An Agenda For Action: Islam And Christianity in Today's World

It is four years since the then Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Gad El-Haq Ali Gad El-Haq, was so gracious to invite me to lecture in the great University of Al-Azhar. I was glad to accept that invitation because I believed then, as I do now, in the importance of establishing the strongest possible relationship between Muslim and Christian leaders. At that time, Your Grace, you were the Grand Mufti of Cairo and I remember with pleasure our first meeting in my home and later the time when you visited England at my invitation and my wife and I hosted a special dinner in your honour.

Thank you, once again, for the invitation to address you once more.

The title of my Address is
An Agenda For Action: Islam And Christianity in Today's World

In that earlier address I spoke of the need for both of our great traditions of the Spirit to transcend the bitterness that has sometimes characterised our relationships, and I spoke of the need for:

• Friendship, not hostility
• Understanding, not ignorance
• Reciprocity, not exclusivism
• Co-operation, not confrontation.

It will not surprise you to know that none of these themes has been far away from my thoughts in preparing this second address because the task of building friendship, deepening understanding, challenging exclusivism, and seeking closer co-operation continues to need our attention. Indeed, we still have a long way to travel in all of these areas.

However the thrust of this address is to go a little deeper into what we share, where the differences challenge us and where the agenda for change might take us.

The first question I must therefore address is what kind of world is it that we inhabit as we enter the 21st century?

It is important to recognise the great strides the human family has made this century because at times it seems as if all we seem to hear is bad news. But human endeavour has, without question, made significant advances that have led to undoubted blessings for us all. Advances in science and technology have transformed medicine and health care, agriculture and industry, communications and transport, with the result that, for tens of millions of people, daily life has become easier and, in many ways, more pleasant. Who, for example, would want to go to a dentist who based his entire practice on 19th century science? Or, which ill person would want to undergo surgery performed by a surgeon who had no access to anaesthesia? We must recognise the objective fact that many more people lead reasonably comfortable lives than, say, fifty years ago. From the viewpoint of many in the developed world, this is a good time to be alive.

But objectivity also demands that we acknowledge the other side of the picture. It must be noted that the gulf between the rich and the poor is widening, and the rate of population growth has led to increased the numbers of people living in abject poverty have increased. The same species that has such ability to split the atom and create the 'silicon chip' is the same animal that can use such genius to create the atom bomb and poison the planet. We are informed that at the moment well over fifty wars are going on in our busy, small planet. Just nine or so years ago, as the Cold War ended in Europe, prominent western politicians were promising us a 'new world order'. The cry seems rather muted now. If anything, the world is a more dangerous place with intense local conflicts replacing the threatened large-scale wars of the past. And as the human family passes from 6 billion in population to 8 billion by 2010 and 12 billion by 2025, we need to be aware of the implications of this for us all. In short, in spite of our evident abilities, we live in a world in which our achievements sometimes seem to mock us - throwing up new challenges to peace, stability and happiness.

It is, also, a world that is now experiencing both the fruits and misfortunes of globalisation. Some thirty years ago the Canadian philosopher Marshall McCluhan was speaking about the 'global village'. Then, perhaps, it was a glib cliché - now it is a reality- a reality that that we have to come to terms with for better or for worse. In some ways globalisation helps us to share more readily and easily the fruits of our successes and achievements - after all, knowledge of all kinds travels further and faster than ever before. That can be a potent tool for shared understanding and sympathy: for example, in the way we respond to natural disasters and to large-scale abuses of human rights.

And yet it is nevertheless true that there are harmful aspects of globalisation which should be challenged. For example, there are concerns that one Western culture is threatening local cultures and languages. There are worries about economic forces which pay little respect to local needs and which have potential to ruin the economy of a poor country overnight. It may also signify the loss of community in many parts of the world, with such an over emphasis on the individual and his or her rights that the sense of responsibility to others in the community is undermined. I cannot help wondering whether there is a connection between the extension of the effects of globalisation and the growth in local conflicts, ethnic tension, and breakdown in the positive aspects of national identity.

