During these years, the importance of dialogue between Christianity and Islam was underlined as a fundamental component of a new religious humanism. Many suggestions were also given to translate this wish into practice, drawing on the centuries-old history of the Christian communities present in the Arab countries.
In these pages I would like to reflect on some fundamental attitudes, within which everyone can orient their commitment.
Common values and differences
The basic element from which to start, in a relationship between Christian and Muslim population of cultural horizons so different, is the effort to get to know one another including the Jewish community even if the emphasis here concerns, mainly, Islam. All believers must become accustomed to looking at other faiths with the attitude of those who want to discover the religious and spiritual values they contain. This behavior will highlight their common values. Without belittling what distinguishes us, we are united in faith in the one God, in listening to the Word revealed through the prophets, in the conviction that the world has had an origin and is destined to end. The common faith in the final judgment and in the reward in the afterlife can be the seed of a new type of relationship between Jews, Christians and Muslims. While respecting the identity of each one, believers of good will can thus find themselves witnessing together faith in the one God.
On the Christian side, various movements have arisen for interreligious dialogue.. Is the understanding and deepening of the Christian faith a less-felt necessity for our Muslim brothers? The deeper meaning of the dialogue must be found in the effort to carry out together a profound discernment of what is the will of the God of history. “The deepening of the different religious traditions gives rise to new energies for a common destiny of men: the different religions do not divide, but carry deep into finding the sacred sense of man” (Andrea Riccardi, Peace is possible, Edizioni San Paolo, Milan 1993, pp.134).
Even in dialogue it is a question of disposing the heart through prayer to reach the most profound encounter with God. We know that faith is a free gift for anyone who is ready to adhere to the will of God. “We should exalt the values of prayer, silence and of meditation, so that all listen to God and thus learn “to listen better to their interlocutors. Brotherhood in God would thus open the way to the brotherhood of men.” (Maurice Borrmans, Guidelines for a dialogue between Christians and Muslims, Pontifical Urban University, Rome 1988, p. 169
In doing so, Christians and Muslims are capable of overcoming the narrow limits of their community affiliations, to question themselves about the value of different religious families, in the light of the unfathomable decrees of God the Savior (op. Cit., P. 149)”.
The challenge of the future lies in knowing how to give a common response to the problems of the 21st century, in addition to preparing the new generations for a multi-ethnic religious and cultural coexistence.
- Personal Relationship
The urgency of future problems must convince us of the need to arrange for moments of dialogue and sharing, privileging personal contact. It is in the direct relationship with the other that an authentic encounter is possible, beyond theological differences. The personal encounter with our Muslim brothers will promise us to discover the differences but also the many consonances able to strengthen dialogue more and more.
If all that has been said so far is true, we cannot but remark and once again that the service rendered in the West by the reception centers for immigrants of different culture and religion must not be an end in itself. We must try to establish a league and also a meeting on a spiritual level. Religious freedom experienced in Europe could constitute an example on how despite the cultural and religious difference among recent immigrants equality in human rights and religious freedom can be achieved and help foster a fraternal relationship between believers in the one God.
Christians and Muslims have a duty to seek solutions to fundamental problems dictated by faith in God and the love of men. “What is man? What is the meaning of pain, of evil, of death, which despite all progress continue to exist? What are the advantages of these conquests so dearly reached? What brings man to society, and what can you expect from it? What will there be after this life? (Gaudium et Spes, n.10) “.
- Culture for dialogue
According to the Italian historian Franco Cardini, only culture is able to facilitate the knowledge of the other and the rapprochement between the two shores of the Mediterranean. “We know well that many evils, beginning with mistrust and misunderstanding, come from ignorance: this is why we insist on the need to know the varied and articulated reality of the near-eastern world, a reality that should not only be studied but also defended in its multifaceted substance. Today a pernicious rhetoric of the flattening, the homologation, the assimilation circulates in the West: as if diversity were, in itself, the bearer only of misunderstanding and hostility. : only through the full and conscious acceptance of one’s own identity (ethnic, religious, cultural) that confrontation is established, and that a dialogue is built on it that must not be resolved in forms of leveling syncretism but in the recognition of the complementarity of each culture towards the world and history: loving others through oneself, recognizing others in oneself, knowing how to distinguish traces of the roots c some that unite us with others and therefore that deep unity that exists even if, to superficial glances, it can present itself as diversity. This seems important to us today. “(The East Gate Newsletter December 1993, ENEC Europe-Near East Center, pp.3) ..
