Islam and Christianity: Is there any common ground?
Islam does not mean
”
terrorism
”
anymore than Christianity means Ku Klux Klan.
In Arabic, the word Islam literally means
”
peace
”
or
”
surrender.
”
The word Muslim or Moslem in Arabic means
”
surrender to God.
”
Islam and Christianity: Is there any common ground?
The Opinion of Stan George, communication director of the Arab-American Cultural Center in San Jose
Islam does not mean “terrorism” anymore than Christianity means Ku Klux Klan.
In Arabic, the word Islam literally means “peace” or “surrender.” The word Muslim or Moslem in Arabic means “surrender to God.”
There are roughly one billion Muslims in the world today. Most Muslims speak some Arabic because Arabic is the language of the Qur’an, or Koran.
The beginning of Islam can be traced to the city of Mecca, nearly 1,400 years ago. Here, Muslims believe that Mohammed, the last great prophet of God, was given the final message from God. Islam in the early years could possibly be compared to early Puritan America. Islam had no priesthood. Anyone could lead in worship. Spiritual life was simple and included daily prayers and reading from the Qur’an. If there was no mosque, people prayed in homes in public buildings.
Putting aside nationalistic differences for a moment, is there any common ground between Muslims and Christians from which to build understanding? For one, Christians and Muslims both believe in a God who is the creator of all things. Christians and Muslims believe in the prophets of the Old Testament. Christians and Muslims share the basic perception that all of life is lived in the presence of God, and that people must give an account to God for the things they do. This is no small thing to have in common.
Christians share with Muslims a feeling about the importance of family and the value of human life in the womb. Both Christians and Muslims oppose the abuse of drugs and alcohol, and both oppose sex outside of marriage. Muslims and Christians find themselves on the same side in many important issues in society that concern morality and the family.
There are more common beliefs: The Qur’an teaches the miracles found in the New Testament and the Qur’an teaches that Jesus was without sin. One of the three main pillars of Islam is that God is one God and he sent many prophets; among them according to the Qur’an are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed.
Today the Western press often presents Muslims as violent and fanatical believers in a religion that is political and unreasonable. But in fact, it was Islam that helped awaken the West to the great thinkers. Today, Islam provides its believers with spirituality for everyday living that is impressive. Islam includes a staggering variety of perspectives from far right to far left, both theologically and politically, as does Christianity.
Since religion is a reflection of the culture, we must respect that both Islam and Christianity have customs and a way of life that are different from each other. With increasing contact between Islam and Christianity, communication has become more common. At the same time, many Muslims live in perpetual crisis because of the inroads the West has made into Muslim culture.
St. Frances meet with Muslims druing the Crusades, meeting with the Sultan to try and find common ground. Christians must realize that our warfare and political dominance sends confusing signs to the Muslim world.
Surely, in this 21st century there must be a way to open the windows of our minds using empathy, understanding and insight to bring these two faiths together to solve issues of peace, world hunger and justice.
