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Oh no, this is not about differences, but about similarity.

Christians and Muslims, what common do we have?

Is it close to impossible to live together in peace? Why?

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?
Why some Muslims sound as lunatics? (well, some Christians too, to be objective) Why we are trying to enlarge the problem, instead of solving it?

Jihad? What Prophet Muhammad meant by it?

Recent incident: Pope Benedict XVI said wrong statement, what upset many of Muslims. Turkey responded that in a light of the recent events, it would be difficult for Benedict XVI visit Turkey. Very diplomatic and understandable. Some Muslims in some places organized manifestations. It understandable too. But for God sake, Why an Italian Nun, who worked for children hospital, in a charity mission, in Mogadishu (Somali) has been killed?

What is wrong with us?

Some poeple just have nothing better to do than "protest/demonstrate".

Larissa,

Nice to see a request for positive information/comments.

Christians and Muslims have a lot in common – they both believe in all the Prophets from Adam to Jesus mentioned in the Bible. We believe in the same God – Muslims pray to the same God Jesus prayed to, and pretty much in the same manner that Jesus prayed.

I, as a Muslim, believe in the teachings of Jesus in the Bible. He was the Messiah for the Jews and came to fulfil prophecies in the Bible.

Muslims and Christians share the same humanitarian values and place similar emphasis on self-restraint, prayer and charity.

Where we differ – Muslims do not believe in the teachings of St Paul, nor do they believe that the Bible represents the final, universal religion for mankind (a claim that is made by the Quran about Islam, but notably is not a claim in the Bible).

Muslims believe prophets were sent to all peoples, the Bible is silent on this point and only talks of Prophets in the Judaeo-Christian line.

Islam is the more recent religion and is the most complete – it introduces rights for women and addresses women directly, something the Bible does not. Muslims, for example, do not agree with the Bible’s view that women should not be heard in Church and the Christian traditions that Divorce is a sin.

You also ask whether Christians and Muslims can’t live side by side in peace. You must be unaware that from the outset Christians and Muslims co-existed in peace and tranquility in the Middle East. The first person to recognize that he was to be a prophet was a Christian relative of his wife, Waqar.

When in Medina the Prophet welcomed Christian delegations from Arabia – notably the Bishop of Najran and his entourage and even insisted they use his mosque to perform their Sunday service.

Persecuted Meccans were given sanctuary in Christian Abysinnia and relations were excellent between this kingdom and the Islamic empire. Abysinnia was never attacked but maintained excellent diplomatic relations and mutual respect.

In Jerusalem, Muslims and Christians have lived in peace – even to this day the guardians of the main Christian churches are Muslims whose forefathers were given the responsibility of protecting the Christian places of worship.

Jews also lived peacefully next to Arab Muslims in the Middle East up until the formation of Israel.

The Crusades brought conflict to Muslim lands, but in the final analysis it was more a clash of Western vs Eastern cultures. The Franks (westerners) killed almost as many Christian and Jewish villagers in the Middle East as they did Muslims.

All around the world, from Spain to China – Muslims lived and continue to live peaceably side by side with all communities.

Even today, the clash between ‘Islam’ and Christianity is overplayed – most of the conflicts are actually about territory and over injustices against people. Most notable of these is the injustice against Palestinians and continuing refusal of Israel to implement UN resolutions, and the US support of Israel in subjugating the Palestinians.

The media reporting is skewed to highlight ‘clashes of civilisations’. For example I was surprised to find out from an article written in 2001 that the Taliban in Afghanistan were protecting the right of worship of other faiths – forbidding any damage to Hindu temples and their idols that were still in use by Hindus, for example.

I hope the above potted history helps answer your query.

Cheers,
Shafique

Great post shafique.

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?

Im worried about it..how do i make a difference in my community to change some of these wrong reviews about Christianity, specially when issues such as the Pope Benedict XVI statement and Danish cartoons come up..any suggestions?

mema wrote:

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?

Im worried about it..how do i make a difference in my community to change some of these wrong reviews about Christianity, specially when issues such as the Pope Benedict XVI statement and Danish cartoons come up..any suggestions?

What wrong reviews of Christianity are you referring to?

mema wrote:

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?

