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9 years ago
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Going Deeper
The Challenge of Inter-religious Dialogue in Nigeria
by Br Cornelius Ewuoso, OP
You know, I have never really considered the distinction between ‘What a thing is itself’ on the one hand, and ‘how people perceive it’ as something to be taken seriously. I simply just ignore the distinction, which has been my own mistake. But the question of a ‘what a thing is’, is fundamentally different from ‘how we perceive it’. The question of what a thing is, attempts to discover the ‘essential element or the substance’ of that thing, while the question of how we perceive it attempts to explore the various opinions we have about the subject. For example, when we ask the question, ‘What is David?’ and we answer, ‘David is a rational being’, by calling David a rational being, we intend to express what essentially distinguishes David from goat or a dog. But if we were to ask Daniel how he perceives David, we would most likely hear, ‘he is Irish’, ‘he is cool’, ‘he is smart’ etc., but these are mere personal opinions or perceptions Daniel has about David, which may most likely differ from the way Luke perceives Daniel.
Similarly, there is a fundamental difference between ‘what religion is, considered in-itself’ and ‘how members of each religion perceive their own religion’. But for the ordinary Nigerian, this distinction is simply non-existent; and the reason, I believe, scholars have achieved little or no success in the area of religious dialogue in Nigeria is because they themselves sometimes fail to make this distinction in their endeavour. But then, what is Religion? Religion is a way of life which leads to ‘salvation’. Islam, for example, since it is a religion, is a way of salvation. It exists to save humanity from doom and ruins. But how is this salvation achieved? How do we avoid doom and ruin? The answer to these questions is contained in the creed of every religion, and in Islam, it is contained in the Shahada, which says, ‘la ilaha il’Allah, Muhammadan rasoulu Allah, ‘there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger’. Belief in God, and acceptance of Mohammad’s message are the basic conditions for salvation. This is the famous Islamic creed. Belief in the one true God is the most important and the fundamental aspect or essential element of Islam, and of salvation. Every other thing is secondary. In the Shahada, the whole of Islamic religion is summarized.
However, it is not enough for a Muslim to have faith in the one true God, he or she must equally strive to live out this faith in each context or situation he or she finds himself or herself., hence, the religious question, how should I express my faith in each situation or context I find myself? This is a very important question and a fundamental one at that. It is fundamental and important in the sense that it strives to make clear that there is a distinction between ‘what we believe’ and ‘what we practice’. To have faith is one thing, and to live a life corresponding to the faith one professes is another. But unless one’s faith is worked out in each context, salvation would continue to elude that individual.
The question is equally important if we are to understand the various Hadiths, or traditions, trends and groups in Islam. In fact these traditions are mere attempts to answer the question, ‘What does it mean to ‘live-out’ one’s faith in Allah in every situation, having considered the variables?’ One thing is equally clear from this point which is, sometimes a thing in itself, may be good, but our understanding or the opinions we form about those things may be erroneous. Hence, we are obliged to always seek to relate to things as they are in themselves. This is because dealing with something as it is in itself is the first and indispensable step to forming a correct opinion about that thing; ‘for the further we are away from the essential element or substance of a thing, the more prone to error we become’. Hence, if you would ask me, Is Islam good in itself? I would answer, yes, Islam is good in itself, since it offers the way to eternal happiness which is the goal of every human person on earth. However, I do have a problem with the way some Muslims perceive their religion. Some of them do have erroneous notions about their own religion. But this is not true of Muslims alone, but also some Christians too do have erroneous notions about Christianity. The Nigerian society has demonstrated what the consequences of not forming a good understanding of religion could be like. Sometimes, the consequences could be devastating, disheartening, destructive and massive.
Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world, yet very prone to religious crisis. The two main religions in Nigeria are Christianity and Islam. The constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria does not stipulate a particular religion as the religion of the country, yet we still find it very difficult to live with one another as brothers and sisters. There is an atmosphere of mutual suspicions among members of these religions. In addition, many Nigerians find it very difficult to make a distinction between religion and other aspects of life; this explains in part why some politicians could use religion to exploit and commit grand injustices in Nigeria. We tend to make friends based on religious affiliation; key-appointments are made based on religion. We only need to take a look at the key-appointments made by the Presidency to understand this. Like the President, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is a Muslim. The Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, Members of the Economic Team are all Muslims. The Muslims control the financial system of the country and the country’s major source of income, which is crude oil.
My contention here, I must note, is not to criticise the ‘persons appointed’, insofar as they can get the job done. Rather, it is to show that the Government seldom considers the wherewithal, the capacity or qualifications of the candidates to handle the job. The focus is always on the candidate’s religious affiliation and region of origin. In this instance, religion is immediately seen as a condition for any official appointment.
This erroneous notion of religion is equally seen even in the Nigerian political scene. We are always ready to cast our votes for a candidate with whom we share the same faith, rather than for a candidate who can get the job done, and whenever a non-member of our own religion is perceived to be gaining an upper hand in any election, we immediately become aggressive and violent. This is exactly what one would discover in the recent religious conflict in Jos, the capital city of Plateau State.
There was a Local Government election in Jos. One party was perceived to be gaining the upper hand in the election by the other. This second party immediately gathered a group of idle young men and convinced them to see the first party's progress as a threat to their own religion. These young men responded to this call with a mass slaughter of the members of the other religion and of course, these other men retaliated. Blood was shed everywhere, about 400 lives were wasted, corpses were seen on the roads, properties were destroyed, schools, shops, churches, and mosques were burnt, people were displaced from their own homes and made refugees even in their own country. What ordinarily started out as a political exercise of electing a new leader, ended up being a war of religions. The damage was devastating and disheartening. At the end of the day, the question we were forced to consider is this, Is this what religion is all about? Is this the lesson we learn from being religious?
Religion, in itself, offers a way of salvation. This is true of both Christianity and Islam. A way of salvation which consists of mutual self-giving in love, peaceful coexistence, mutual support, friendship, assistance and tolerance. But our concrete actions, at least in Nigeria, seem to be far removed from this ideology.
The response to the Jos crisis further complicated issues. Religious sentiments became the political response. As a result of this, enmity was further entrenched between the two religions resulting in another clash in another State, Bauchi, where about 5 Christians died and hundreds more were displaced from their homes. As I have said in one of my articles, The Supreme Being and Politics: The Nigerian politician’s Mistake, the Jos debacle reiterates why it is necessary for us all to consistently emphasize and appreciate the distinctiveness of religion, not our own opinions about it, not our own views but what it essentially represents which is never to be confused for selfish gains. This explains why I strongly disagree to the opinion that religion and politics should not be ‘essentially distinguished’, though I have great respect for those who express such opinions.
Religion, in Nigeria, has been mixed up with politics and politics with religion, so much so that we find it very difficult to differentiate between the two. This is the challenge of religious dialogue in Nigerian. An even greater challenge is to decipher how we can educate people so that they can appreciate religion for what it really is, in itself and ‘not what some sycophants opine’. Unless this is achieved there can be fruitful religious encounter in Nigeria.
You know, I have never really considered the distinction between ‘What a thing is itself’ on the one hand, and ‘how people perceive it’ as something to be taken seriously. I simply just ignore the distinction, which has been my own mistake. But the question of a ‘what a thing is’, is fundamentally different from ‘how we perceive it’. The question of what a thing is, attempts to discover the ‘essential element or the substance’ of that thing, while the question of how we perceive it attempts to explore the various opinions we have about the subject. For example, when we ask the question, ‘What is David?’ and we answer, ‘David is a rational being’, by calling David a rational being, we intend to express what essentially distinguishes David from goat or a dog. But if we were to ask Daniel how he perceives David, we would most likely hear, ‘he is Irish’, ‘he is cool’, ‘he is smart’ etc., but these are mere personal opinions or perceptions Daniel has about David, which may most likely differ from the way Luke perceives Daniel.
