Finding God among Our Neighbors: An Interfaith Systematic Theology

4. A Brief Introduction to Islam

4 A Brief Introduction to Islam SEEKING “TRUE” ISLAM I began writing this chapter in Istanbul, sitting on my hotel balcony, looking out on the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus beyond, as the sun set behind me. It seemed to me then, and still seems to me now, a particularly apt place to start this chapter, for several reasons. First, of course, is that Istanbul is an overwhelmingly Muslim city: 99 percent of all people in Turkey are Muslim, and though that percentage may be a bit lower in the cosmopolitan city of Istanbul, it’s by not much. Yet, Turkey is also a secular state, and has been since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk abolished the Ottoman Empire and founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923, bringing it into the modern age.1 Thus, in harmony with its strong Muslim foundation and character, Istanbul also possesses the feel of a modern European city, evidenced by its diversity, freedom, and tolerance. Many Muslim women wear hijab—the headscarf, and some even wear chador—the full black covering that leaves only the face visible, but many also wear Western clothing and no head-covering of any kind. Alcohol is widely available, in spite of the fact that many Muslims don’t drink. Mosques old and new pepper the city, and are always bustling, especially during daily prayer times, but visitors of all kinds are welcome; and the most famous mosques manage to be both active places of worship and active sites of tourism simultaneously. In short, Istanbul is a wonderful place to celebrate Islam’s rich tradition, and its important place in the world today—its past and its present; and even more, it is a particularly helpful place to begin to dispel the myths about Islam that are all too prevalent among Christians. 1. It should be noted, however, that the imams are regulated and paid for by the government. 101 Figure 4.1. The Blue Mosque, Istanbul. May 2012. In his short introduction to Islam, John Kaltner writes: No religion in recent times has labored under more stereotypes than Islam. Ask a non-Muslim for a description of the “typical” Muslim, and he or she will probably respond with one or more stock characterizations, the most common being a veiled woman, a bearded cleric, a desert dweller, and a suicide bomber. If you were to inquire further and ask for practices with which Islam is associated, the list would undoubtedly include such things as polygamy, amputation of limbs, terrorist activities, and anti-Western demonstrations.2 And, both in the United States and abroad, the consequences of these negative and misinformed stereotypes have been deadly—both literally and figuratively, as Muslim individuals and mosques have been attacked, discriminated against, and vilified. Christians, I would argue, have a particular responsibility to speak out against this kind of prejudice, not only because Christians and Muslims are cousins—fellow “people of the book”—and not only because of Jesus’ command to love one’s neighbor, but especially because of the commandment not to bear false witness. 2. John Kaltner, Islam: What Non-Muslims Should Know (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 1. 102 | Finding God among Our Neighbors NOT BEARING FALSE WITNESS NOT BEARING FALSE WITNESS In Martin Luther’s explanation of this commandment in his Large Catechism, he writes: Now we have the summary and substance of this commandment: No one shall use the tongue to harm a neighbor, whether friend or foe. No one shall say anything evil of a neighbor, whether true or false, unless it is done with proper authority or for that person’s improvement. Rather, we should use our tongue to speak only the best about all people, to cover the sins and infirmities of our neighbors, to justify their actions, and to cloak and veil them with our own honor.3 Now, it must be noted, of course, that Luther himself did not extend his interpretation of this commandment to Muslims of his time, whom, admittedly, Luther knew only as a competing military power, laying siege to important cities in Europe. Luther called them “Turks” and criticized them strongly for their rejection of Jesus’ divinity. Nonetheless, I would argue that it is possible—indeed even necessary—to interpret Luther’s words more broadly and more generously in our diverse twenty-first-century context in order to include populations that Luther himself excoriated, such as the Jews. In...