The Most Revdend Archbishop Dr. Jukka Parma What is the Concept of Islam for the Christian West?
Lecture given in a dialogue seminar in Damascus, on Friday 18, 2000
As people from different backgrounds come together for a dialogue, one major issue in one way or another is always the idea that we have about each other. An essential prerequisite for a fruitful dialogue is that all parties concerned can be assured that they are valued and respected by the others.Today there is a wide concern of the conceptions of Islam in the Christian West and of the Christian West in the Islamic East. Both are issues that must be dealt with carefully, because there seems to be tendencies, especially by the media, to present the other part in negative terms. There has been much debate on this issue in recent years and we know that in some cases popular arguments have sadly not been based on facts. Often it seems to be easy to say negative things about others if some essential parts of the whole truth are neglected. If we instead take the whole picture of the phenomenon, even aspects that at first appear in a negative light are changed. Especially stereotypes should be avoided.
It is for instance important to remember that the West is not only Christian, Islam is not only East, Christianity is not only West and the East is not only Islam. We also in this conference represent West and East, Christianity and Islam in many ways that are mixed even inside us and that are often difficult to separate. Religious and cultural influences have travelled from the East to the West and back over centuries and millennia.
As I have been invited to shed light on some aspects of the concept of Islam for the Christian West, I would at the very outset like to point to the fundamental fact that Islam is almost never presented in negative light by Western scholars.
As an example I would like to mention the great German poet, writer and scientist Johan Wolfgang Goethe whose 250th anniversary was celebrated last year in Europe. One of the great works of this master, who is well known and much read all over Europe, is called "Aus dem westöstlichen Divan" (From the West-eastern Divan). In this book the great writer tried to analyse some aspects of the Western culture which are closely connected with the Oriental heritage. The following words from the poem "Hegire" are often quoted by scholars of culture in Europe:
"Gottes ist der Orient!
Gottes ist der Okzident!
Nord- und südliches Gelände
Ruht im Frieden seiner Hände.""To God belongs the East!
To God belongs the West!
North and South
rest in peace of His hands."I am sure that all Muslims immediately recognize that Goethe had used the Qur'an when he was writing this poem. Goethe himself has explained this poem saying that he wanted to call attention to the fact that so many things that are great, beautiful and good in the Western culture have during hundreds and thousands of years come from the East. This idea of Goethe presents the position that is almost normative among the Western scholars of culture.
The lyrics of Goethe are strongly supported with scientific evidence. Every Christian in the West knows that his religion and the origins of philosophical thinking came from the East. This is sometimes expressed by saying "lux ex oriente" - the light comes from the East -. Of course people have mostly in their minds that Jesus Christ lived in Palestine and the great philosophers Plato and Aristotle lived in Greece which from the Western point of view was considered to situate in the East.
There is however much more to this saying "lux ex oriente". Damascus has an especially interesting role as some aspects of the Christian faith and Western thinking are concerned. This is due to the work of the great theologian and teacher, St. John of Damascus.
St. John of Damascus is highly revered by all Christians. We have to thank John of Damascus for many things in the Western Church. Naturally he is most often remembered of his theological and philosophical writings which have been studied and appreciated by the students and scholars of theology to our days. But he was also the Christian theologian who first wrote about Islam. These writings are nowadays considered as valuable accounts of early Islam, written by someone who followed the rise of Islam as a Non-Muslim but still very close. During the Middle Ages many Christian theologians in the West got their first knowledge of Islam through these writings. The picture of Islam in the writings of John of Damascus may not be that of present day Islam and not always favourable but his contribution meant that Islam was taken into theological consideration from the beginning on.
The scientific contribution of many Arab thinkers like Avicenna, Averroes, al-Farabi and others has also always been acknowledged and appreciated by the Christian scholars in the West. The textbooks of the historical development of the Christian dogmatic thinking have long contained references to these Arab philosophers. One question that could be raised, is whether the heritage of the medieval Islamic Andalusia belongs to the West or the East? This question is a fine example of how difficult it is to make a sharp distinction between the West and the East.
The beginning of the modern age is started from dr Martin Luther. It is noteworthy that he achieved the publication of the first European translation of the Qur'an. The Latin translation was made by the great Christian scholar Peter the Venerable but it had to wait 200 years to be published. Martin Luther even wrote an introduction to this translation. He hoped that all Christian pastors would read the Qur'an. Luther argued that if a Christian speaks with a Muslim about Christ, it is necessary to know what Islam teaches about him.
