Or, quoting the more cynical view of Bill Maher in response to Bush's Iran, Iraq, North Korea "Axis of Evil" speech - "You want an axis of evil? - how about Judaism, Christianity and Islam?"
--- Ian Andrew Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,864994,00.html > > More a family falling out than a clash of > civilisations > > Many intricate links bind Christianity, Judaism and > Islam > > William Dalrymple > Tuesday December 24, 2002 > The Guardian > > In late December, the plains of North India turn > suddenly cold and > grey. Towards evening, as the sun is beginning to > set over the village > mosques, smoke from the cooking-fires begins to mass > in a layer at the > level of the tree tops. By dusk, the layer has > turned into a vaporous > mist which thickens and curdles overnight to form by > morning a dense > fog. > > Some 15 years ago, on just such a bleak dawn, I > climbed the steps > leading to the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri. It was just > before Christmas, > I kept thinking, but not only was there not a > Christmas tree in sight, > there was nothing remotely Christian to be seen - or > so I thought. > > For when I reached the top of the steps that rose to > the Buland Darwaza > - the arched gateway leading into the mosque - I saw > something that > utterly confused me. The calligraphy which framed > the arch read as > follows: "Jesus, Son of Mary (on whom be peace) > said: The World is a > Bridge, pass over it, but build no houses upon it. > He who hopes for a > day, may hope for eternity; but the World endures > but an hour. Spend it > in prayer, for the rest is unseen." > > The inscription was doubly surprising: not only was > I taken aback to > find an apparently Christian quotation given centre > stage in a Muslim > monument, but the inscription itself was unfamiliar. > It sounded the > sort of thing Jesus might have said, but did he > really say that the > world was like a bridge? And even if he had, why > would a Muslim emperor > place such a phrase over the entrance to the main > mosque in his capital > city? > > It was only much later that I began to be able to > answer these > questions. The phrase emblazoned over the gateway > was, I learned, one > of hundreds of sayings of Jesus that fill Islamic > literature. Some > derive from the four gospels, others from now > rejected Christian texts > like the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, others again from > the wider oral > culture of the near East - possibly authentic > stories which Islam has > retained but which western Christianity has lost. > > They fill out the reverential picture of Christ > painted in the Koran > where Jesus is called the Messiah, the Prophet, Word > and Spirit of God, > though - as in some currents of Christian thought of > the period - his > outright divinity is questioned. > > I have been thinking a lot about that quotation over > the last few > months. Ever since September 11 the rightwing press > here have been > united in a virulent Islamophobia. After that > atrocity perhaps this is > inevitable; but it doesn't alter the fact that the > image these writers > are projecting of Islam is ludicrously unbalanced. > For the links that > bind Christianity, Judaism and Islam are so deep, > and so intricately > woven, that the more you learn about them, the more > the occasional > confrontations between them begin to seem like a > civil war between > different streams of the same tradition than any > clash of civilisations. > > When the Byzantines were first confronted by the > Prophet's armies, they > assumed that Islam was merely a form of > Christianity: Islam of course > accepts much of the Old and New Testaments, obeys > the Mosaic laws about > circumcision and ablutions, and venerates both Jesus > and the Jewish > prophets. The early Life of Mohammed relates how, > when Mohammed entered > Mecca and ordered the destruction of all images, he > came upon an icon > of the Virgin and Child. Reverently covering it with > his cloak, he > ordered the icon to be looked on as sacrosanct. > > Indeed, the greatest theologian of the early church, > Saint John of > Damascus, was convinced that Islam was not a new > religion, but a > variation on a Christian theme. This perception is > particularly > remarkable as Saint John grew up in Damascus, the > hub of the young > Islamic world, where he was an intimate friend of > the future Caliph > al-Yazid; the two boys' drinking bouts were the > subject of much gossip. > But, in his old age, Saint John took the habit at > the desert monastery > of Mar Saba, where he began work on his masterpiece, > the Fount of > Knowledge. It was here that John wrote his critique > of Islam, the first > ever penned by a Christian. Intriguingly, John > regarded Islam as a form > of Christianity related to Arianism which, like > Islam, took as its > starting point the idea that on Christmas day God > could not have become > fully human without compromising his divinity. > > Used to the often surrealistic scriptures of the > Gnostics, John was > unworried by the points where the Koran diverges > from the gospels - > such as the unfamiliar description it gives of the > first Christmas. In > this version, Jesus is born under a palm tree, > shortly after which the > Christ child sits up and says: "I am the servant of > God. He has given > me the Gospel and ordained me a prophet. I was > blessed on the day I was > born; and blessed I shall be on the day of my death; > and may peace be > upon me on the day when I shall be raised to life." > > The longer you spend in the Christian communities of > India and the > Middle East, the more you realise the extent to > which eastern Christian > practice formed the template for the basic > conventions of Islam. > Ramadan, for example, bears startling similarities > to Lent, which in > the eastern Christian churches still involves a > gruelling fast. > Certainly if a monk from Byzantium were to come back > today he would > find more that was familiar in the practices and > beliefs of a Muslim > sufi than he would with an American evangelical. Yet > this surprises us > because we insist on thinking of Christianity as a > thoroughly western > religion rather than the oriental faith it actually > is. > > Last month I came across a Mughal miniature which > was painted soon > after the Buland Darwaza had been built. It is a > nativity scene, but > the wise men are Mughal courtiers, Mary is attended > by a Mughal serving > girl, and the Christ child and his mother are > sitting under a palm > tree. As this miniature shows, there are certainly > major differences > between the two faiths - not least the central fact, > in mainstream > Christianity, of Jesus's divinity. But Christmas is > a feast which > Muslims and Christians can share together without > reservation. At this > moment, in the shadow of an immoral and entirely > unnecessary war with > Iraq, when the Christian west and Islamic east seem > to be engaged in > === message truncated === ----------- FoIB mailing list -- Bits, Analysis, Digital Group Therapy http://www.ianbell.com/foib.html