Everyone today speaks of peace on earth, but the common meaning has become that of “absence of war”. We would like to give this term a broader meaning, using all the means in our possession to increase mutual understanding among peoples and consolidate the feeling of brotherhood among men.
Among the avenues where this action is possible is tourism which allows for the combination of socio-cultural aspect including simple archaeological visits or leisure stays and provide an opportunity to develop mutual understanding.. Then there is the academic world, where it is possible to expose university students to a foreign culture to broaden their horizon and prevent them being tempted by extremist propaganda.
In the school establishment in general, cultural exchanges between school groups, work camps including collaborative experiences between teachers from different cultural backgrounds can be useful.
- Integration, not assimilation
The separation between the sphere of the state and the sphere of religion existing in the West undoubtedly offers a greater possibility of social integration to the millions of Muslims who now live there. The term “integration” here is understood as adherence to the fundamental values of the country of adoption without renouncing the immigrant culture of origin. Unlike assimilation integration requires reciprocal opening of coexistence with equal dignity.
The fact remains that Islam, which has been massively present in Europe for a few decades, is in search of its own identity, but shows a tendency to preserve its cultural norms to which it must resort for its religious service, teaching and funding. This cultural gap jeopardizes the insertion of Islamic immigrants into their country of adoption, increases misunderstanding and resentment among the new generations thus, excluding Muslim communities from the social and economic benefits to which every citizen is entitled.
From Muslim in Europe a spiritual conviviality is expected based on the values contained in the Koranic message. The image that Islam gives of itself today is contradictory and distorted. It seems to pay more attention to issues that have no religious roots (the veil, discrimination between the sexes) rather than the inner dimension of the person.
In reality, only a small part of the 6236 verses of the Koran deal with normative questions. “The Koran is composed of 6236 verses, only 228 are consecrated to juridical prescriptions, among which 70 concern the family, 70 the civil code, 13 the jurisdiction and the procedure, 10 the constitutional law, 10 the economic and financial order, 25 international relations, 30 the penal code. Overall, 3% of the Koran deals with law, and 0.05% of criminal matters, while almost all of it deals with faith and morals, with the ‘straight way’ , that is, of the ends to be pursued to fulfill the will of God “(Roger Garaudy, Concilium, 2/90, Human rights and Islam, Queriniana 1990, Brescia, pp.74.). A well-known Egyptian writer, Said El Ashmaoui, wrote: “God created Islam as a religion, but man made politics with Islam”
Confirming the spiritual depth of Islam we can cite a hadith of Muhammad on the love of God: “When God loves a servant he puts him to the test; if he is patient, he puts him aside; if he puts his affection in God, he chooses … and when he loves him with total love, he takes possession of him, stripping him of everything “.
- Moral values
The technological explosion and the rapid diffusion of communications (transports, images, audiovisual media via satellites, information highways that connect users from all over the world in real time), make our planet increasingly becoming a “global village” . This globalization brings different peoples into contact, each with its cultural richness and its vision of the world. There is a greater chance of meeting even the poor and the rich, hungry and satiated: the sense of injustice is heightened and exacerbated in those who are less fortunate. Often this profound inequality leads to great migration flows. The total promiscuity of populations of different origin requires the search for human values common to all, to avert the resumption of nationalisms and violence that have unfortunately characterized the end of the twentieth century.
Western civilization, once strongly rooted in Christian values, is slipping towards individualism. But even the Arab countries are experiencing dangerous social phenomena: first of all the conflict between the more affluent classes, culturally more akin to the West, on the one hand, and the poorly educated masses on the other who look to the Christian West with suspicion and resentment . It is an understandable attitude if one looks at the economic indicators: 20% of the world’s less wealthy population has 0.5% of the world’s wealth. This is where the feeling of frustration of the Arab Muslim masses, often politically exploited, comes from. This frustration is also present among Muslim immigrants in Europe, especially in those who have failed to integrate.
