How fitting:
I remember when this story first broke. I was just emerging from calling myself Chrislamic. I was truly a Christian in the sense of having Jesus as my measure at truth but was enamored with Islam as in many ways I found it balanced what I felt (and still do feel are) the extremes of Christianity.
So I attended church and, for quite some time, I attended my local mosque (as a matter of fact it was pre and post 9/11 when I attended). Islam provided my soul a true sense of grounding especially, as Ms. Holmes has stressed, the power and beauty of the recitation of the Qur'an. I can truly understand Islam's appeal to her.
However, I am not convinced she took long enough to study it. To make such a life altering decision within a ten day period seems quite impulsive. I would compare it to the beginning days of a dating relationship. How many of us would get married after ten days?
I can also understand her claim to being a Christian as well. Her arguments are valid as to the ability to remain both. However, she has, in essence, forged her own version of each, stripping away some of those things that demarcate any similarities between the two faiths.
Christian belief has no compromise on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Islam refutes this entirely. Most Muslims believe he was saved from being crucified and was raised alive to God. There are some who postulate he did live a full life on earth and some believe he is buried in India but these are minority beliefs. Muslims do believe in the resurrection and most believe that Jesus will, on that day, renounce the beliefs held by Christians and proclaim Islam to be the true faith.
The vast majority of the Christian world teaches that Jesus is divine/deity/God. How that is understood is often debated but the fact itself is not. Exceptions would be Unitarians, Christadelphians and Jehovah's Witnesses (I don't believe Episcopals compromise on this point).
Islam refutes this entirely. Jesus, though a Prophet, is only human.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are seen, by the majority of
Christendom, as the Trinity, in doctrinal terms. Even if there is no belief in the Trinity, there is still a "trinitarian" economy to God's operation in these three.
Islam does not refer to God as "Father" and the Holy Spirit is considered to be the angel Gabriel. There are no "sons" of God.
For Christianity, God reveals His nature. His nature is revealed in His Son, through the Holy Spirit. While the depths of this nature are infinite, God's nature is revealed.
In Islam, God's nature is impenetrable. While He reveals Himself through His Word in the form of attributes, His revelation is not relational. There is little talk of God's nature and no talk of "person" when it comes to God which is why Islam, in general, has little to do with theology, as such.
Jesus, according to Christianity, is the Word of God (contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not the Word of God).
Jesus, while called a word from God by the Qur'an, is not the Word of God according to Islam. If a parallel is to be drawn, though lacking in many respects, the Qur'an would be considered the Word of God.
So while Ms. Holmes can hold these two faiths in her person in a delicate balance, the tension between the two helping deepen her faith in many respects, it also shortchanges her as there are many compromises she must make.
In the end, what, or who, is the Truth against which she measures her faith? Is it truly God? Or is she the measure of all Truth?
I think, in terms of faith, a choice must be made. While we can, and should, respect other faiths and can even participate in other faiths to a degree, there comes a point where we must choose.
I had been a fence straddler for a long time. It took me almost ten years to "leave" Islam. I took it as far as I could on the inside without making the leap. The leap was the last thing I needed to do. But, after the initial buzz has worn off and I entrenched myself in the deep things of the tradition, I was able to gather perspective.
It was only after making a clear decision that I began to see the "light" of the Christian path. While I often wonder what this "light" may have appeared as had I chosen to take the shahadah, I realize that I am where I am supposed to be.
1 comment:
I had no idea you had become a Chruslim(?). I wonder if you have ever explored the Bahai faith. Somehow the Bahai's manage to reconcile Christianity and Islam, although, I admit I do not know where they stand on issues like the crucifixion and resurrection. I think that most Christian sects teach a literalism that precludes a blending with any other faith, and the problem lies within that required literal understanding. If we were to look at the Bible as pure esoterica, would it be so hard to believe? Not for me, and this is why so many of the mystics; sufis, gnostics, etc. don't seem to have any issue with Christianity. If you ask a sufi whether he believes in the resurrection, he would probably say , sure, why not? I remember reading Aristotle for the first time; the parable of the cave, I think it was, and marveling at how nothing is what it seems; so much more is there at a higher plane. I have always had difficulty with the doctrines of the major Christian sects but I don't focus so much on the "facts" anymore. It could be true. Maybe it's not. Perhaps I am not in a position at the moment to make the call. Perhaps, I never will be, but I can't continue to let it get in the way of my spiritual growth. These issues have nagged at me for a lifetime, causing me to feel restless, and then apathetic. In the end, I don't believe the biggest thing I will have to answer for is whether I believed in the Resurrection. It could pose a problem if I actively disbelieve, because who am I to say that millions of people are in error? I guess the real problem is that if you don't take a stance, you don't get to have the label (Christian, Muslim, Athiest), thus, you don't get to have the identity, the community, the assuredness that you are on the right path with the right people. What church do I go to on Sunday? What do I write down under the "Religion" section on this or that application..? That is the thing we struggle with most.
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