A Race for Virtues

How is it that both Christianity and Islam, religions which proclaim the centrality of peace, are so often used as pretexts for violence? It is particularly disheartening when religious scholars, both Christian and Muslim, use their authority to inflame rather than enlighten. Certainly the current international situation creates an almost ready-made template in which righteousness is allegedly shown, not in the love of God or even humanity, but in the hatred of those portrayed as “enemies of God” who are often, quite conveniently, also political enemies both domestic and foreign. While it may be easier to seek the destruction of what one does not understand than to make the effort to find any inherent value in another faith tradition, the sense of false rectitude inspired when one does so in the name of God is particularly dangerous because it cannot be checked by reason or mercy. Ironically, reason and mercy are often lauded as divine attributes by both Muslims and Christians. Perhaps this is due to the current scarcity of these divine characteristics today.

This also reflects an incomplete reading of both holy texts, neither of which calls the faithful to unmitigated hatred of the other. In addition to the often-cited texts that condemn outsiders, the Qur'an and the Bible contain verses that challenge believers to respect people beyond the pale of their faith. In part, since both religions call humanity to transcend itself and its current conditions, a sense of the “other” is almost mandatory if a believer in either faith is to fully contemplate the Divine while still in this life.

In both Christianity and Islam, human beings are potentially agents of God on Earth. In the Bible as well as the Qur'an, God's very breath animates humankind (Gn 2:7; Q 15:29) and humans are given stewardship of the Earth (Gn 1:28; Q 15:30). This entails a responsibility towards creation and towards one another. A famous hadith in which God speaks, tells us that he is a “hidden treasure” who created the world in order to be found and known. In this sense, Muslims are to explore the secrets of the cosmos and of humanity to find the traces of God in both. The Qur'an states that we were all created of one soul and that we were divided into nations and tribes so that we may come to know each other (Q 49:13).

This implies that within the various groups of humankind some of God's precious treasure lies hidden for others to discover. By learning something about our neighbors, we could actually learn something about God. Would such a thought be anathema to a Christian?

The Bible likewise contains instances which indicate that the purposes of God surpass parochial boundaries. The Good Samaritan is perhaps the best known example. Although Samaritans were unclean heretics who set up a temple as a rival to the true one in Jerusalem (an act of complete and utter blasphemy to the orthodox believers), when Jesus healed ten lepers, the only one to show the proper gratitude also happened to be a Samaritan (Lk 17:16). Cyrus, the Persian (that is from modern-day Iran) Emperor is referred to as God's “anointed”—the same word used for Messiah—in the book of Isaiah (Is 45:1). He was hardly an orthodox believer; yet he was integral in the fulfillment of God's will in restoring the City of David .

The prophet Micah offers a three-fold summarization of true faith: to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Mic 6:8). Humility is not a holy virtue that is discussed often enough among believers. It requires a level of self-questioning and inquiry that make us uncomfortable in our certitude. It also reminds us that we do not have God under control. Both Christians and Muslims believe that God is an independent and objective reality who surpasses our understanding. If we do not allow God to surpass the bounds of our imagination, we are guilty of idolatry which both faiths condemn as a mortal sin.

At a time when reasonable people seem to be leaving traditional faiths in droves, leaving “belief” to the irrational and the apocalyptic, it is obvious that a new approach to revealed religions is necessary. Could the talk of Crusades and Jihads possibly turn to contemplation of God rather than spiritual and territorial conquest? Rather than vilifying the “other,” why not look for the “traces of God” in the life and traditions of our interlocutors?

Islam, which came after Christianity, has an advantage in inter-faith dialogue since Christians are mentioned several times in the Qur'an, including one interesting direct challenge to the older faith. Speaking of Muslims and the People of the Gospel ( injil ) the Qur'an says:

To each among you we have prescribed a law and an open way. If God had so willed, he would have made you a single people, but His plan is to test you in what He has given you. So strive as in a race of all virtues. The goal of you all is to God. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute (Q 5:48).

This is an extraordinary contest calling believers of both faiths to strive along their prescribed paths in a “race of all virtues” with the goal being the God who calls them. An added benefit is that he promises that he will reveal his truth to both parties who accept the challenge, not in enmity, but in running as sportsmen to the same end. Both Islam and Christianity have withstood the test of time and inspired great world civilizations while contributing much to the historical and cultural legacy of humanity. God is such an immense reality that we could possibly concede that he may be viewed from different angles. In the 21 st century, we have unprecedented means to search out the treasures Divinity has hidden in the faith traditions of our neighbors.

It is almost axiomatic that the “arms race” and the “space race,” although aimed at mass destruction, have created collateral benefit for the mass of humanity through scientific progress. It is perhaps time believers in both faiths take up the gauntlet for the “race of all virtues” in which mutual benefit is deliberate. This is a race which has, so far, never been run.