Mohammedan Religion
Rev. Robert S. Junge
(New Church Life 1961)
A STUDY
Introduction
The Arab world is in the headlines almost daily. The forces of freedom and
totalitarianism are in what may become a struggle to the death for the support of these uncommitted powers. It is important that we of the Western world and of the New Church make a sincere effort to understand these peoples so that, as we seek co-operation with them, it
will not be a matter of trying to force our beliefs upon them but rather an effort to help them find their own unique course.
The faith of Islam is closely linked to the goals and ambitions of the people.
Political goals and religious ideals often intertwine. We have no intention of discussing the political implications of this part of the world. While not pretending to understand thoroughly the faith of the Mohammedans by having read a few books, it is still our hope in this
article to encourage reflection on the spiritual goals of these peoples. We would welcome additions and discussion.
The plan is to present the teachings of the Writings, the teachings of the Koran and interpretations of it, and some interpretations of the general spiritual state of
the Mohammedan world today.
Any new church has duties clearly laid out before it regarding the Gentiles; while the Mohammedans are not strictly Gentiles, and might be called an intermediary between
the Christians and the Gentiles, still, we, as a church, have a duty towards them. The Writings make no exception regarding the spread of the New Church to the Gentiles when they speak of its growth. In these trying worldly aftermaths of the Last Judgment, when the non-Christian
world is obviously coming to the fore, we must always be asking ourselves: What do these forces and these struggles mean to the New Church? In this article we do not ask what part do we play in the natural and political struggles themselves, but rather, what is our part in the
spiritual trials that these natural events reflect? With this in mind, we enter a study of the faith of Islam.
Concept of God
The most important doctrine of any religion is the doctrine of the Lord. So we look first to the Mohammedan beliefs about God. It is
interesting that over 90% of their theology treats of Allah, their one God.* First let us examine what the Writings say of that belief. But remember, as we do this, that among the multitudes of Mohammedans there are bound to be differences of belief, and these differences are
therefore bound to be reflected in the various descriptions given in the Writings. The Writings indicate throughout regarding the Mohammedans that they acknowledge one God; and we cannot help but admire this belief, so fundamental to all true religion. The Koran puts it: "There
is no God but Allah."**
* Hitti, p. 47.
** Mohammedanism; Gibb, p. 38.
But New Church men will immediately ask: How do they regard the Lord? Have they any concept of a Divinely Human God? For only a Divinely Human God can truly be
approached by man. The Writings describe the Mohammedans again and again in this manner: "They acknowledge the Lord as the greatest Prophet, the Son of God, the wisest of all, who was sent into the world to teach man."* But the Koran seems to contradict this when it says: "The
Messiah, the Son of Mary, is only the apostle of God and His Word which He cast to Mary and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His apostles and do not say, 'Three.' Forbear!; it is better for you. Allah is only One God; so transcendent is He that He cannot have a son."**
Yet in contrast to this denial of the Son of God, the Virgin Birth is clearly taught: "And she who was chaste, therefore we breathed into her of our spirit and made her and her son a token for [all] people."***
* C LJ 68; TCR 828; SS 105: 3; LJ Post 93-94; SD 5662a; CL 342.
** Surah 4: 171 (See Guillaume, P. 195, for the translation used.)
*** Surah 21: 9, (See also Gibb, P. 43)
The Koran, then, is not clear; for it defends the Virgin Birth with one hand, and denies that the Lord was the Son of God with the other. Apparently Mohammedans derive
different things from the Koran, the way Christians do with the Bible. But lest we have the idea that the Writings do not also recognize this denial of the Lord as the Son of God, we would note their speaking of a man impersonating Mohammed, who tried to convince Mohammedan
spirits. He "was actuated to speak to Mohammedan spirits concerning the Lord, that He was not the Son of Joseph, as they believed in the world, but the Son of God himself, by which he insinuated into them an idea of the unity of the Lord's person and essence with the Father."*
The Writings say also that they recognize that the Lord "had lived a more spiritual life according to their religious principles."** Again, we read in Conjugial Love: "Therefore the followers of Mohammed could not acknowledge our Lord as any God from eternity, but only as a
perfect natural man."*** So the Writings actually indicate the same type of contradiction as the Koran teaches.
