Sadly, fundamentalism using the Muslim religion to legitimate violence has reared its ugly head in the horrendous actions of members of the Islamic State and of Boko Haram in Nigeria, as well as in the killings in Paris in January (clearly to be condemned, yet, as Pope Francis indicated, partly the result of provocation).

These developments have reawakened fears about the spread of Islam. Political analysts have rightly pointed out that it is unwise to see all this as a ‘clash of civilisations’ between the West and Islam, that there is a big difference between religiously fervent/politically moderate Islam and Muslim fundamentalism, and that it is moderate Muslims that have to face down violent Islamic fundamentalists, as some have already done.

As Christians, instead of falling prey to our fears, we need to reflect on the issue in the light of faith. The gospel, not the mostly secularist comments of the media, helps bring matters into better perspective.

An important gesture by Pope Francis can serve as the starting point of our reflection. Last summer he invited Jews and Muslims to Rome to pray with him to the one true God for peace in the Holy Land.

Pope Francis thus affirmed the importance of prayer and the existence of a brotherhood among the three religions that revere the one Almighty God. There is a bond, he implied, stronger than anything that may divide believers of the three religions.

That encounter expressed graphically what Vatican II stated in its short Declaration on the Church’s relation to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate (1965 “All nations are one community and have one origin, because God caused the whole human race to dwell on the whole face of the earth. They also have one final end, God, whose providence, manifestation of goodness and plans for salvation are extended to all…” (nr 1)

There is a bond stronger than anything that may divide believers of the three religions

Besides talking about other world religions, Vatican II’s declaration Nostra Aetate recognises that Muslims “worship the one God… merciful and almighty, creator of heaven and earth… they seek to submit themselves wholeheartedly… to God. They venerate Jesus as a prophet, even though they do not acknowledge him as God, and they honour his virgin mother Mary… they await the day of judgement… they have regard for the moral life, and worship God especially in prayer, almsgiving and fasting” (nr 3).

Despite serious conflicts between Muslims and Christians down the centuries, Vatican II urges all sides to work towards mutual understanding and together to promote social justice and moral values, as well as peace and freedom for all peoples (nr 3).

Nostra Aetate states that the Church has to go on preaching Christ, ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). It has a responsibility to proclaim clearly that Christ is truly the Son of God, that He became man, and that in Christ “people find the fullness of religious life…” (nr 2).

That, however, must not prevent Christians from considering Muslims as fellow human beings, from praying with them, respecting them and entering into dialogue with them, as Pope Francis and his predecessors have done. Precisely for a Western world that has largely lost the sense of God, the common witness of Christians, Jews and Muslims in a Creator whom they adore and pray to is vital: it serves as a reminder that human beings cannot be complete without God.

Faithful to the teaching of Jesus, Christians need to pray even for Muslims who wrong them. On their part, in many countries, Muslims could be more welcoming to Christian minorities in their midst.

When, at an international meeting on reproductive health issues, the Holy See stood up for the life of the unborn child, it was not backed by any European country except Malta: it was, however, supported by several Muslim countries.

In our complex world, allies in upholding sane moral values may well be found not in apparently culturally-similar societies imbued by secularist values, but more readily in communities that, while embracing other religious faiths, believe in Almighty God.

Fr Robert Soler is a member of the Society of Jesus.

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