giving them medical treatment, clothes, food, and jobs to the poor, but only a few were converted. A small part of the elite was converted to Christianity because of their prejudice that Christianity brought them to their civilization and progress of knowledge. They had the wrong notion because this progress was attained after the separation of state and church in Europe.

After the Second World War, many Muslims from Asian and African countries were emigrating as workers and professionals to the Western Hemisphere, which brought them more in contact with Christians. Also, students were active in introducing Islam. I personally feel the gap between both Abrahamic faiths is becoming smaller as each is more tolerant, although both are still competing in terms of getting more converts. In earlier days, many Christian preachers used to say "Muhammad the impostor, the dreamer, the epileptic." One now finds fewer writers depicting Islam in such a derogatory manner.

We Muslims feel closer to the Christians than to the Jews and the disbelievers as the Quran prophesied: "Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the idolaters. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say 'Lo! We are Christians.'

This is because there are among them priests and monks (people entirely devoted to the service of God, as were the Muslims) and because they are not proud." (The Quran; 5:82)

Some Christian denominations are making tremendous progress now by acknowledging for the first time in history that Muhammad (PBUH) descended from Ishmael through his second son Kedar. The Davis Dictionary of the Bible, 1980. sponsored by the Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church in the USA writes under the word 'Kedar': "A tribe descended from Ishmael ( Genesis 25:13; The Bible). The people of Kedar were Pliny's Cedrai and from their tribe, Mohammed ultimately arose."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia quotes the following from A.S. Fulton: " Of the Ishmaelite tribes, Kedar must have been one of the most important, and thus in later times, the name came to be applied to all the wild tribes of the desert. It is through Kedar (Keidar in Arabic) that Muslim genealogists trace the descent of Mohammad from Ishmael."

Also, Smith's Bible dictionary will not stay behind and prints the following: "Kedar (black). Second son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13; The Bible). Mohammed traces his lineage to Abraham through the celebrated Koreish tribe, which sprang from Kedar. The Arabs in the Hejaz are called Beni Harb (men of war), and are Ishmaelites as of old, from their beginning. Palgrave says their language is as pure now as when the Quran was written (610 AD), having remained unchanged for more than 1200 years; a fine proof of the permanency of Eastern Institutions."

The biggest asset brought by Muslim immigrants to the Western hemisphere is not their manpower but the Islam that is now taking root there. Many mosques and Islamic centers are established and many have reverted to Islam. I prefer the word reverted and not converted, as everybody is born in submission to Allah,i.e. Islam, this is the nature of every child born. The parents of the community convert him to Judaism, Christianity, other faiths, or atheism. This is also proof of the fact that Islam is not spreading by the sword but simply by propagation by individuals or groups of Muslims. We don't have special missions organized as in Christian missions.

The world population has increased by 136% from 1934 through 1984, Christianity at 47% and Islam at 235%. For reference, see 'The Plain Truth', February 1984, in its 50-year Anniversary Issue, quoting from 'The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1935' and 'Reader's Digest Almanac and Yearbook 1983'.

3- If all three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, claim to emanate from the One God and the same Creator, why do they differ?

All Prophets from Adam to Muhammad (PBUT) were sent with the same message: that is, the total submission of mankind to Allah. This submission in Arabic is called Islam. Islam also means 'peace', peace between the Creator and His creatures. Unlike the names Judaism and Christianity, the name 'Islam' has been given by Allah, the Creator Himself: "This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favor on you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (Holy Quran 5:3)

Neither the name Judaism nor Christianity is found in the Bible, not even in a Bible dictionary. No Israelite Prophet mentioned the word 'Judaism'. Jesus (PBUH) never claimed to establish Christianity on earth and never called himself a Christian. The word 'Christianity' is only mentioned three times in the New Testament and once in Antioch. King Agrippa 2 said to Paul: "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, 'Almost thou persuadeth me to be a Christian'." (Acts 26:28; The Bible)

So the name Christian was first given by foes rather than friends. And finally Peter in his letter to comfort the faithful: "Yet, if any man suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed." (Peter 4:16; The Bible)

The first to be called Muslim on Earth is not Muhammad (PBUH) but Abraham (PBUH) who submitted totally to God Almighty. But Islam as a way of life had been revealed to other Prophets prior to Abraham (PBUH) like Adam (PBUH) and Noah (PBUH). Hence, Islam is the way of life to be followed for all humanity.

4- How could Abraham (PBUH) be a Muslim when he is known as a Jew in the Bible?

This is a massive misunderstanding. Let us examine the following biblical verse:

"And Terah took Abraham his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abraham's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran and dwelt there." (Genesis 11:31; The Bible)

So, Abraham who was born in Ur of Chaldees, could not have been a Jew firstly because Ur of Chaldees was in Mesopotamia, which is now part of Iraq and hence, he was more an Arab than a Jew, Secondly, the name Jew came after the existence of Judah, the great-grandson of Abraham, "And Abraham was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran and into the land of Canaan they came." (Genesis 12:4-5; The Bible)

So, Abraham emigrated to Canaan at the age of seventy-five, and the Bible clearly mentions that he was a stranger there. "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:8; The Bible)

"And there came one that had escaped. and told Abraham, the Hebrew." (Genesis 14:13; The Bible) How can one call Abraham a Jew if the Bible itself calls him a Hebrew which means a man from the other side of the Euphrates? It also means pertaining to Eber, a descendent of Shem. Now let us examine the following biblical verse which explains what happened to the name of Jacob after wresting with an angel.

"And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis 32:38; The Bible)

Therefore, Abraham was a Hebrew. The descendants of Jacob were Israelites, consisting of the 12 tribes. Judah was nicknamed "Jew" so only Judah's descendants were called Jews originally.

Conclusion

In the upcoming blog, we will shed emphasis on the background of Moses (PBUH) as well as discuss the details of the pilgrimage or sacred stone in the Bible, We will also go on to comment on the doctrine of atonement and original sin in the Bible. Please stay tuned and stay blessed. Asslamalaikum!