* C LJ 69.
** LJ 50.
*** CL 341.
The Lord's wisdom and prophetship, spoken of in the Writings, are also clearly implied in the following passage from the Koran and many others: "And verily We gave unto
Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs [of Allah's sovereignty], and We supported him with the holy spirit." *
* Surah 2: 87.
Yet the Writings continue, and define much more closely, the Mohammedan doctrine concerning this denial of the Lord as God. "Mohammedans . . . have . . . denied the
Divinity of the Lord, and have acknowledged the Father alone as God." * A modern authority explains further that they do not even like the term Father."** "[That religion] did not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth [we are taught], because Orientals acknowledge
God as the Creator of the Universe, and were unable to comprehend how He could come into the world and assume the Human; even as many Christians do not comprehend this. . . "*** But again, the Writings contrast this denial with an acknowledgment of the Son. ". . . it is
impossible for them to think that our Lord is one with the Father, but it is possible for them to think of Him as equal, as also that dominion is given to Him over Heaven and earth, because He is His Son."****
* Ath 167.
** Guillaume, p. 195.
*** DP 255: 4.
**** CL 343; TCR 832; LJ Post. 97; SD 5669a.
Now we know that it is essential to think of God in Human form, or there is no approach to Him. Yet of some Mohammedans we read: "It was also inquired what sort of ideas
they had about God the Father; and it was found that they had no other idea than of a created universe, and that the idea was devoid of a human idea, as with all others, consequently, that they had not any idea of God the Father."* This is certainly true of some, but a further
passage continues: "They were examined as to what sort of idea they had of the one God, the Creator of the universe; and it was ascertained that it was as it were something human, and not, as with the former ones, as of a universe."** One modern author gives us a picture of
something of this humanness of God when he describes their faith: ". . . alongside the terrible and majestic aspects of God as Creator, Supreme Power, Judge, and Avenger, the Koran stresses also His bounty and loving kindness. He is not only 'the Compassionate One, the
Merciful,' but also the Protector, the Provider, the Pardoner, the Clement, ever ready to turn to the repentant sinner. He is the Subtle, Who is 'closer to man than his own neck vein,'*** 'the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden.'"**** In spite of these qualities,
however, Allah's attributes of love are overshadowed by his majesty. Islam is essentially a religion of submission.*****
* SD 5665a; LJ Post. 96.
** SD 5668a.
*** Surah 1: 15.
**** Surah lvii:
3. (Gibb, p. 50).
***** See Hitti, p. 47.
One of the dangers, however, of the Mohammedan faith is that in seeking to find something human and approachable they make too much of Mohammed. It is probable that most
modern Mohammedans would class Mohammed and not the Lord as the greatest prophet.* One of the Writings says: "But as the Mohammedans make the Koran only the book of their religion, and consequently, Mohammed, who wrote it, is seated in their thoughts, and they follow him with a
kind of worship, they therefore think little about the Lord."** Yet even some of these are taught after death to accept the Lord alone. Mohammed himself comes up black and evil, or his impersonators appear and instruct, leading toward true beliefs." ***
* Hitti, p. 48.
**
CL 342, 348; TCR 829, 833; CU 69; LJ Post. 96; SD 339, 5663a, 5665a.
*** LJ Post. 78; SD 344, 447, 5666a.
Many are given some feeling for the Divine Humanity even in this world through the idea of the Son of God; others gain no such idea and therefore have no real idea of
God whatsoever. But after death, we are taught, "many of the Mohammedans become Christian, acknowledging the Lord as the only God, because the Father is in Him and He in the Father."* We ask ourselves, must this wait until after death? Why cannot the New Church, with its firm
belief in one God, have a particular appeal to the peoples of Islam?
* SD 5246; LJ Post. 91, 101; HH 514:2.
