ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

97 IN THE NAME OF GOD: PEACE OR WAR? Realta' Nuova No. 5 September/Octo- ber-November/December 2004 We all know that in the word Islam there is the root of the word peace and we re- member how Jesus presented to his pe- ople the first mission entrusted to them: "Whichever house you enter, say first of all: peace in this house". The word pea- ce in the Koran is one of the ninety-nine most beautiful names of God. "Al salam aleikom": peace be with you. "wa aleikum el salam wa rahmat ilah wa barakat": and with you be peace, God's mercy and His blessing, a term used se- veral times in the day by any Arab. A wish for peace that is part of the daily rhythm of life in the Arab world. An obligatory wish in relations between Muslims, but if it comes from and with a Christian to a Muslim, the whole phrase of peace is often not reci- procated, from Muslim to Christian. In 1956 I was enlisted in the Egyptian militia to defend my country against tripartite An- glo-French-Israeli aggression after the na- tionalisation of the Suez Canal. During this war we had the first martyr for our coun- try: an Egyptian Christian launched himself with a small individual submarine and blew up a ship. He did it out of a spirit of patrio- tism and not as a martyr of God, not using the name of the Creator for an act of war. The use of the Islamic religion for acts of war spread after the advent of petrodol- lars. The religion was used as a bulwark to curb the expansion of communism in Arab countries. Saudi Arabia, much enri- ched after the 1973 oil crisis, used most of its resources to expand its Wahabi Islam, the most rigid and fundamentalist. The expansion in the name of Islam and the integral application of Sharia law, was done first in the Arab world, training Arab language teachers and then sending them to all Arab and Islamic countries considered lukewarmly Islamic, then to the millions of emigrants who had gone to work in the Gulf countries, then later to the whole world, financing thousands of mosques, prayer centres, universities, propagating Wahabi Islam. In addition to using all the means available to modern technology, the propaganda flooded the markets, also the Western ones, with tapes and videos with sermons verging on vilification and, always in the name of Islam, encouraging contempt and violen- ce against non-Muslims. We know how dangerous the word can be, it can set he- arts on fire and cause more damage than a war with guns. Violent preaching sows hatred and can be considered an act of war just as it can soothe hearts and bring peace. Today, from Saudi Arabia, the ser- mons of the most influential Arab religious leaders are broadcast via the internet to preachers around the world who can do so if they are there and for their sermons. When we talk about the law of Islam I will refer to Sharia, (a term that includes the Koran and the acts of the Prophet Muhammad "Hadith"). Between the 7th and 10th century, men of law give the Mu- slim world a body of law that refers to the Koran and the acts of the Prophet. After the X Century, the legislators limit them- selves to the application of the principles of one of the 4 schools of belonging, thus closing the doors of the Ijtihad, a doctrinal effort which completes the Shariah and the doctrine is crystallized).