ISLAM
– A BEGINNERS INTODUCTION
Martin
Camroux
Why am I spending the next two Sunday evenings
trying to understand Islam? Firstly because Islam in the future
is going to be part of our lives and our children’s lives.
One of the most starting changes in recent years has been
the revival of Islam as a European religion. Pakistani and
Bangladeshi immigration into Britain. Turkish immigration
into Germany. North African immigration into France. As a
result there are large Islamic communities all across Europe.
There are 5 million Muslims in France (8%) 3.5 million Muslims
in Germany (4.3%) and 1.6 million Muslims in the UK that is
2.7%. In total there are something like 23 million Muslims
in Europe. This population is going to increase because Muslim
population is younger. In Denmark Muslim population is 200,000
which is 3.7% of the total. But a quarter of the births in
Copenhagen are now Moslem. Projections are always doubtful.
But in 20 years the Moslem population might be expected to
more or less double to about 40 million. Firstly we ought
to know about Islam because Islam is going to be part of our
lives. Most times you go down Sutton High Street you will
see a woman wearing the Hajib.
Secondly it’s vital for the peace of the world.
Internationally there is a conflict between the west and some
elements in Islam – Al Quadha, the Taliban and the rest. There’s
also Jewish- Islam conflict in Palestine and Christian- Moslem
conflict in Nigeria. In this context it’s imperative that
Christianity, Judaism and Islam, build bridges between each
other. Hans Kung put it better than anyone else. “No peace
in the world without peace between the religions, no peace
without dialogue”.
When I say beginners guide to Islam I mean that.
At theological college I don’t think I remember a single minute
trying to understand Islam. That was only if you were going
to be a missionary. What I knew about Islam when I left college
could have been more or less put on a postage stamp. Only
in the last couple of years have I been trying to remedy this
deficiency. So this is a beginner’s guide.
First some obvious things. Firstly there are
all sorts of different kinds of Islam just as differently
kinds of Christianity. So just as you have Protestant and
Catholic the big difference in Islam is between Sunni and
Shia. The division between Shi’a and Sunni dates back to the
death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was
to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. The Moslems
elected Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr,
as the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Shi’a felt leadership
should have gone to a member of the family or to an Imam appointed
by God Himself. They felt it should have gone to his son in
law Ali. The word Shi’a is short for "Shi’a-t-Ali,"
or "the Party of Ali."
In practice Shi’a and Sunni mostly believe the
same. But the Shia Muslims believe that the Imam is sinless
by nature, and that his authority is infallible as it comes
directly from God. Therefore, Shia Muslims often venerate
the Imams as saints and perform pilgrimages to their tombs
and shrines in the hopes of divine intercession. If you find
an Ayatollah this is always a Shi'a clerics. The word means
"Sign of God" and those who carry the title are
experts in Islamic studies. Roughly 85% of Moslems are Sunni.
Then within there are differences within the
groups – like conservatives or liberals. So for example within
the Sunnis there are the Sufis, who on the whole incline to
tolerance, or Wahhabism which is a reform movement of a very
conservative kind which centres in Saudi Arabia. The Deobandi
is a Sunni Islamic revivalist movement which started in India
and has more recently spread to other countries, such as Afghanistan
a very strong emphasis on Shiariah law. They influnced the
Taiban. About 600 of Britain’s 1400 mosques are led by Deobandi
influced clerics.
Then just as with Christuianity there are groups
on the edge. The nearest mosque to us here is at Morden. Seats
10,000. Largest mosque in western Europe when built. Now this
is an Ahmadiyya mosque. They believe that another prophet
came after Mohamed in India. They believe the grave of Jesus
is in Kaskmir. As such most Moslems would not just say they
were heretics. They would deny they were Moslems at all.
Earlier in the year I spoke at a 6th form event
at Overton Grange with among others the Iman of the Morden
Mosque. They had asked him to represent Islam. It’s a good
job there were no conservative Moslems because they would
have been outraged. Asking an Iman from the Morden Mosque
would be the equilivent of asking a Jehovah’s Witness to speak
for Christianity.
These disinctions are important but one word
of caution. If you asked a lot of people in a Methodist Church
how they differed from Anglicans how clearly would they be
able to tell you. Some might might say well we’ve just Christians.
Probably a bit like that too with Islam.
Now lets go to the origins. Islam begins with
the prophet Mohammed. He was born around 570 AD and he comes
to believe there is one God and calls upon everyone to submit
to that one God. The word Islam simply means those who submit
to God. He came from Mecca and this becomes the centre of
the Moslem movement.
I had a wonderful moment on holiday in Morocco.
We were looking at the mosque in Marakech and there was a
wooden pointer on the top. That said the guide is so everyone
one knows which direction Mecca is in. One of the ladies in
the group “O do you mean Mecca is a real place. I never realised
that”. Yes Mecca is a real place in Saudi Arabia. From there
Islam spread mainly my military conquest. Within a generation
most of the Middle east was conqured by Moslem armies.