Certainly we, too, abhor the division of God into three persons. The history of the rise of Mohammedanism, and the struggles of the Crusade period, show clearly the
Muslims' intense hatred of worshiping any but one God, and their being totally repelled by image worship. While there are no longer the religious wars, there is little evidence that their convictions in these matters have changed. We read of many descriptions of Mohammedans and
Christians discussing the nature of God in the other world, and the Muslims shame the Christians.* The Writings simply say: "The Mohammedans are hostile to the Christians mainly because of the Christian belief in three Divine persons and the consequent worship of three gods, and
as many creators; and still more hostile to the Roman Catholics, because of their bending the knee before images; and for this reason they call them idolaters; and the former they call fanatics, declaring that they make God a three-headed being, also that they say one and mutter
three, and consequently divide up omnipotence, and from one and of one make three."** We wonder what would be a Mohammedan's reaction to the New Church doctrine? Certainly "many" Mohammedans in the other world were convinced when it was presented to them. And we must remember
that the idea of God is the center of all religion.
* BE 37; TCR 183; C LJ 72; SD 344, 6021, 5669a, 5241, 5600, 4831, 5952; LJ Post. 100, 95, 89, 97.
** TCR 831.
The Koran
We know it is also extremely important to know what authority is behind a
religion, and what their attitude is towards that authority which they believe to be the truth. The Writings tell us: "It is also known that the Mohammedan religion, which came later and destroyed the former religions of many nations, was taken from the Word of both Testaments."*
This fact is clearly recognized by the scholars, where we read: "The parallels between the Old Testament and the Koran are many and striking. Almost all the historical narratives of the Koran have their biblical counterparts. Among the Old Testament characters, Adam, Noah,
Abraham (mentioned about seventy times) Ishmael, Lot, Joseph, Moses (whose names occur in 34 chapters) Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Job, and Jonah figure prominently. The story of the Creation and Fall of Adam is cited 5 times, the flood 8, and Sodom 8. Of the New Testament
characters Zachariah, John the Baptist, Jesus and Mary are the only ones emphasized. But many old Semitic proverbs and sayings common to both Hebrew and Arab are found in New or Old Testaments and in the Koran-such for example, as those dealing with "an eye for an eye," "the
needle's eye," and "the taste of death for every man." . . . The religion of the Koran comes nearer the Judaism of the Old Testament than does the Christianity of the New Testament. It has such close affinities with both, however, that in its early stages it must have appeared
more like a heretic Christian sect than a distinct religion.**
* SS 117e; AE 1177: 3; DP 255; CL 342; TCR 833.
** Hitti, pp. 43-44.
The Koran is the authoritative Word of God for the Muslim; though he recognizes the Old and New Testament, where there is disagreement, he accepts the Koran as the final
authority. We read in Surah 4: 135: "Believe in God and His apostle and the book which he has sent down to His apostle and the book which he sent down formerly. He who disbelieves in God and His angels, His books, and His apostles, and the Last Day, has strayed far [from
the truth]."
The Writings tell us: "A Mohammedan sees from the Koran that God is one, that the Lord is the Son of God, and that all good is from God, that there is a heaven and that
there is a hell, that there is a life after death, and that the evils forbidden in the commandments of the Decalogue must he shunned. If he does these latter things, he also believes the former and is saved."*
* AE 1180: 2
The Koran is the basis of his life and faith. In contrast to many Christians of our day who have rejected all authority including the Bible, and have made religion
something purely relative, the faith of Islam is refreshing. If man truly acknowledges an authority outside of himself as from God, that man can always learn and find his place in heaven. The modern Mohammedan
apparently still looks to the Koran to pattern his life.
Now we know that the Koran was given providentially; though it does not have a continuous internal sense, it is a useful book for the Muslims. Perhaps in relation to
those of Oriental mind, it could even be classed along with the Epistles or other such books useful for the church. If we were to try to teach Mohammedans, it is possible that we should use this great work in confirmation of our doctrines, even quoting it in our teaching. Good
teaching always builds upon the foundations which are already established. ". . . but the Mohammedans receive instruction from angels who had previously been in the same religion and had been converted to Christianity. The heathen, too, are taught by their angels."* "All teaching
there is from doctrine drawn from the Word, and not from the Word apart from doctrine. Christians are taught from heavenly doctrine, which is in entire agreement with the internal sense of the Word. All others, as the Mohammedans and heathen, are taught from doctrines suited to
their apprehension, which differ from heavenly doctrine only in this, that spiritual, life is taught by means of moral life in harmony with the good tenets of their religion from which they had derived their life in the world."**
* HH 515.
