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Kissing cousins?Christians and Muslims face to faceSo near, yet so farKISSING COUSINS? Bill Musk is undoubtedly one of Britain’s leading scholars on Islam, evangelical or otherwise, and he is specially gifted to present often intricate issues in an accessible and popular fashion. His latest book is no exception. For evangelicals, assessing whether we can have positive estimates of other religions is always controversial, since it risks falling over the edge towards ecumenism, universalism or even syncretism. It is a testament to Musk’s evangelical and scholarly integrity that he is able to point to common areas without lapsing into the ‘all roads lead to God’ school. Close parallelsMusk defines his aim as discovering parallels ‘about how the two faiths have actually found expression on earth’ (p.15). An example is how the faiths have wrestled with ‘how to live on behalf of God in a non-co-operative world’. He also seeks to find where Muslims are ‘in their comprehension of Jesus’ and ‘move them on from there’. For the non-specialist reader, it should be noted that Islam believes in the prophethood, virgin birth, Messiahship, miraculous ministry and Second Coming of Jesus, so this project is not without foundation. However, Islam denies Christ’s deity, divine Sonship and usually his crucifixion. Hence the questions Musk examines in his book — are Muslims our ‘cousins’ — and what kind are they? Comparable, uncomfortable, competing, or cousins in hope? Above all, are they ‘kissing cousins’? Great dividesMusk is superlative on addressing issues that divide the ‘cousins’, such as the crucifixion, which Muslims usually deny (p.343ff). The verse that seemingly denies this (Surah 4.157) states that ‘they killed him not nor crucified him but so it was made to appear to them’. Muslims generally interpret this as meaning that God assumed Jesus into Paradise while substituting someone else on the cross (usually Judas) whose features were made to resemble Jesus. Musk examines the Arabic text and notes an alternative interpretation that compares it with Surah 8.17 referring to Muhammad at the Battle of Badr: ‘It was not you that killed them but God’. So, 4.157 is actually saying that although the Jews were under the illusion that they had slain Jesus, in fact God caused him to die. This is an extremely attractive interpretation that I have suggested myself with Sunni Muslims, pointing also as Musk does, to texts such as Surahs 4.155; 2.87 which refer to other prophets being killed. However, it would have been helpful for Musk to observe that the Shi’ite hadith explicitly denies that Jesus was crucified. Another area where Musk is enormously helpful to the non-specialist reader is when he examines Islam’s self-understanding. While Islam in the sense of the purported revelation to Muhammad was only established in his lifetime, Islam in the sense of submission to God goes all the way back to Adam (pp.19-26). Just as Christians regard the Old Testament saints as sharing their faith, even if the latter did not call themselves Christians, so Muslims regard all the prophets — including Jesus — as Muslims in this sense. Christians frequently misunderstand this. Hence, for Muslims, the Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem (supposedly on the site of Solomon’s temple) is no new shrine, but merely continues the worship of the God of Abraham initiated by the ‘muslim’ (lower case) prophets Dawud (David) and Suleiman (Solomon). Musk’s approach is eirenical, and this leads him to consider objectively issues such as Muhammad’s plural marriages, which scandalise Christians (p.69ff). Musk points out that we find ample evidence of such arrangements in the Old Testament — especially with Solomon, and, like Muhammad, these were largely politically motivated. Still, the consummation of Muhammad’s marriage to a nine-year-old girl remains problematic to say the least for most people. Another issue that arises in Christian-Muslim dialogue is whether Christians could ever recognise Muhammad’s prophethood. Many Muslims are often shocked when I inform them that this is impossible for evangelicals. Usually what I say is that, just as Muslims cannot accept any post-Qur’anic revelation, such as the Ahmadiyya or the Bahais, neither can we accept any post-biblical claims of revelation. Tentative ideaHowever, Musk has a fascinating approach on this matter, based on Titus 1.12: ‘One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies”’. This refers to the sixth-century BC poet/seer Epimenides. Musk observes that Paul calls him a ‘prophet’ and quotes part of a hymn by him. Musk notes: ‘Even if Paul is being ironic here, suggesting that Epimenides is a prophet in the Cretans’ estimation and not necessarily in his, the point that Epimenides made in his day is now being endorsed by Paul’ (p.81). Musk wonders if we can then accept parts of Muhammad’s teaching which conform with the Bible. I’m not sure this is an approach that I would endorse, but it is interesting nonetheless. Musk is also invaluable in his treatment of the term Allah. Some Christians reject the term wholesale, but Musk shows that it simply means ‘the god’ (p.123), comparable to ‘ho theos’ in the New Testament. Interestingly, although pre-Islamic Arabs worshipped Allah, and referred to him as ‘Lord of the Kaba’, there was no idolatrous representation of Him as with their other deities (p.121). Musk notes that the Canaanites worshipped El, the same name for God as used in the Old Testament. The real issue, as Musk notes, is not the name, but the ‘content’ invested in the word — i.e. His attributes. After all, Catholics honour the Virgin Mary as evangelicals do, but the nature of that honour, and the attributes associated by Romanism with Mary, differ substantially from the Bible (e.g. ‘Queen of Heaven’, ‘Co-Redemptrix’), but we do not therefore reject all true honouring of the genuine Mary because of this. Islamic missiologyThe book also looks at Islam in Britain, and addresses David Pawson’s concern that Islam will conquer this country through demographic growth and conversion (p.234). I always smile at people who think this, because if you were to believe some Muslims, half the British population should have converted by now. The number of white converts — as can easily be observed by attending Muslim events — remains limited. Nonetheless, Musk examines the strategy of the Islamic Foundation’s late director Khurram Murad who advocated contextualisation as a means of Islamic missiology in the UK. This in itself offers an opportunity for Christians to share the gospel with British Muslims — they will come to us to try to convert us! There is much else in this book packed with information and insight, and I can only urge everyone interested in the Christian-Muslim encounter to purchase this invaluable volume. Dr. Anthony McRoy© Evangelicals Now - December 2005 |