We cannot pass by the fact that the age of the Crusades ruined the development that could have brought benefits both to Europe and the Middle East. It is, however, important to remember that the savage knights stained the reputation of the West in the East. In the West the effect was almost the opposite. The crusaders brought back home good things they had learned and there was again space for a peaceful development. Sadly this was again lost as the Ottoman Empire started its advance to Middle Europe. What happened during the Crusades in the Middle East, happened now in turn in Europe. The defensive needs created concepts of horror which persisted long.
Chances have been lost too often, not because of religion but because of violence. We need therefore to do our best to stand against the use of violence and all kinds of aggression. It might also be necessary for both of us to express that we are not happy with everything that has been done in the name of Christianity and Islam during the past centuries.
When the theological documents written by the Western scholars in the Middle Ages are studied, it is evident that in most cases they are apologetical by nature. One should not be offended by this, because dialectical apologetics was the normal form of treatise in Scholasticism. All differing ideas were treated in the same way. Also Christian opinions, which were no t exactly equal with one's own ideas, were harshly attacked and characterized as heretical. The same applies to the Islamic apologetical texts from the same period. The other side of this phenomenon is that even though the opposing opinions were criticised they were evaluated by giving them much attention. Ideas that are considered of less interest are not given academic attention.
It is quite interesting that several outstanding recent Western scholars of Islam have been Christian clerics, like the Swedish bishop Tor Andrae, the Scottish pastor W. Montgomery Watt or the English bishop Kenneth Cragg etc.
The appreciation of Islam among Western scholars, Christian or secular, has not been changed in modern times. Islam is and will remain as a valuable subject of academic research. Many reference books and studies on Islam have been published also in Finland in recent years. Of course new questions are brought into the focus. Many of these are also studied by the Christian scholars. Especially many seem to be interested in issues like the early history of Islam, the prophet Muhammed and the interpretation of the person of Jesus Christ in Islam. Also old and new Islamic movements draw much attention and interest.
Today the concept of Islam in the theological approach is a multidimensional framework consisting of all kinds of parts which reflect the incoherence of the theological study.
However, the Churches all over Western Europe are trying to develop a model in which the churches, mosques and synagogues are considered to form a large family of followers of Abraham. The efforts for an agreement on common ethical values should be seen as an essential element of this process.
The popular attitudes towards Islam are a different matter. General opinion does not care so much about academic values. Among the Muslims this is a matter of much concern. Public opinion in Europe is formed mainly on two sources of information about Islam.
One source is the growing number of Muslims who have immigrated from Islamic countries. In this case the information is often acquired almost personally. Almost, because the information may be misinterpretations of what has been heard and seen. Especially many immigrants have faced prejudices which they have considered excessive. These incidents can be dangerous to society as a whole because often people concerned are vulnerable in many ways. Both the immigrants and their neighbours may have great social difficulties due to low economic income and low level of education. The immigrants and local people do not in the beginning share a common language. It is in the interest of the Church to find ways to encounter these problems because they create tensions that make the lives of people even more difficult by raising barriers which easily accumulate misconceptions on both sides.
The churches around Europe have already taken measures to overcome these problems. We have had together with the mosques private and public sessions in which religious and cultural issues are discussed. The information that is shared during these sessions is then being spread among the people in order to show that we are striving at enhancing true understanding, fellowship and cooperation to improve the welfare of society.
The second source is the information delivered by the media. The journalists are not always specialists in religious knowledge and there is always a risk that misleading information is published. The media is also keen on issues that make the newspapers, magazines and TV-programs sell and they want to maintain their independence. Unfortunately people tend to be more interested in negative things than positive things. The misconceptions acquired through the media are of course best encountered by making enough interesting good news available. Here the role of religious leaders is especially essential. We can make good news. Interfaith discussions allways seem to wake interest in a positive way.
The concept of Islam in the West is chancing continuously. It is also different depending on the context. For the future it is in the interest of the Church that a part of the Western concept of Islam would be the good relationships between the Christians and the Muslims regardless of who is a majority in any society wherever upon this globe.
The vision of Johan Wolfgang Goethe about the world as belonging to God and resting in peace of His hands is not only a statement but an inspiring action plan as well for all believers.