INTERACTION BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS – ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER
Oleh: Nuim Khaiyath
Khutbah Delivered at:
Monash University 08-01-10
Melbourne Uni.      15-01-10
Brothers in Islam - May Allah (swt) be pleased with us and forgive us all our sins on this auspicious day, InsyaAllah.
As I have mentioned before, increasingly, many Muslim leaders, including Dr. Tariq Ramadhan, have been urging Muslims, especially those residing in non-Muslim countries, particularly in the West, including Australia, I suppose, to be more actively engaged in “building bridges” with our non-Muslim neighbours, friends, colleagues, and indeed, society at large.
We must really convince them that Islam is indeed a religion of Mercy - which is more comprehensive than just love:
*Wa maa arsalnakaa
Illa rahmatan lil ‘alamiin.* (Al Anbiya 21:107)
In the meaning:
(We sent thee not, but as a Mercy to all creatures).
We cannot keep on uttering and quoting this verse without also behaving accordingly.
In our religion of Islam, we do not undertake any function without saying that it is for Allah (swt). When we utter “Bismillah hirrahman nirrahiim”, we remind ourselves of that Mercy, which, as has been said before, is more comprehensive and all encompassing than mere love, or even compassion.
How are we to start attuning our emotion for the great task of engaging with non-Muslims, interacting with them, bridge building?
Let us go back a few steps into our own history.
Islam was revealed to humankind at a time when Arabia, in particular Meccah, was engulfed in the darkness of ignorance. Where might was right. Where the poor and weak were at the mercy of the rich and powerful and influential. There was no such thing as justice, because whatever religion the Meccans might claim to profess, had no time for justice, equality, for compassion or mercy.
It was not surprising then, that when Islam came, many of the early followers of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) were those most vulnerable in society. But their professing of this religion did not in itself help their lot in any way. If anything they were more oppressed. So much so that the Jahiliah hierarchy conspired to make their lives as miserable as possible.
For example, Muslims were to be boycotted. Not only could they not engage in trade, they were not even allowed to buy the basic necessities from the Jahiliah traders. One of them, our beloved sister Sumayya - Rahmatullahu ‘alaihaa - was publicly murdered, thus becoming the first martyr or syuhadah.
Increasingly life was becoming more and more intolerable by the day and finally it was decided that most of the vulnerable ones should flee to the kingdom of Abyssinia, which is now Ethiopia, in Africa, ruled then by a kindly practising Christian king - known in Abyssinia then as Negus.
Led by one of the prophet’s daughters, Ruqayyah and her husband Othman (ra) they managed to make their way to the Red Sea and from there cross to Abyssinia, where they sought the protection of the Negus, the Emperor or King.
When the Jahiliah heard about this flight, they became alarmed, for fear that what the Muslims told the Emperor might persuade him to sever the very lucrative trade relations up to then between the Meccans and Abyssinia. Hastily they got together to map a strategy to counter the Muslims approach to the Negus.
They entrusted one of their kind, Amr ibn Al-As, a wealthy merchant who had befriended the Negus.
Amr arrived in Abyssinia bearing all sorts of gifts from the Meccans for the Negus and told the King that the Muslims were criminals who should be repatriated to Mecca. Of course the King was concerned that he might have unwittingly provided shelter for criminals. But before acting he asked the Muslims to explain themselves and answer the allegations made against them by Amr. The Muslims were aware that if they failed to convince the King of their true condition under the Jahiliah, they would never ever get to Mecca alive, they would have been slaughtered at sea and their corpses thrown overboard for fish to feast upon.
It was a tense moment. The Muslims finally elected one brother Ja’far, one of the prophet’s cousins, to be their spokesman. Ja’far was renowned for his eloguence and began to explain to the Negus what Islam was.
He began by saying that they were ignorant people who worshipped idols, eating unsacrificed carrion, committing abominations, and the strong would devour the weak. Thus they were until God sent a Messanger from their own kind, one whose family they were familiar with and his truthfulness and trust worthiness and integrity were never to be doubted.
He, meaning the Prophet Muhammad (saw), called upon the people of Mecca to testify to the Oneness of Allah and worship only Him and renounce the idol worship that they had inherited from their fathers and their fathers before them and so on.
“Muhammad (saw) commanded us to speak the truth; fulfill promises made; respect ties of kinship and the rights of neighbours and refrain from crimes and bloodshed, he said. ” But,” Ja’far continued, “the powerful people of Mecca not only refused to embrace this religion but persecuted those who did so, to the extent that he - Ja’far - and his Muslim companions had no option but to flee and arrived in Abyssinia.”
The Negus of Abyssinia, a devout Christian, was much impressed by what he had heard and asked Ja’far if his Prophet, Muhammad (saw) had brought a scripture like the Messengers before him. Ja’far said yes and explained that their scripture was the Qur’an. The King asked him to recite some verses from the Holy book, which Ja’far did.
Ja’far chose verses from Surat Maryam, in particular verses 16 to 21 about the birth of the Prophet ‘Isa ibn Maryam.
