wfn.org | Plenary will probe Muslim-Christian relations

["Christopher Took" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC052 - 25 July 1998

Plenary will probe the varied nature of Muslim-Christian
relations 

By E.T. Malone, Jr.
Lambeth Conference Communications

The Lambeth plenary on "Muslim-Christian Relations and the
Anglican Communion, will not "look at Islam in isolation, but
rather in the context of our entire attention to interfaith
relations here at the Lambeth Conference," said Bishop Michael
Nazir-Ali, the plenary coordinator.

The two-hour presentation, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Monday, will
present three pairs of bishops from different areas "who will
speak about how they find such relations in their regions," he
said. The conference is paying special attention to
Muslim-Christian relations, however, he said, because Islam is a
special case. 

"The one reality is that both Islam and Christianity are
missionary religions, both are operating in Africa and East Asia,
so the potential for conflict between them is greater-but the
need for getting along is greater. That's the crux," said Bishop
Nazir-Ali, a native of Pakistan who is now Bishop of Rochester
(England). 

 "When we designed the conference, nearly every province said
relations with other faiths was an important topic," he noted.
"The pre-Lambeth design group decided every section should
consider the interfaith aspects of its work."

Because the Anglican Communion is worldwide, "we're in
relationships with people of almost every faith," Bishop
Nazir-Ali said. "There's a triangular Christian-Jewish-Muslim
situation in Palestine. In India the new government is inspired
by Hindu ideals. But in the largest number of cases, the
interface is between Christianity and Islam."

Setting stereotypes aside

Media images of Islam often are violent and intolerant, Bishop
Nazir-Ali pointed out. "We have to ask, however, whether these
are the only available images of Islam. What else can we say
about a great world faith, which has given rise to so many
civilisations?" 

He said that he has taken on the task, as part of his Christian
mission, to teach that Islamic law or shari'ah is not
unchangeable, that it does have flexibility, and that the basic
tenets of Islam are, in fact, democratic.

There are those who have a vested interest in arguing that the
shari'ah does not change, he noted. "In Pakistan, the blasphemy
law is, in fact, profoundly un-Islamic. In the Koran there is no
punishment on earth for apostasy, nor for blasphemy. The Prophet
himself forgave those who insulted him. We must continue to
campaign for its repeal."

Some governments, however, "such as the oppressive, ideologically
driven regime in Sudan, seem to use adherence to Islamic law as a
way of legitimising government ambitions," he said. "In Iran, the
shari'ah was seen as a way of cleansing the country of Western
influences after a corrupt regime was deposed."

Asked whether Islamic law should be applied only to Muslims, or
to all who reside in Muslim majority countries, Nazir-Ali said
that "people should be committed to fundamental freedoms wherever
they are. People of all faiths should have equal rights."

But, he said, "such principles have been abandoned in Pakistan,
even though it was founded on the principle that Muslims were an
oppressed minority in undivided India."

Turning study into resolutions

Resolutions will have to be carefully worded to address the
specific situations of particular countries, Bishop Nazir-Ali
said. For example, he said, "we want the resolution to be one
that encourages the opening up of Iran, not one that is
condemnatory. We want to support those moderate Muslims who are
working to open up the country. There is a struggle there that
could go either way."

The Rev. Colin Chapman, Lambeth consultant and founder of an
organisation called Faith to Faith, which promotes
Christian-Muslim interfaith cooperation, declared, "We've got so
much more in common with devout Muslims than with our pagan,
secular British neighbors."

His book, Cross & Crescent: Responding to the challenge of Islam,
attempts to defuse the fears of many Westerners, who see Islam
not only as a challenge, but as a threat. At a time when
Christians have privatised their faith, he said, here come
Muslims "who want to bring God into the public sphere. They've
actually challenged Christians this way."

Of course, it is dangerous to generalize based on
Christian-Muslim relations in any one country, he warned. And Fr.
Chapman acknowledged that, as with the attempt of such
conservative groups as the Moral Majority to influence politics
in the United States of America, the entrance of religious groups
into public enterprises may have both positive and negative
consequences. 

The different sides of Muslim-Christian relations

Bishop Nazir-Ali will open the plenary by delivering a general
introduction on the history of Muslim-Christian relations, good
and bad. Next will come talks by the three pairs of bishops,
distributed geographically and in terms of the nature of the
relationships they have experienced with Islam.

"From the continent of Africa, we will have a discussion from The
Gambia, where relations are quite good, and then from Nigeria,
where there are some sharp isues but also some sharing," he said.
"From Asia, we'll have a presentation from Palestine, where both
Christians and Muslims have struggled together for fundamental
rights and some autonomy-although now the situation is
deteriorating between them, primarily because of terrorism by the
extreme Muslim organisation Hamas-and from Pakistan, where there
is very little history of cooperation. Finally, from Britain and
North Africa we will have additional perspectives of mixed good
and bad relationships." 

For further information, contact:

   Lambeth Conference Communications
   Canterbury Business School
   University of Kent at Canterbury
   Telephone: 01227 827348/9
   Fax: 01227 828085
   Mobile: 0374 800212

   http://www.lambethconference.org