But globalisation is a reality and cursing it is not a luxury we can afford. Instead, we should have the confidence to curb those harmful tendencies I have noted, while at the same time seeking ways of using the powers inherent within globalisation to create a better world.

This leads to my second question: What sort of world do we wish for our children and their children?

Our answer will surely take us to many of the values which Christianity and Islam share. I think of the value of community and the role of the family, both of which lie at the heart of what we believe is God's will for us. Our two faiths believe in the sanctity and permanence of marriage, of faithfulness of husband to wife. Both believe in obedience of children to their parents and love as central to family life. Both believe in the importance of community and charity as the heart of neighbourliness. In this regard, I am struck by Islam's emphasis on 'Zakah', or 'obligatory charity' - the notion that helping the poor is a moral vocation. I salute the 'tithing' of one's salary of no less than 2 ½ % as a Zakah obligation. And this charity is one of the pillars of your faith itself.

As the Qur'an says:

It is righteous...
To spend of your substance,
Out of love for him,
For your kin,
For orphans,
For the needy,
For the wayfarer,
For those who ask
And for the ransom of slaves,
To be steadfast in prayer
And to give Zakah...'

I am also moved by the wonderful words of Egyptian poet Salah 'abd al-Sabur:

The poverty of the poor, the hunger of the hungry;
In such eyes as theirs I see a glow which means
Something.
Tell me, Shibli. How can I close my eyes to the world
And not wrong my own heart?'

There are counterparts of this in our Scriptures, too. In the Gospel of Luke, for example, when asked, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?", Jesus replies, "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan and St. Paul's teaching about caring for one another also encourage Christians to give sacrificially and lovingly.

As People of the Book, together with our brothers and sisters in Judaism, we cannot conceive of a world that is perceived as God-forsaken. He is our Judge and we are accountable to him. This means, equally, that we cannot conceive of a world without faith. Yet faith cannot be imposed. It has to be lived and taught in believing, caring relationships.

But we also long for a world in which there is respect for one another and in which we shall learn to trust and tolerate and not condemn, hector, or impose faith. Here, again, our faiths meet. It is often forgotten that when we talk of God and pray to him, we share many perceptions about what he is like. He is Creator, he is loving, He is merciful and compassionate, he is greater than our theologies and human wisdom - but within reach of the humblest heart. Yes, we also have to recognise that we differ with respect to the way we understand him. For Christians Jesus is divine. We Christians would be failing you in our interfaith journey if we lacked the courage to be clear about this. Yes, we understand that Christology is a stumbling block to other believers. But progress in dialogue cannot be guaranteed if Christians mumble their embarrassments about what theologians call 'the scandal of particularity'- just as dialogue would not be helped if Muslim theologians were timorous in expressing their faith. For us Christians the 'particularity' is Jesus Christ whom we worship and to whom we bear witness.

For Muslims that is, I know, something you cannot countenance. However, it is my strong belief that the journey we must make together is to go more deeply into one another's faith: to study the other faith, to see its strengths and weaknesses, to understand what it means to believers and why they give their all to it.

Speaking personally, since I became Archbishop I have travelled a great deal in my understanding of Islam and of the Prophet. My study has led to a greater respect and appreciation of Islam: its devotion, its commitment to prayer, its concern for the poor and the welfare of all. Wherever I have travelled I have met with courtesy from Muslim leaders and thinkers. In the famous mosque of Abu Nour in Damascus, for example, I was invited by the Grand Mufti to address the faithful before Friday prayers, and I was listened to, with kindness and respect. I have grown in my understanding of the Prophet and of his vision for a better world.

But nothing in this development has led me to question my own faith. Recently I wrote a small book for general reading in the UK called 'Jesus 2000'. A prominent Muslim came to see me a few days after the book had appeared. I was impressed: Not only did he say that he had read it, but he said that he agreed with it!