Im worried about it..how do i make a difference in my community to change some of these wrong reviews about Christianity, specially when issues such as the Pope Benedict XVI statement and Danish cartoons come up..any suggestions?

to relate those issues to politics rather than religion. easier in the danish case than in the pope's quote but after all the pope is the president of a country too!

mema wrote:

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?

Im worried about it..how do i make a difference in my community to change some of these wrong reviews about Christianity, specially when issues such as the Pope Benedict XVI statement and Danish cartoons come up..any suggestions?

Everyone makes mistakes (whether a pope and his staff or a cartoonist and the editorial staff). But doesn't nor should it reflect on the entire religion or peoples. After all, the Pope and the cartoonist are just 2 people with all the fallacies, etc.

shafique wrote:

mema wrote:

Don't you feel upcoming danger of religious polarization?

Im worried about it..how do i make a difference in my community to change some of these wrong reviews about Christianity, specially when issues such as the Pope Benedict XVI statement and Danish cartoons come up..any suggestions?

What wrong reviews of Christianity are you referring to?

u know…. that there is an on going war against us and all these wars are not due to a political conflict but religious hatred , that they all hate us, they all support their governments, and they don't believe in our nations struggles (Palestine –Lebanon) just becuz we are Muslims, but their opinions differ when it comes to Jews .there are many more I don’t recall....

shafique wrote:Larissa,

Nice to see a request for positive information/comments.

Christians and Muslims have a lot in common – they both believe in all the Prophets from Adam to Jesus mentioned in the Bible. We believe in the same God – Muslims pray to the same God Jesus prayed to, and pretty much in the same manner that Jesus prayed.

I, as a Muslim, believe in the teachings of Jesus in the Bible. He was the Messiah for the Jews and came to fulfil prophecies in the Bible.

Muslims and Christians share the same humanitarian values and place similar emphasis on self-restraint, prayer and charity.

Where we differ – Muslims do not believe in the teachings of St Paul, nor do they believe that the Bible represents the final, universal religion for mankind (a claim that is made by the Quran about Islam, but notably is not a claim in the Bible).

Muslims believe prophets were sent to all peoples, the Bible is silent on this point and only talks of Prophets in the Judaeo-Christian line.

Islam is the more recent religion and is the most complete – it introduces rights for women and addresses women directly, something the Bible does not. Muslims, for example, do not agree with the Bible’s view that women should not be heard in Church and the Christian traditions that Divorce is a sin.

You also ask whether Christians and Muslims can’t live side by side in peace. You must be unaware that from the outset Christians and Muslims co-existed in peace and tranquility in the Middle East. The first person to recognize that he was to be a prophet was a Christian relative of his wife, Waqar.

When in Medina the Prophet welcomed Christian delegations from Arabia – notably the Bishop of Najran and his entourage and even insisted they use his mosque to perform their Sunday service.

Persecuted Meccans were given sanctuary in Christian Abysinnia and relations were excellent between this kingdom and the Islamic empire. Abysinnia was never attacked but maintained excellent diplomatic relations and mutual respect.

In Jerusalem, Muslims and Christians have lived in peace – even to this day the guardians of the main Christian churches are Muslims whose forefathers were given the responsibility of protecting the Christian places of worship.

Jews also lived peacefully next to Arab Muslims in the Middle East up until the formation of Israel.

The Crusades brought conflict to Muslim lands, but in the final analysis it was more a clash of Western vs Eastern cultures. The Franks (westerners) killed almost as many Christian and Jewish villagers in the Middle East as they did Muslims.

All around the world, from Spain to China – Muslims lived and continue to live peaceably side by side with all communities.

Even today, the clash between ‘Islam’ and Christianity is overplayed – most of the conflicts are actually about territory and over injustices against people. Most notable of these is the injustice against Palestinians and continuing refusal of Israel to implement UN resolutions, and the US support of Israel in subjugating the Palestinians.

The media reporting is skewed to highlight ‘clashes of civilisations’. For example I was surprised to find out from an article written in 2001 that the Taliban in Afghanistan were protecting the right of worship of other faiths – forbidding any damage to Hindu temples and their idols that were still in use by Hindus, for example.

I hope the above potted history helps answer your query.

Cheers,
Shafique

awesome post dude

Bleakus, Concord - thanks for the compliments.