Precisely starting from this blatant injustice, Christians and Muslims must commit themselves to a more humane solution to the great problems of existence. “In helping and freeing the weak and the needy, in consoling and educating the orphans and the handicapped, in treating and comforting the lepers and the mentally ill, their faith will be recognized by his acts, by the zeal they will prove by demonstrating understanding towards the marginalized, affection for the elderly and compassion for the dying, we will see how far their love for man reaches. By bearing witness to atheists that every man is a path to God, believers will be able to suggest them, in better, that man is an icon of God and is an expression of all visible creation, for the very glory of the One who created it “. (Maurice Borrmans, Orientations for a dialogue between Christians and Muslims, Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome 1988, pages 129-130)
- The Mediterranean basin
The Mediterranean basin has a glorious past: it has always been an area of encounter and contrast; it has been the center of the world for millennia. The discovery of America and the shifting of trade to the New World and beyond to the Pacific has diverted attention from the Mediterranean. However, the natural wealth of the Near East has preserved its strategic importance to the Mediterranean and the political troubles of this region have always influenced the whole world.
Now the gap between the northern and southern shores of the basin is widening. Comparing some data reported in an article by the historian Paul Balta (Le Monde Diplomatique, October 1994) we can grasp the dimensions of the problem. The volume of trade between France, Italy and the Northern Mediterranean by 15% compared to total world trade, compared to just 3% in the 15 countries of the South. About 70% of the Maghreb Union trade takes place with the European Union , constituting only 4% of the commercial volume of the community. The gross domestic product per inhabitant (GDP) of $ 600 in Egypt, $ 20,000 in France. In 1990 the Mediterranean welcomed a third of world tourism with 147 million tourists, but 80% of the flow was concentrated in Italy, France, Spain and Greece. The economic gap has repercussions in the cultural field: the states of the Mediterranean basin publish a quarter of the books in the world (125,000 titles each year), but 85% of the editorial novelties are concentrated in the four northern countries.
In the absence of serious scientific research, the South technologically depends largely on the West; the brain drain from the Maghreb Union alone amounts to 10,000 units each year. Faced with the growing demographic gap between the North of the Mediterranean, mostly Christian, and the South with a Muslim majority, an increase in the economic and social imbalance between the northern and southern shore of the Mediterranean basin could create serious problems for the European Union including a massive exodus towards the “ rich” north.
- Western Stats and the Arab World
A new type of relationship between the Western world and the Arab world cannot but pass through a commitment to the economic, cultural and social revival of countries that are extremely in need of exchanges and western technologies. This is a perspective that must be pursued by Western governments. In short, an authentic economic development of the southern Mediterranean countries should be fostered, without giving in to the temptation to create artificial needs for the exclusive benefit of rich countries. In this same area, pressure will have to be placed on the authorities of Western countries to demand the application by Muslim countries of UN resolutions with regard to human rights, freedom of religion and conscience, and equality between citizens. Only with an intervention of this type will it be possible to make the distinction between a modern socio-economic order and a religious perspective understood, thus putting an end to the misunderstanding that leads to identifying the West with Christianity.
Helping Muslims to understand the necessary distinction between religion and secularism, between faith and civilization, between political Islam and the Muslim faith, is now more necessary than ever. This is why we need to help in the most appropriate way all those movements that are fighting for democracy and economic development. In this way it will be possible in fact to show that the needs of a personal religiosity (but also community) can be lived in a society in which pluralism is respected. It is vital, moreover, to concretely support those who fight against fundamentalism and against all forms of violence, and to encourage the voices that demand the progressive interpretation of the sharia as opposed to its literal application more adapted to the historical conditions of the Arab world as it existed a millennium ago. This is an indispensable premise for the construction in Arab countries of a climate of mutual respect among the Believers in the ‘One God without any discrimination.
Mutual knowledge, personal testimony, relationships between states: on these three levels the possibility of a new meeting between the two shores of the Mediterranean is played out.Only in this way will Christians, Muslims and Jews explore the new frontiers of dialogue, moving together in the 21st century.
Giuseppe Samir Eid
Free web translation from the original in Italian
The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author comes. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.