Respect for one another will, in turn, call from us greater tolerance, understanding, and commitment to live with differences. Once again, I hear the clear tones of the Qur'an: 'Let there be no compulsion in religion'. I am impressed by the Qur'an's tolerance and understanding of Christians and Jews as 'people of the scriptures' with whom Islam has a great deal in common - reaffirming many of the truths also found in the Old and New Testaments.

So, then, if the world that we share is to be the one we want to live in, what do we envisage to be some of its characteristics?

Surely, it is to be typified by some of the virtues of which I have spoken. Faith, the centrality of worship, tolerance, respect, and making room for the beliefs of others are the elements of our dialogue.

An Algerian Muslim wrote to the monks of Notre Dame de l'Atlas:

"Time requires us today to live out the differences as bridges of encounter, to live out the divergences as so many occasions for brotherly debate and dialogue which are serene, objective and respectful. We also have to open ourselves in order to discover ourselves and to offer ourselves in order to be able to be welcoming."

It is in that spirit that I turn to An Agenda for Action, ask, What will such an Agenda look like?

I believe it must be a moral agenda, leading us to establish or re-establish fresh coalitions between faith communities for the good of all. I have already spoken of the common moral values held by Muslims and Christians, centring as they do on our commitment to God, our commitment to community and family, and our compassion for the poor and needy. Of course, we are not the only faiths to possess these moral values. I have indeed said on many occasions that we have much in common with other great religions like Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. That great inter-faith expert and theologian Prof. Hans Kung has clarified the common moral core in his book, Global Ethics. These values are the moral norms by which we are judged and according to which we judge our world.

Embracing such a moral agenda will lead to fresh coalitions of all who seek to lift humanity above mere materialism. At the same time, we shall unite in condemning the violence of those extremists who resort to violence and the weapons of war to pursue their objectives. Religious leaders and faith communities have a shared duty to make sure that we live by the values that we preach and the values we share. The kernel of faith in both Christianity and Islam is embedded in the rich soil of peace and justice; we must nurture them lovingly and faithfully in the name of Christ and the name of Allah.

Secondly, I think there is a peacemaking agenda we must build. In Parliament in London last month I initiated a wide-ranging debate on the potential of religions in forestalling and resolving conflict. I set out then a number of ways in which I believe faith communities can - both by their inter-action and at times by offering themselves as mediators and conciliators - help to reinforce the work of conventional diplomacy and conflict resolution. I am pleased to say that this approach received strong and positive support both from other faith leaders and communities and from the politicians themselves.

But that is not all: in my experience of the situation around the world, understanding and knowledge of one another are too often lacking. Without these, how is real peace possible? To take a humorous but sad example, just two years ago all the Bishops of the Anglican Communion gathered in Canterbury for the meeting we have every ten years. One Bishop came from Pakistan. He was very puzzled when a distinguished English gentleman asked him: 'Are you a Muslim bishop?' The Englishman was oblivious of his mistake. For him in his ignorance England meant Christian and Pakistan meant Muslim. He had failed to appreciate the fact that we now live in a different world in which members of many faiths live side by side in our busy cities and substantial Muslim communities have settled throughout Europe. The same is true of Christianity throughout the world. Indeed, one of the Bishops from Palestine - an Arab Bishop - was also asked by an English person some years ago: 'When did your family become Christian?' The Bishop replied: 'I guess about AD 75!'

One of the most important things in our understanding of one another is to look beyond the 'strangeness' of others whether in worship, dress and culture, to see what it all means and how it fits in the faith and life of the person concerned. This is beginning to happen in those parts of the world where substantial numbers of Christians and Muslims meet, but we must work harder to build up the friendship on the basis of understanding and knowledge of one another. And we must pay special attention where our faith communities seem to be clashing with one another - in Nigeria, in Sudan, in Indonesia and elsewhere.