** HH 516.
Now there is a passage in the Writings which is somewhat obscure, for it may be speaking only of heaven. But it does relate to the way the Lord teaches and leads them.
We read: "It was told me that there is a book among the Mohammedans which is common in their hands, in which some pages were written by correspondences like the Word with us; from which pages there is some light in the heavens."* We hesitate, however, to identify this book with
the Koran, even if it is spoken of as "common in their hands." Nevertheless, this also indicates building Christian teaching upon the tenets of their faith by which they have lived.
* LJ Post. 98; SD 5809: 8.
They are protected from profanation by the fact that the Koran is not truly the Word of God. We wonder if the Christian Church, with its increasing emphasis on the
Epistles, is not also so protected. We read: ".... that [polygamy] may not be a sin to them, they remain natural and do not become spiritual, and the natural man cannot see that there is any sin in such things as are of received religion; this only the spiritual man sees. It is
for this reason that, although from the Koran they acknowledge our Lord as the Son of God, yet they do not approach Him but Mohammed, and so long as they do this, they remain natural, and therefore do not know that there is any evil, nor indeed that there is any lasciviousness,
in polygamy."* "They do not know what the Lord taught. It is for this reason that the interiors of their minds, which in themselves are spiritual, could not be opened, since they can be opened only by the Lord."**
* CL 348
** CL 341
Their way of life is patterned on the Ten Commandments, which they receive through the Koran.* They love justice and do good from religion,** acknowledging that all good
is from God.*** Part of this good comes from their sense of obedience, and those who are in it are very perceptive of spiritual things.**** They think faith alone is foolish.*****
* AE 1180: 2.
** TCR 832.
*** LJ Post. 97, 87; SD 5063.
**** LJ Post. 85; SD 5060-1.
***** SD 5952; LJ Post. 100.
As we think of the possibility of the New Church bringing its message to them, we might well reflect on the following passage: "Mohammedans are in natural [lumen] more
than Christians and also desire to know truths more than they. They understood, received, and drank in, more readily than Christians, the fact that all things in heaven and earth resolve themselves into truth and good; that when truth is believed it is of faith, and when good is
perceived, it is of love; that two faculties are therefore given to man; namely, understanding and will, and that the truth which is of faith is the understanding, and the good which is of love is the will: further that, in order that many may be truly man, truth and good must be
one, consequently faith and love, and in general, the understanding and the will . . . [learned Christians] could not apprehend those things, when yet the Mohammedans understood them clearly. They also clearly perceived that they who have been in the good of life are in the
affection of truth, for the reason that good hungers for truth, since truth is, as it were the food of good; and that afterwards with the same ones, truth longs for good; since then truth receives its life from good, so that there occurs a desire of one for the other
reciprocally; and that a man who is a man of wisdom and intelligence is characterized by this desire. They ascertained that very many of the Christians place intelligence and wisdom in craft, when yet this is contrary to them and is therefore insanity and foolishness."* Are
these, then, more ready to receive the New Church than our Christian neighbors? If so, where are our Mohammedan missionaries?
* SD 5248; LJ Post. 92; CLJ 72; SD 340, 480e.
The Life After Death
While angels are conceived by Mohammedans as
created, they are nevertheless like men.* We must remember that Christians interpreting the Koran will tend to read into it their own concepts of the Last Judgment, when many Mohammedans might understand something quite different. We read from Hitti: "The most impressive parts of
the Koran deal with the future life. The reality of future life is emphasized by the recurrent references to 'the day of judgment,' 'the day of resurrection,' 'the day,' 'the hour,' and 'the inevitable.' Future life as depicted in the Koran, with its bodily pains and physical
pleasures, implies the resurrection of the body." ** But note that it implies this to a Christian author. The Writings indicate that at least some Mohammedans have little patience with the Christian vagaries about the life after death and waiting for the last trumpet. After
Swedenborg told them in the other world of these beliefs they said: ". . . they wondered that such a fallacy can reign with Christians, who call themselves more enlightened than others, saying that they know that they are to live after death, are to live in happy marriage, and
are to drink wine; and this after they have rejected the cast offs, which had served them for their ultimate clothing in that gross sphere as a body there."*** We do not know what their reception of the New Church idea of the life hereafter would be. From the above passage, it
would seem that we might find the teaching whole-heartedly welcomed.