The King was deeply moved and remarked that those verses had truly come from the same source that Jesus had brought.
Understandably the Meccans became alarmed. Amr who knew that in Islam Jesus was not the Son of God, quickly tried to create a rift between the Muslims and the Negus by charging the Muslims of lying and actually calling Jesus a slave.
The situation became very tense as some of the priests present and the King were very angry at such blasphemy and demanded that Ja’far reply to this charge. Ja’far explained that in Islam, Jesus or ‘Isa ibn Maryam (as) “is the servant of God, His Messenger and His Spirit and His word.”
The Negus then smiled and found that the difference between Christianity and Islam regarding Jesus (as) were only semantics. He himself had tired of the ongoing disputes among Christians of his time about many theological issues, never ending accusations of heresy and even warfare.
To the Emperor what mattered most was the belief among Muslims that God had sent Jesus (as) to teach and bring love to humanity.
Immediately he granted them permission to stay and ordered his subordinates to return all the gifts that Amr ibn Al-As had brought him, for he regarded that the Muslims were more akin to him as a Christian, than the Jahiliah.
Pity, that the history of the relationship between Muslims and Christians has not always been so cordial.
As one Muslim scholar says, “From the Crusades to the events of September 11 2001, both communities have committed atrocities against each other.”
Bros. in Islam - May Allah (swt) be pleased with us and forgive us our sins on this auspicious day.
Are there then any teachings of Jesus or ‘Isa ibn Maryam (as) to be found in Islam? Definitely. One of them is about greed and is related in Islam this way:
A man once accompanied Jesus, saying that he wanted to be his companion. When they reached a river bank they sat down to eat. Jesus produced 3 loaves of bread and they each had one loaf. Jesus then went to drink at the river. Upon his return he found the other loaf missing and he asked his newly found companion where the loaf went, the companion claimed he did not know.
They then continued their travel and saw a doe - a female deer - with two of her young. Jesus called one of the young deer, which he slaughtered and roasted. After they had eaten the young deer Jesus then said “Rise by Allah’s leave or permission,” and the young deer rose and left to rejoin its mother. Jesus then turned to his companion and asked “I ask you in the name of Him who showed you this miracle, who took the loaf of bread?” “I do not know”, the man replied.
The two of them then came to a lake and Jesus took the man by the hand and they both walked on the water to the other end. When they got there Jesus again asked the man, in the name of Him who enabled them to walk on the water, who took the loaf of bread. And again the man said he did not know.
They proceeded and came upon a waterless desert. Jesus sat down and gathered some earth into a mound and commanded it, in the name of Allah to become gold. The earth turned to gold. Jesus then said that they should divide the gold into 3 parts: one for him, one for the man and the other part for the person who had taken the loaf of bread.
The companion immediately owned up and said that it was him who had taken the other loaf. Jesus then gave him all the gold.
Soon after 2 strangers approached the man ready to rob the gold and kill him. The man said “Why don’t we just divide this gold into 3 parts.” They agreed and sent the man to get some food.
On the way the man, Jesus lying companion, said to himself why should he divide the gold between them, why not poison the food and then take all he gold for himself, while the two strangers said to each other, why should they divide the gold into 3 parts, why not kill the companion and divide the gold into 2 parts.
When Jesus companion returned with the food they immediately set upon him and murdered him. Then they sat down to eat the poisoned food and died.
The gold remained in the desert with three men died beside it.
Jesus passed by, found them in that condition, and said to his companions, “This is the world. Beware of it.”
Bros. in Islam, may Allah (swt) be pleased with us and forgive us all our sins on this auspicious day.
I began this khutbah by narrating an episode in the history of Islam when early Muslims in Mecca were given sanctuary by a kindly Christian King of Abyssinia.
I will conclude this khutbah by recalling a charter known among Muslims as The Promise to St. Catherine:
In the year 628 Miladi or AD, a delegation from St. Catherine Monastery came to the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and requested his protection. St. Catherine is the world’s oldest monastery, located at the foot of Mount Sinai, in what is now Egypt.
The Prophet (saw) agreed and issued this charter:
“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs, nor their monks from their monasteries.
No one is to destroy a house of the religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’s houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil Allah’s covenant and disobey His Prophet (saw). Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them.
If a female Christian is to be married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their chruches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of the covenants
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world.)
Brothers in Islam may Allah (swt) be pelased with us and forgive us all our sins on this auspicious day.
The first and last parts of the covenant are very critical, that is when the covenant refers to “Christians, near and far” - meaning Christians every where, for as long as they are not going to harm us, while the last part is the validity of the covenant “till the Last Day” - meaning qiamah.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it does not impose any conditions on the Christians for enjoying that protection.
No wonder it is often called as a “charter of rights without any duties.”
Very probably the Prophet Muhammad (saw) remembered the compassion and protection offered to the early Muslims - including his daughter Ruqayyah and cousin Ja’far - by the Christian King of Abyssinia. Walllahu a’lam.#