Similarly, there is a fundamental difference between ‘what religion is, considered in-itself’ and ‘how members of each religion perceive their own religion’. But for the ordinary Nigerian, this distinction is simply non-existent; and the reason, I believe, scholars have achieved little or no success in the area of religious dialogue in Nigeria is because they themselves sometimes fail to make this distinction in their endeavour. But then, what is Religion? Religion is a way of life which leads to ‘salvation’. Islam, for example, since it is a religion, is a way of salvation. It exists to save humanity from doom and ruins. But how is this salvation achieved? How do we avoid doom and ruin? The answer to these questions is contained in the creed of every religion, and in Islam, it is contained in the Shahada, which says, ‘la ilaha il’Allah, Muhammadan rasoulu Allah, ‘there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger’. Belief in God, and acceptance of Mohammad’s message are the basic conditions for salvation. This is the famous Islamic creed. Belief in the one true God is the most important and the fundamental aspect or essential element of Islam, and of salvation. Every other thing is secondary. In the Shahada, the whole of Islamic religion is summarized.
However, it is not enough for a Muslim to have faith in the one true God, he or she must equally strive to live out this faith in each context or situation he or she finds himself or herself., hence, the religious question, how should I express my faith in each situation or context I find myself? This is a very important question and a fundamental one at that. It is fundamental and important in the sense that it strives to make clear that there is a distinction between ‘what we believe’ and ‘what we practice’. To have faith is one thing, and to live a life corresponding to the faith one professes is another. But unless one’s faith is worked out in each context, salvation would continue to elude that individual.
The question is equally important if we are to understand the various Hadiths, or traditions, trends and groups in Islam. In fact these traditions are mere attempts to answer the question, ‘What does it mean to ‘live-out’ one’s faith in Allah in every situation, having considered the variables?’ One thing is equally clear from this point which is, sometimes a thing in itself, may be good, but our understanding or the opinions we form about those things may be erroneous. Hence, we are obliged to always seek to relate to things as they are in themselves. This is because dealing with something as it is in itself is the first and indispensable step to forming a correct opinion about that thing; ‘for the further we are away from the essential element or substance of a thing, the more prone to error we become’. Hence, if you would ask me, Is Islam good in itself? I would answer, yes, Islam is good in itself, since it offers the way to eternal happiness which is the goal of every human person on earth. However, I do have a problem with the way some Muslims perceive their religion. Some of them do have erroneous notions about their own religion. But this is not true of Muslims alone, but also some Christians too do have erroneous notions about Christianity. The Nigerian society has demonstrated what the consequences of not forming a good understanding of religion could be like. Sometimes, the consequences could be devastating, disheartening, destructive and massive.
Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world, yet very prone to religious crisis. The two main religions in Nigeria are Christianity and Islam. The constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria does not stipulate a particular religion as the religion of the country, yet we still find it very difficult to live with one another as brothers and sisters. There is an atmosphere of mutual suspicions among members of these religions. In addition, many Nigerians find it very difficult to make a distinction between religion and other aspects of life; this explains in part why some politicians could use religion to exploit and commit grand injustices in Nigeria. We tend to make friends based on religious affiliation; key-appointments are made based on religion. We only need to take a look at the key-appointments made by the Presidency to understand this. Like the President, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is a Muslim. The Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, Members of the Economic Team are all Muslims. The Muslims control the financial system of the country and the country’s major source of income, which is crude oil.
My contention here, I must note, is not to criticise the ‘persons appointed’, insofar as they can get the job done. Rather, it is to show that the Government seldom considers the wherewithal, the capacity or qualifications of the candidates to handle the job. The focus is always on the candidate’s religious affiliation and region of origin. In this instance, religion is immediately seen as a condition for any official appointment.
This erroneous notion of religion is equally seen even in the Nigerian political scene. We are always ready to cast our votes for a candidate with whom we share the same faith, rather than for a candidate who can get the job done, and whenever a non-member of our own religion is perceived to be gaining an upper hand in any election, we immediately become aggressive and violent. This is exactly what one would discover in the recent religious conflict in Jos, the capital city of Plateau State.
