The truth in Islam according to the official teaching of the catholic church

Serge Moussa Traoré

Description

The purpose of this book is to promote better understanding between Muslims and Christians by recognizing what is true and holy in Islam. The author is convinced that the recognition of what is true and holy in other religions is the best way forward for interreligious dialogue. He explores a new approach to religions based on the recognition of the truth of other religions.

Sujets

• Islam
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: L'Harmattan
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 208
• EAN13: 9782296688025
• Langue: Français

Extrait

The Truth in Islam according to the Official Teaching of the Catholic Church
 
Serge Moussa Traore
 
 
The Truth in Islam
according to the Official Teaching of the
Catholic Church
 
 
L’H armattan
 
 
 
© L’Harmattan, 2010
5-7, rue de l’Ecole polytechnique, 75005 Paris
 
Fabrication numérique: Socprest, 2012
Ouvrage numérisé avec le soutien du Centre National du Livre
 
http://www.librairieharmattan.com
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
ISBN: 978-2-296-10428-0
EAN: 9782296104280
 
DEDICATION
 
 
In Memory of Mamou Ouedraogo, my Muslim mother, and of my Catholic father Grégoire Traore. Special thanks to Anne Mougnères, Bernadette D’Souza, Kim Weiner and Gary DeMichele, Barbara Pivarnik, David and Louise Cox, Sherly Naithparambil, Ivan Page, Aylward Shorter, and Donald MacLeod.
 
Introduction
 
 
The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. (Vatican Council II, Declaration Nostra Aetate , n.2)
 
The necessity and importance of interreligious dialogue are not in dispute today. All over the world, we are witnessing a surge in interreligious initiatives. Nevertheless, interreligious dialogue is stumbling. It is understood in different ways. It is put in question. It is even rejected by some. It is looked upon with suspicion by many. The basic question I would like to answer is, ‘What is the relevant dialogue we need today ? ’ Many people hesitate to engage in interreligious dialogue because of their misunderstanding of its nature and purpose. They are suspicious about it. Is it possible to propose an understanding of interreligious dialogue that will help people to become wholeheartedly involved ? I found a solution in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.
The Catholic Church has been thinking about interreligious dialogue since this Council. The Church was active in establishing structures for the promotion of inter-religious dialogue. Some education in interreligious dialogue was included in the curriculum of seminaries and religious institutes. Yet I argue here that the Second Vatican Council was not interested in inventing a new missionary activity to be called "interreligious dialogue." The Church of the Second Vatican Council asked Christians simply to enter into dialogue with the world. Moreover, to be precise, the Council wants Christians to stop demonizing the world and instead to engage with it in a sincere and loving dialogue. Pope Paul VI could not be clearer than this: "The Church should enter into dialogue with the world in which she exists and labors. The Church has something to say; the Church has a message to deliver; the Church has a communication to offer." {1} Dialogue is presented only as a means to recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among the followers of other religions, and in the world in general. Dialogue, inter-religious dialogue, was seen by the Church as a means to achieve that noble aim. It is a means and only a means. Therefore, I propose to go back to the first impulse of the Second Vatican Council. We should orient our efforts to recognize, preserve and promote the good things found in other religions and in the world. This book is about how we can do that. It is not about the means (dialogue and collaboration). It is about the aim.
At first, I thought that it would not be difficult for me to do. My mother was Muslim. Her parents were Muslims. I have a wonderful relationship with the Muslims of my family. My father was a Catholic. Born of a Muslim mother and a Catholic father, I grew up in a Muslim-Christian atmosphere. I was shocked when I met some Christians who regarded Muslims as children of the devil. They simply could not find anything good in the lives of Muslims, yet I could find so many good things in the life of my Muslim relatives. The discussion would then shift to seeing them as not good Muslims. Those Muslims whose lives are exemplary are not good or true Muslims. They are "anonymous Christians". They live according to the Gospel. There is nothing good in Islam. Therefore there is nothing good in the lives of true Muslims. The negative attitude of these Christians disturbed me a great deal. I wondered if I could still be part of a faith community that demonized others. I realized that we cannot rely solely upon our own personal experience to teach others. This tension compelled me to reflect on the problem of the relationship between the followers of different religions. A more objective study of religions was necessary to confirm or to invalidate my too-subjective and emotional attitude towards Islam.
I was also challenged in my involvement in Rwanda as a promoter of interreligious dialogue. I saw interreligious dialogue as a powerful means for healing, reconciliation and peace in such a broken society. When people of different religions come together, they learn how to overcome the barriers between them. In Rwanda, we need to gather all the spiritual resources of all religions to bring about healing, reconciliation and peace. However, I was soon challenged by the hardness of the believers in Rwanda. Although they are convinced of the importance of interreligious dialogue for a peaceful society, they nevertheless could not see anything good in one another’s religions. They believe that the encounter between followers of religions is at a human level. We can meet as human beings. We can meet as compatriots; but at the religious level, we cannot meet. I was challenged by such an attitude. Is it enough to engage in dialogue only on the basis that we are all created by the same God ? Our history, from the tragic events of Cain and Abel to present-day genocides, teaches us that the unity of the human race, and more profoundly, the unity of the same shared womb, has never been strong enough to prevent us from killing one another. We need to find a common ground elsewhere. We need something that will bind us. I am convinced that it is the recognition and adoration of God's presence or the recognition of goodness in the other that will help us to value one another.
I have embarked upon the study of other religions of the world and particularly Islam. Why should a Catholic priest study other religions ? Religions can be studied at the university level from different perspectives: sociology of religions, philosophy of religions, and history of religion. Technically, someone can teach a religion in which he does not deeply believe. Since interreligious dialogue has become an important issue in the world, many institutes have been created to prepare people for interreligious dialogue. It seems to me that there are two types of institute for such dialogue. For example, there are institutes that teach Islam to Christians, such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies at Rome, Italy. The other example would be those institutes whose students are both Muslim and Christian, such as the Institute of the Study of Religions and Cultures, at the Roman Pontifical Gregorian University. Muslims study Christianity and any other religions while Christians study Islam and any other religion. The question I would like to ask is this, ‘Why would a Christian study Islam and for what purpose ? ’ Or, ‘Why would a Muslim study Christianity and for what purpose ? ’
The question becomes more serious when I recall that I am a Catholic priest. How well do I know my own religious tradition ? Christianity has such an immense patrimony of written texts. I know little about it. So, what's the point of spending time studying other religions instead of deepening my knowledge of my own religion ? It sounds so strange for a Catholic priest to be named an expert on Islam ! I will argue here that many Christians hesitate to engage in interreligious dialogue because they have listened to Christians, and priests who are experts in other religions and they wonder how Christian they still are. It pained them. It disturbed them. Interreligious education came to be reduced to the study of world religions. I will propose in this book that we need a more dialogical education for interreligious dialogue. It is not just about knowledge of other religions. It is about discerning the presence of the same God in other religions. It is about recognizing the spiritual richness of other religions. This recognition is done through a critical, just, scientific and honest discernment. I see only one reason for a Catholic priest to study Islam, as an example. It is to recognize, preserve and promote the good things God has put into the lives of followers of Islam. To study other religions is simply to seek the face of God in the lives of followers of other religions. We study other religions murmuring all the time a beautiful French song: ‘ Je cherche le visage, le visage du Seigneur ,’ (I seek the face, the face of the Lord); ‘ Je cherche son image tout au fond de vos coeurs’ (I seek His image, in the depth of your hearts). Only in this way do I deepen my own religion as I come to see the same God I know at work beyond the boundaries of my own religion.
In my study, I sometimes wondered if my Catholic brothers and sisters would accept my findings. Th