Islam and Franciscanism: A Dialogue

Breaking Down the Walls of Our Differences: Islamic-Christian Encounter Through Prayer

45 Breaking Down the Walls of Our Differences: Islamic-Christian Encounter Through Prayer François Paquette, O.F.M. Nowadays, given the new technological conditions of our existence, rare are the people who can remain isolated. Exchanges of all kinds take place at a more and more accelerated pace. Individuals of minority groups settle for more or less long periods of time within indigenous majority populations. After staying a while, they either leave or settle for good in the new land. Their stay, whether temporary or permanent, gives them the opportunity not only to create ties with the host population but also to make their own culture and religious beliefs known. Exchange at the level of religious beliefs is perhaps the one most often absent, as if any such exchange would lead inevitably to proselytism and failure. Nevertheless, there exists a very non-threatening way of getting to know someone of another religion: by observing how they pray, and by reflecting on their prayer. This applies to a meeting between two people of different religions such as Islam and Christianity. One knows well that such a meeting takes place between two people and not between two religions and, therefore, one cannot disregard the social, cultural, political, economical, psychological and personal conditions in which each person evolves. In order to have a true inter-religious encounter, however, there must be an interaction of two people who are capable of situating themselves with respect to their own religion and who are spiritually inspired by their faith. Without this, the encounter would be bereft of a part essential to the dialogue, namely knowledge and experience of faith, and thus would not be fully realized. The following chapter will be devoted to a presentation of the customs of prayer of two traditions, Islam and Christianity; the Catholic Christian tradition will be broached from the point of view of the Franciscan movement.1 This presentation will be based on the primary modes of prayer of the two traditions, those used in daily ritual and those associated with personal piety. Then follows a commentary revealing the parallels 1 In Christianity there are several schools of thought and practice. Our focus is Catholic Christianity and, more specifically, in the Franciscan school, which is inspired by the way Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) lived his faith and which gave birth to what is known today as the Franciscan family (Christians inspired by the spirituality of Francis of Assisi). 46 FRANÇOIS PAQUETTE, O.F.M. between Franciscan and Muslim ways of praying and a description of how Franciscans and Muslims may fraternize through prayer and show initiative in diminishing the gap which very often divides Islam and Christianity. 1.0 THE RITUAL PRAYER Here it is not our intention to enter into a detailed description of these rites. Just enough information will be given to allow the reader to grasp the style, approach, and meaning of each. Various Christian and Franciscan sources will be used to present the modes of Franciscan prayers. As for the Muslim modes of prayer, they will be explained according to a synthesis taken from notes of Franciscan authors on their perception of Muslim prayers.2 1.1 Among the Muslims The Muslim ritual prayer bears the name salat and is distinguished from the free prayer which is called du’a -.’ The latter form of prayer does not involve any obligatory attitudes or formulas. The former, on the contrary, is meticulously regulated by religious law. It constitutes one of the most important duties for all Muslims, men and women, as soon as they attain the age of puberty. The children, without being strictly obligated, begin the practices at a very early age. Beginning at the age of reason, around seven years old, they are initiated and encouraged by their parents and their teachers. In practice, it is the city dwellers almost exclusively (though not necessarily all the city dwellers) who apply themselves to this daily duty of five ritual prayers. Obligatory, this prayer must, in fact, be carried out everyday (at dawn (fajr), around mid-day (zuhr), in the afternoon about three hours later (‘asr), just after sunset (maghrib) and lastly when night has fallen (‘isha’). In order for this prayer to be valid, it should be preceded by ablutions, unless one is already in a state of legal purity. This state is not in itself linked to sin; it is lost for example if one falls into a profound sleep, if one satisfies...