There was a Local Government election in Jos. One party was perceived to be gaining the upper hand in the election by the other. This second party immediately gathered a group of idle young men and convinced them to see the first party's progress as a threat to their own religion. These young men responded to this call with a mass slaughter of the members of the other religion and of course, these other men retaliated. Blood was shed everywhere, about 400 lives were wasted, corpses were seen on the roads, properties were destroyed, schools, shops, churches, and mosques were burnt, people were displaced from their own homes and made refugees even in their own country. What ordinarily started out as a political exercise of electing a new leader, ended up being a war of religions. The damage was devastating and disheartening. At the end of the day, the question we were forced to consider is this, Is this what religion is all about? Is this the lesson we learn from being religious?
Religion, in itself, offers a way of salvation. This is true of both Christianity and Islam. A way of salvation which consists of mutual self-giving in love, peaceful coexistence, mutual support, friendship, assistance and tolerance. But our concrete actions, at least in Nigeria, seem to be far removed from this ideology.
The response to the Jos crisis further complicated issues. Religious sentiments became the political response. As a result of this, enmity was further entrenched between the two religions resulting in another clash in another State, Bauchi, where about 5 Christians died and hundreds more were displaced from their homes. As I have said in one of my articles, The Supreme Being and Politics: The Nigerian politician’s Mistake, the Jos debacle reiterates why it is necessary for us all to consistently emphasize and appreciate the distinctiveness of religion, not our own opinions about it, not our own views but what it essentially represents which is never to be confused for selfish gains. This explains why I strongly disagree to the opinion that religion and politics should not be ‘essentially distinguished’, though I have great respect for those who express such opinions.
Religion, in Nigeria, has been mixed up with politics and politics with religion, so much so that we find it very difficult to differentiate between the two. This is the challenge of religious dialogue in Nigerian. An even greater challenge is to decipher how we can educate people so that they can appreciate religion for what it really is, in itself and ‘not what some sycophants opine’. Unless this is achieved there can be fruitful religious encounter in Nigeria.
Orthodox Church in Cairo
The cathedral houses the tomb of St. Athanasius. St. Athanasius played a big role during the council of Nicea in 325 A.D. against Arius' doctrine.
St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is located in the Abbassia District in Cairo where the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, Pope Shenouda III is located. It was built during the time when Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and inaugurated by Pope Cyril in 1968. The cathedral houses the relic of St. Mark, the evangelist and the first Patriarch of Alexandria.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A Friar's preliminary thoughts
Islam and Christianity are two religions both claiming truth in knowledge of the Revelation of God and the universality of that truth. And so, one might ask who is right? Moreover, if given the chance, a Muslim would have the entire world converted to Islam. Likewise, a Christian would have the entire world be Christian (at least one's own perception of Christianity). I think it is this tension that lies at the core of the difficulties with dialogue. In the end, on what grounds can these two religions talk with each other?
To get to an answer to this question, one must ask, "What is the purpose of dialogue?" Is it to come to share the same faith? To reveal truth in one's particular faith and error in the other? Little, if any, progress could ever be made if it were with these principles that a dialogue was started. If we try to simply engage in a rational, notional debate about the validity of our own traditions, we surely could never accomplish much of anything.
True dialogue lies with the encounter with each other. To "encounter" is to come to know one another through shared experience. To learn about each other and from each other through friendship and respect. This further means that we must unashamedly engage in this encounter fully as we are. There is to be no apology for the beliefs we hold, nor are we to discount or ignore the things that truly not shared. Many wish to circumvent the true distinctions between the two faiths as to avoid conflict, however acknowledging and being honest about the things that truly divide the two faiths is the only way where TRUE mutual understanding can occur. Moreover, "encounter" provides an experience of another which corrects or clarifies those preconceived/misunderstood notions one may have about the other.