* Gibb, p. 51.
** Hitt, p. 49.
*** LJ Post. 90; SD 5245; C LJ 72.
Devotional Life
We have not emphasized the many prayers, the fastings and pilgrimages that make up a
large part of the Muslim's way of life. We have not done so, because the Muslim himself separates these acts of worship from his fundamental religious beliefs.* It is the fundamental beliefs in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the last day, that are the core of
Muslim faith. These are the basic principles that color his point of view. The rest are largely garments.
*Hitti, p. 47.
Polygamy
The attitude towards marriage and the home is one of the best barometers of the state of any society. No treatment of the Mohammedan faith
would be complete without considering their life of polygamy. We have already indicated that they are kept in a natural faith to prevent their polygamous love from profaning spiritual things. Polygamy with them is not a sin, because it is from religion. The Writings, of course,
do not tolerate polygamy.* But they point out that it was permitted because of their oriental genius or nature. We read: "They perceived the justice in the reasons [regarding one wife], but answered that they cannot as yet recede from matrimony with many, because it was conceded
to them by their religion in the world, for the reason that they are orientals, who, without many wives, would have burned forth into adulteries, and so would have perished."**
* TCR 834; CL 344, 348, 341; Marriage 46.
** LJ Post. 85; SD 5060-1.
But this oriental culture is changing. The ways of the West are forcing themselves upon the Mohammedan. In some countries, for example, "It is . . . provided that if a
woman stipulates in her marriage contract that her husband shall not take a second wife during her lifetime, the contract is valid and the stipulation is recognized." "Egypt, the Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq are all on the move. The changes which are being made
illustrate how a definite attempt to relate the Sharia (ancient marriage and other customs) to the conditions of modern life and to a more liberal view of human relations is being realized in positive legislation."* This change of attitude regarding marriage particularly
indicates great changes in the Mohammedan way of life, which may have far reaching effects. *Guillaume, p. 169.
The Last Judgment and the Polygamous Mohammedan Heavens
When the Last Judgment came, it was effected upon the Mohammedans as well. Their
heavens now communicate with the New Christian Heaven, and look to the New Church to be the basis upon which they rest.* And the New Church is to become the center of light going out to all Christians; Jews, Mohammedans and Gentiles, who make the church universal on earth. The
judgment was effected in this order: first upon the Papal religion, then the Mohammedans, then the Gentiles, and finally upon the Reformed.** The way in which they were judged is not so important to our theme; in many ways it was similar to the choirs, visitations, infestalions
and vastations that are familiar reading to us.***
* cf. LJ 69.
** LJ 47.
*** For some description of these see LJ Post. 93-4; also LJ 51, 69, 48; LJ Post. 69, 76, 77, 86, 88, 96; SD 3494, 347, 5664a, 5064, 5062, 5240, 5952, 3030e etc.
We have seen that they are and were instructed by former Mohammedans according to their religious convictions.* We have seen that they must become clear in regard to
Mohammed as being no God. Sometimes he appears, so that they can see his dark character and realize that he is powerless.** Other times they are instructed concerning the Lord by those impersonating Mohammed.*** At still other times they are given to see the nature of their error
regarding polygamy.**** Always they are patiently guided towards their place in heaven.
* HH 515-16.
** C LJ 70; TCR 830; SD 344, 403, 407, 512-14, 5268, 5666a; LJ Post. 8; SD 5663a.
*** C LJ 69; TCR 829; SD 339, 509-11, 5243; LJ Post. 51, 71-75, 79-83, 50; SD 5667,
5664a; LJ50.
**** cf. CL 344; TCR 834.
But we must understand clearly what the Writings say of these heavens. Certainly if there is a permanent heaven, as many have supposed, where good Mohammedans can live
in polygamy, this would affect our approach to Mohammedans; would, indeed, color our understanding of conjugial love. It involves a much stronger acceptance of the permission of polygamy than most of us are prepared to make. The Writings teach us clearly that the Mohammedan
heavens and the Christian heavens are separated, and the reason given is the lasciviousness of the Mohammedans.*
* CL 348, 352.
