All God's People - Churches and Mosques Together

Colonial history in the Middle East has much to answer for. Its most unhealthy bequest to the people of that region has been the imposition of national borders which took little account of the existing delicate infrastructure of human relatedness. Centuries of sociality were strained to breaking point by  power politics, as they continue to be, because  power politics serve individuals. Even if these individuals justify their need for power on the basis of a vision for the good, it remains a good which, on the whole, accords with their personal ideology. Ideology and power-hungry leaders, supported by parties or religious sects who are just as hungry for power as the autocrat they choose to support, and who they may have put in place, do not make for true nationhood.

True nationhood is about belonging together as a people. People only really belong together when they do so out of love for each other and for all those things which make them who they are as a people, including the shared memories of their common history. This may sound idealistic, insofar as nationhood is impossible to achieve without selfless engagement with the other person, the other political party, and the other religion. But it does speak of hope, particularly with regard to the practice of good religion because religion, well understood and well practiced, holds the key to peace and healing. Here, in the West, as in other parts of the world, we experience both good and bad religion.

Last week I argued that sectarian violence is rooted in the darkest evil. This is especially so when its perpetrators appeal to religion as both a means and an end which are mutually justifiable. In the case of the current conflicts in the Middle East, the means, worked out in brutality and destruction, are held to be justified in the name of a ‘pure’, but utterly distorted version of a good religion, Islam. To make matters worse, the sectarian violence which we are seeing in Syria, Iraq and, more recently, Egypt, is arguably the product of a covert policy of divide and rule which has spilled over Syria’s borders, with President Bashar al-Assad waiting it out until Syria destroys itself from within. The situation is exacerbated in Iraq where autocratic but ineffectual leadership has created a power vacuum waiting to be filled by all too eager Islamist extremists, some of whom have been recruited from mosques in the UK. This latest and fast growing aspect of the Middle East conflict has shocked Muslims in this country, the vast majority of whom embrace their faith in the spirit of its name, Islam, which means ‘peace’.

There is a lesson to be learned from all of this which might yet change the situation. In a climate of extremism, we need to hear the voices of those who hold fast to their religious beliefs but do so modestly and from within the love of a merciful God, always considering the greater good of other people of faith, be they Christians or Muslims. Good religion does not need to demonstrate its authority through violence and intimidation, at any level, or in any religious context, including the power contexts of the Christian Church. So perhaps this is the time for Christians of good faith, in other words those who hold to their faith in love for God and as disciples of Jesus, to draw near to moderate and peace loving Muslims who would value their solidarity and support.

Sooner or later, the demands of Christian discipleship will confront us with our personal power dreams, .satisfying the need for power being one of the biggest traps of bad religion. But Christian discipleship invites us instead to walk the path of  modesty, an unfashionable and difficult virtue, by listening to, and being in solidarity with, all those who practice their faith in simple reverence and love for God. For Muslims, being a person of good faith will consist in being true to the spirit of Islam, of peace, by living modestly and faithfully with God. Modesty in the practice of religion makes inter-faith dialogue possible because it obliges everyone to listen, first to God and then to one another, thereby giving space for simple human friendship. If the suffering in the Middle East is to be brought to an end, it will be through a gradual building up of tiny moments of common understanding between moderate Christians and Muslims. They will have a cumulative effect, leading to the kind of friendships which make us all recognisably God’s people,  single and united ‘under the regard’ (to quote Rowan Williams), of a loving God.

Churches, especially those in urban areas, could begin this process today by ‘twinning’ with their nearest mosque. The 'twinning' process might gradually allow the sheer weight of their friendship in God to bring about his peace, a peace which passes all understanding and of which the Middle East is so badly in need.