In these first few days of the workshop, we have had the opportunity to "encounter" Islam, many individual Muslims, as well as a Muslim society as a whole. As I do, I find more often than not many similarities between our two religions and our experiences of having a life of faith. The stress Islam puts on daily prayer and the incorporation of one's faith into their daily life only highlights for me the incredibly rich and beautiful tradition of this same concept found in Christianity. Moreover, Islam's understanding of God, his transcendence, and supremacy likewise reminds me of Christianity's similar (if not the same) awe of, devotion to, and understanding of the Divine. After such encounters, I go home wanting to be a better Christian, a better Dominican. It enlivens/refreshes/renews the faith graced to me by God. Having had discussions with those Muslims who have been "encountering" the Dominican community here in Cairo, they too recount similar experiences of an enliving of their own fidelity and faith and a call to be better Muslims.
Truth is universal, and I guess the Spirit blows where It wills. As a faithful Catholic, I cannot and will not deny the Truth that has been revealed to us, but yet at the same time must acknowledge Islam's pursuit for the same Truth. I cannot claim to understand God's reasoning for the existance of our two faiths in the world, however, in these past few days, I seem to understand better the wisdom in the Vatican II document on relations with Non-Christians, Nostrae Aetate:
1. In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.
One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth.(1) One also is their final goal, God. His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all men,(2) until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light.(3)
Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply stir the hearts of men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life? What is moral good, what sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it serve? Which is the road to true happiness? What are death, judgment and retribution after death? What, finally, is that ultimate inexpressible mystery which encompasses our existence: whence do we come, and where are we going?
...
Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have struggled to answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and a more developed language...The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.
...
3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.
(see the full text:
---- Br. Luke C. Barder, OP
Cairo - Day Four
There are about 110 pyramids currently known in Egypt, many in a state of great disrepair and almost unrecognizable. Some were built as burial places for kings and others for queens. A pyramid also may have represented a stairway for the king to ascend to the heavens. Another possibility is that it was symbolic of the primeval mound on which the sun god/creator was born.The largest pyramid ever built was the Great Pyramid at Giza southwest of modern Cairo. Built for king Khufu, this pyramid was completed around 2550 BC. It is estimated that the pyramid contains approximately 2,300,000 blocks of stone with an average weight of 2.5 tons each and some up to 15 tons. Its sides measure 230 meters in length. The structure would have towered about 146.6 meters high, but it is now a little shorter owing to the outer casing having been removed to build many of Cairo's buildings during the Middle Ages.
The Giza Plateau also is home to two other large pyramids for the subsequent kings, Chephren and Menkaura. As with the Great Pyramid, both of these pyramids have valley temples and mortuary temples connected by causeways. However, next to Chephren's valley temple is the famous 73-metre long Sphinx and its associated temple. Despite controversy over its age, most Egyptologists believe that the Sphinx was carved from a rocky outcrop at the same time as Chephren's pyramid.
Cairo - Day Three
The City of the Dead (Qarafa, Arafa) is a forty km long cemetery east of Cairo. To the people of Cairo and other Egyptians, it is simply el'arafa which means "the cemetery". It is a bustling grid of tombs and mausoleums where people live and work amongst their dead ancestors. Many residents live here to be near their loved ones, or because they were forced from more crowded areas in Cairo. Many also came from their villages simply looking for work, stayed there and eventually migrated.
Cairo - Day Two
The Fatimid Caliphate or al-Fātimiyyūn (Arabic الفاطميون) was an Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, Sicily, Malta and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171. It was the fourth and final Arab caliphate. The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the citizens of this caliphate. The ruling elite of the state belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism. The leaders of the dynasty were also Shia Ismaili Imams, hence, they had a religious significance to Ismaili Muslims. They are also part of the chain of holders of the office of Caliph, as recognized by most Muslims, the only period in which the Shia Imamate and the Caliphate were united to any degree, excepting the Caliphate of Ali himself.
With exceptions, the Fatimids were reputed to exercise a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Ismaili sects of Islam as well as towards Jews, Maltese Christians and Coptic Christians. (source: Wikepedia)
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