In the same series of teachings the Writings say: ". . . that the Mohammedan heaven is distinguished into two, a lower and a higher, I have heard from themselves; and
that in the lower heaven they live with several wives and concubines, as in the world; but that those who renounce concubines and live with one wife are elevated into their higher heaven. I have also heard that it is impossible for them to think that our Lord is one with the
Father; but that it is possible for them to think of Him as equal, as also that dominion is given to Him over heaven and earth, because He is His Son. This therefore, is the faith of those to whom ascent is given by the Lord into their higher heaven." * Note that the second
heaven is called a higher heaven, not the highest, and that it is impossible for those in that heaven to acknowledge the Lord as one with the Father. Another passage in the Writings clears up our problem, at least somewhat. We read: "This heaven, too, is divided into three
heavens, a highest, a middle, and a lowest. In the highest are those who acknowledge the Lord to be one with the Father, and thus to be Himself the only God; in the second heaven are those who give up their many wives and live with one wife; and in the lowest those who are being
initiated. . . ."** Clearly, then, the passages in Conjugial Love are speaking of the two lower Mohammedan heavens. And we would note that the lowest heaven consists of those in polygamy, but that they are described in Divine Providence as "those who are being initiated." This
certainly implies that their polygamous state is not permanent. Two rather obscure passages in the Spiritual Diary further bear out the idea that this lowest Mohammedan heaven is not a permanent state. We read: "There was as it were a distinct heaven represented where the
worshipers of Mohammed are; there were, however, only spirits there, but not angels."*** That they were spirits could imply that this heaven was temporary or based upon an introductory state in the world of spirits. We read further: "Mohammed stated that the spirits who were in
that heaven where he was were diminishing, and that he knew not whither they went; but he was informed that they were carried up into the angelic heaven, and there instructed in the doctrine of faith, and, moreover, that all their children were in the heavens."**** Certainly a
careful comparison of these passages seems to indicate that the belief in polygamy is only a temporary state. A passage from the little work on marriage closes the argument: ". . . they who persist in polygamy in the course of time become so feeble and impotent that they are
disgusted with marriage, for lasciviousness brings this with itself. Those of them who are in their heaven have but one wife, and have rejected more, for there is a Mohammedan heaven distinct from the Christian heaven; but they who at last, as do many, acknowledge the Lord as one
with the Father are separated into heavens which communicate with the Christian heavens, and with them there is conjugial love." ***** It is quite clear: "Those of them who are in their heaven have but one wife." Those who insist on polygamy become feeble and impotent, which
clearly implies that they find their place in hell.
* CL 343, 342; TCR 832.
** DP 255
*** SD 344.
**** SD 345.
***** Marriage 47-8.
This implies that any exceptions that the New Church might make regarding polygamy when dealing with Eastern peoples would have to be on a temporary basis.
We would further note that the passage stated that many acknowledge the Lord as one with the Father."* This idea that many come into the true belief and communicate with
the angels of the Christian heavens, and come into conjugial love, is repeated in many places.** It is bound to take time, but surely the Mohammedan is not only capable of rejecting polygamy, but that faith is actually the Divinely provided way for gradually turning the Eastern
mind to a true concept of marriage.
* Marriage 48.
** LJ Post. 84, 91; LJ 50; SD 5246 etc.
Today every indication is that the old custom of polygamy and the almost slavish position of women is breaking down, but with nowhere to go. Will rebellion against this
custom mean that women are made equal, and through their struggles end up in a sorry Western equality, with the wife outside of the home and turning her back upon the wonderful uses of womanhood? Could not our position as to the true nature and place of woman in marriage bring a
sensible change in the Mohammedan countries? Is their tenacious clinging to the old Eastern way the result of viewing what dreadful things have come to pass in Western culture regarding marriage? Is a legalized divorce and changing of partners so much superior to the taking of
many wives and the support and care of those who have passed out of favor? The West has little to offer, but the New Church has much.