By his death the core of Islamic religion was
also given. He had a series of revelations and the teaching
was recoded in the Koran which is the Moslem equivilent to
the Bible. The heart of Islam is the simple message God is
one.
When you hear the call to prayer from the minaret.
It says
God is the most great
I bear witness that there is no God but allah
I bear witness that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah
Come to prayer
Come to salvation
God is the most great
There is no God but allah
Practically this is expressed in daily living
through what are known as the 5 pillars of Islam. These are
the 5 duties which every Moslem must undertake.
Firstly you must bear witness to the faith.
“I believe there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad
is the messenger of Allah. Those are the first words you say
as a Moslem and your dying words as well. Secondly pray 5
times a day. Thirdly charitable giving. 4th Fasting month
of Ramadan. 5thly the pilgrimage. Every Moslem is supposed
to go to Mecca once in their lifetime.
If you are Shia 3 other things are essential.
First is jihad, which is also important to the Sunni, but
not considered a pillar. The second is live a virtuous life
and to encourage others to do the same. The third the "Exhortation
to Desist from Evil". There is also a body of Islamic
law called Shariah which is based on the traditional sayings
of Mohammed.
I think that what you have therefore in most
occasions is what we would recognise as the outlines of a
basic simple good life with God. There is also a strong sense
of belonging. The Moslem feels he belives to the Ummah- the
family. In that family they would say everyone is equal.
Well I say everyone. It is possible that women
aren’t. The Koran says “Men have authority over women because
God has made the one superior to the other. Good women are
obedient". If women get out of hand they are to be beaten.
“As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them
and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey
you, take no further action against them”. What is more the
Koran allows polygamy and concubinage. At the same time within
this framework there is a good deal of provision for women.
For example there is compulsory financial provision for widows.
And the majority of converts to Islam in the Britain are women.
I have no hesitation in saying that Islam is
a real way into God. But let me three critical points of concern.
First there is a scholarship deficit in Islam.
In the Early centuries Islam preserved much of the heritage
of Greece and Rome and intellectually was ahead of Western
Europe. But around the 16th Century Islamic scholarship froze.
Islam missed out on the Enlightenment and did not learn to
critical scholarship to its faith. Today much of Islam is
what we would call fundamentalist.
Secondly Islam has a problem with violence. So of course does
Christianity. Christian history is stained by violence. Ireland,
Bosnia, the inquisition, the crusades, Scottish covenanters
riding into battle shouting “Jesus and no quarter”. There
is violence within the Scriptures. Moses and Joshua conquer
Palestine by force. They saw God as a war God and at times
they see God calling for the extermination of their enemies.
But at least about Jesus we can say there is no violence there.
Christianity spreads through the Roman Empire by the preaching
of the word.
With Islam Mohammed is a warrior and violence
is from the first part of the way Islam spreads. In 627 the
Prophet authorized the massacre of Jewish men he accused of
treating with the enemy. Despite pleas for mercy some six
hundred to nine hundred men were beheaded in the marketplace.
Their bodies were thrown into large open trenches, their women
and children taken into slavery, their property distributed
among the Muslims. In his final address Mohammad says “I was
ordered to fight all men until they say there is no God but
Allah”.
Which brings me to Jihad. We are often told
that jihad means inner struggle. It can mean that. The word
jihad literally means effort. But from the first it can actually
mean warfare and it is often has. War against unbelievers
is a prominent theme in the Koran. Those who die in war are
more blessed than those who die in peace. So “When the sacred
months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them.
Arrest them, besiege them and lie in ambush everywhere for
them. If they repent and take to prayer and pay the alms-tax,
let them go on their way. Allah is forgiving and merciful”.
Of course you can find equally violent passages in the Old
Testament. But when Osama bin Laden says “I was ordered to
fight the people until they say there is no God but Allah
and his prophet Mohammed” that is almost an exact quote from
Mohammed whereas you can find no hint of violence in Jesus.
Maybe that brings me towards what seems to me
the great distinction between Christianity and Islam. We share
the belief that God is one. Much of what we believe about
the spiritual life is similar But there is one great distinction.
How are to understand God. Let me point you back to William
Sloane Coffin “Jesus is also a window to divinity. When we
see Jesus scorning the powerful, empowering the weak, healing
various hurts, we have seen transparently the power of God
at work”. Or as John puts “The word became flesh and we beheld
his glory”. When I think God I think Christ – when I see the
crucified one I say - that is what God is like. No Moslem
would say that. To Moslem to see God in a person is shirk-
a form of idolatry.
That puts me in a different religion from a
Moslem – but it does not mean we cannot respect each other
and seek to learn from each other.
God, creator of this world, one yet divided,
Forgive us that we allow divisions
Between ourselves and peoples of other faiths
And so add to instability in the world.
Teach us that it is the responsibility
of us all
To reach out with hands of friendship
And build safer communities.
Help us, God pf all, to work for peace. Amen.
Rev'd. Martin Camroux MA
Trinity Church, Sutton
(United Reformed/Methodist)
Cheam Road, Sutton, SM1 1DZ |