Mema - I suggest you re-read my post. Muslims aren't waging a war against Christians, Islam is not targetting Christianity - there are political conflicts around the world that are pitting Muslims against Christians or Jews, but don't confuse this with religous hatred.

We aren't allowed, as Muslims, to attack someone because of their religious views - but on the contrary the Quran instructs Muslims to fight to protect the rights of religions and to safeguard temples, churches and synagogues.


Edit:
On re-reading your post though - I think you are referring to Islam and Islamic countries being attacked, and that this is due to religious hatred.

I certainly understand why it feels this way - 'Islamic Fascism' is being targetted and 'Islamic Fundamentalists' are the bad guys and atrocities are carried out by 'Islamic Terrorists'.

As Muslims, what we can do is not reciprocate the religious hatred or stereotyping - and continue to point out injustices and emphasise the beauties of Islam and how this translates to our personal actions, words and thoughts.

As a Muslim, the foremost tool you have at your disposal for world peace is the faith in God and the assurance that He listens to the prayers of His sincere servants. With Ramadan a few days away this emphasis on prayers can serve as a reminder that we should be more spiritual and contemplative over this holy month. We should also be grateful for what bounties we have been given.

Apologies if I initially mis-interpreted your points.

Cheers,
Shafique

Through knowledgeable people like Shaf and Liban many of us have learnt much, and in particular the common "bond" between Christianity and Islam.

Thank you Shafique! You are writing mature, thoughtful letters. However, I disagree with you that Muslims and Christians live in peace, at least, not according to the Mass Media and everyday facts.

As you, I am Muslim too, my Christian friends insist that Islam is a very aggressive religion, pointing all the time quotes from Holly Koran. Mass media created image that Muslims are behind all the conflicts. In my everyday life it is quite opposite. I am trying to be wise and diplomatic and not to speak about religion. My Christian friends, they are good, loyal, descent people, but so "lunatics" about their religion: always trying to argue with me, always trying to provoke me. Many times, I asked them: can we just stop talking about religion and enjoy our friendship and time together? But for them, It seems so important to point me that my religion is wrong. Why? I lost 2 of my best friends that way, because they became unbearable with their religious agitation.

Larissa

in every sector of society including religion you will have those that take everything they do and believe to the "extreme".

I am just an ordinary bloke, but i dont tar the whole issue because of the minority.

The majority of the tarnishing in reality is the way the "press" reports. Even then Larissa reporting is still only one persons opinion, it doesnt reflect what the majority of us feel or think.

Larissa - read my edited post above to mema for my views on the subject.

Knowledge is key - if they quote the Quran to you, check the reference, see the context and quote back to them what the Quran actually says and means.

At the end of the day though - theological arguments count for much less than personal conduct. People should look at you and see a Muslim and will judge Islam according to what they see before them. This way it is the friends and colleagues of Muslims who become advocates of the truth of Islam.

The greatest dis-service we can do to Islam is to actually reinforce the wrong stereotypes that are making the headlines.

And finally, let us not confuse westerners with 'Christians' or 'Christianity'.

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique bro

im muslim..what i meant is there are some muslims and i insist some who believe Christians are pure evil and there is a mutual hate ..so when ever i argue this point im either faced with "you r influenced by the western culture" or i could get through them that we shouldn’t generalize such theories...suddenly somethn like the pervious mentioned events happen and i feel hopeless back in the same circle..

Great posts Shaf.

mema wrote:shafique bro

im muslim..what i meant is there are some muslims and i insist some who believe Christians are pure evil and there is a mutual hate ..so when ever i argue this point im either faced with "you r influenced by the western culture" or i could get through them that we shouldn’t generalize such theories...suddenly somethn like the pervious mentioned events happen and i feel hopeless back in the same circle..

Muslims who hold the view that Christians are pure evil just need educating.

In most cases that is not what they actually believe - when you dig deeper its those causing injustice - such as the US and state of Israel, rather than Mr and Mrs Smith who go to church every Sunday.

Cheers,
Shafique

I have always seen the main issues as being political ones and am really annoyed that it has now turned into religious issues. It is crucial to separate the two.

kanelli wrote:I have always seen the main issues as being political ones and am really annoyed that it has now turned into religious issues. It is crucial to separate the two.

Yes and i have to say both sides are guilty of thinking political actions have a religious motivation when most of the times it doesnt.