Mohammedanism and Its Reformation
The Writings clearly indicate that the Mohammedan faith was permitted in order to
appeal to the Oriental mind, and at the same time to break down idolatry.* From its beginning in 622 AD, to our present age, it has grown to encompass over 400 million people. Every seventh person in the world is a follower of Mohammed.** It is still the fastest growing faith in
Africa, a great concern to Christian missionaries. They have overcome idolatry in many parts of the world, they have united many divergent peoples and are on the eve of becoming a potent force in the way of life of the whole world. Actually they outshone the Christians during the
Dark Ages. Their science and philosophy flourished and they were a virile people while Christianity stumbled on in the darkness of authoritarian religious domination. But in 1517 Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, and the Reformation which had
been building for several centuries found its leadership. The age of reason in philosophy, of scientific discovery, of the Industrial Revolution with its tremendous economic consequences, all followed in the Christian world. But in the Muslim world the Ottoman Empire was
established on that same date, 1517. We read: "Throughout the four centuries of Ottoman domination, beginning in 1517, the whole Arab East was in a state of eclipse. Builders of one of the mightiest and most enduring of Muslim states, the Ottoman Turks conquered not only the Arab
lands but the whole territory from the Caucasus to the gates of Vienna. . . . In the meantime the once glamorous Medina, Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, former capitals of mighty empires and brilliant seats of culture, receded into the background. They became residences for provincial
governors and armed garrisons......"*** But it is only in the last 50 years that the darkness of the Ottoman Empire has been broken.**** "Muslims are intensely conscious of their decline [we read] from the great days of the Islamic Empire, and a host of writers have analyzed the
causes which have led to their decline. The tendency now is to repudiate the teaching of the past on fatalism, the inferiority of women, blind obedience to authority, lack of a healthy spirit of skepticism, and a low public morality. Contact with the West has stimulated
self-criticism, and there are not wanting signs that the new generation is determined to put an end to this state of affairs if it possibly can."***** There are great stirrings politically and economically. The nationalism that became familiar in Europe as she came out of the
Dark Ages, is now becoming the by-word of Muslim peoples. They await leadership.
* CL 342; DP 255; C LJ 71; TCR 833
** Hitti, p. 4.
*** Hitti, p. 252
**** Hitti, pp. 254-262
***** Guillaume, p. 192
Within the spiritual realm great upheavals are occurring. The struggle is now between the domination of the Koran, which is no longer adequate to the modern world, and
the introduction of new human interpretations. It has many parallels to the fundamentalist question in Christianity. They could so easily lose their sense of authority and allegiance to God if they go the way of modern Christianity, replacing with human intelligence the authority
of their sacred writings. They are in danger even now of replacing the visions of eternal life with the hopes of worldly blessings and economic accomplishment. Actually, the Mohammedanism of the Arab world has not yet, but could so easily, become the Arab equivalent of modern
wishy-washy, non-doctrinal Protestantism. Do we really hope that the Arab nations will become another modern America or Europe like the one of our day, with the same spiritual vision or lack of it that they have? The Arabs see our lack of spiritual insight. They see our marriages
and divorces. They recognize the spiritual limitations of modern Christianity in much the same was as New Church men do. They know that Western culture alone is not enough. They want to believe, but they do not know what to believe.* We must remember that the Writings are not
just the hope of the Christian world, or the Western world; they are the hope of all peoples.
* cf. Gibb, pp. 127-145.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OTHER THAN PASSAGES FROM THE WRITINGS
H. A. R. Gibb: Mohammedanism, An Historical Survey. The New American Library, 1949.
Philip K. Hitti: The Arabs. The Gateway Press, 1943.
Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall (translator): The Glorious Koran. The New American
Library, 1953.
Alfred Guillaume: Islam. Penguin Books Ltd. 1954.
[Another recommended paper for your review: (click) Muhammad, Muslims, and Islam: A New Church Perspective, by Rev. Erik E.
Sandstrom, presented to the Council of the Clergy in 1995 and is based on research done in a summer study (1994) investigating how new members in the General Church come to the New Church from various backgrounds. It follows the studies on those from Catholic or Orthodox
background (1992) and those of Reformed background (1993). It followed a graduate proseminar in Islam, spring term 1994, Temple University.] |