Even in the most enlightened countries, it is possible for groups of people to feel marginalised, isolated, and victimised by the larger group that may be unaware of the needs of the smaller community. We have not been immune from this in Britain, and grave offence has been caused at times. One of the endearing and enduring facets of Islam, historically, not least here in Egypt, has been the care of minorities in its midst. It is a reminder to us all that where there are minorities there is always the possibility of misunderstanding and suspicion and even oppression. At such times whichever faith is in the majority needs to act as advocate for the minority. I need not tell you that such an agenda includes human rights: that is, the rights of another community of faith to build its churches or mosques or schools. I have on occasions called this 'reciprocity', which speaks of a faith being big-hearted and confident enough to allow another faith to flourish alongside it. I am glad that in Bradford in England and in other places, my Church is playing that role and that you, Your Grace, saw that first hand during your visit in 1997. I know too that here in Egypt many Muslims have given strong support to the Churches when they have suffered from violent attacks.

My third 'agenda' is that of striving for a better life for all. This, if you like, is an 'economic' agenda. Just two weeks ago I was in Washington as a guest of the World Bank. The President of the World Bank is a gracious, energetic and visionary man, Jim Wolfensohn. Some years ago he approached me with a revolutionary idea: Is it at all possible that the world faiths could work more closely with the World Bank to alleviate poverty in the world? Jim saw the importance of religious communities. He saw that religious leaders are there on the ground with their people, while politicians and economists are often far removed from their communities and do not have the same authority enjoyed by Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish Buddhist and Sikh leaders have. This 'World Faiths Development Dialogue', as it is called, has the makings of a very significant initiative for reducing poverty. We shall see. The potential certainly is there, because we are, as I said, there on the ground in our communities. We have effective networks for distributing aid; we hear the cries of the very poor; we are moved by their desperation and despair.

And the serious problems facing the human family compel us to do more together. Of the six billion people on this tiny planet, 1.3 billion live under one dollar a day; a further 3 billion live under two dollars a day. The human misery reflected in those figures alone testifies to the 'absolute poverty' in which two thirds of our world is sunk. This is a moral and an economic problem and it must be in the forefront of our agenda.

Of course, both of our faiths are doing a great deal in responding to the suffering of many. But more still remains to be done. I was encouraged to learn from the Inter-religious Assembly at the Vatican just two weeks ago that delegates noted the 'urgent need to confront together, responsibly and courageously, the problems and challenges of our modern world- poverty, racism, environmental pollution, materialism, war and the proliferation of arms, globalisation, AIDS, lack of medical care....' And they also noted the need to 'create a new spiritual consciousness for all humanity in accordance with the religious traditions so that the principle of respect for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience may prevail'. Renewed spiritual consciousness, hand-in-hand with a united assault on the problems of the world. I, for one, welcome such a striking partnership!

I also welcome another section in the same report that speaks of the importance of education as a means for promoting mutual understanding, co-operation and respect. Education, of course, is one of the principal gateways from poverty and to a better life. In my language, the very root of the word 'education' means, 'to lead or draw out', which suggests movement, progress, and new beginning. Education is clearly an essential component of our common 'Agenda for Action.'

There is a final 'agenda' I would encourage. It is a community agenda: one in which Muslims and Christians in their localities seek to model what real communities could become, one in which diversity is seen not as the origin of conflict but as the starting point of understanding, caring, and sharing. In the UK, our experience of having a substantial Muslim Community as part of our nation is comparatively recent. But we have had a large Jewish community for many years who have retained their distinct identity but are well integrated into our nation's life, despite the spectre of anti-Semitism which threatens to haunt us occasionally. But, sadly, there are not enough models of real communities using their differences as occasions for enrichment of life. And there are far too many examples of ghettos and isolated religious communities using their cultural differences as reasons to remain apart. We from our two religious traditions should encourage deeper co-operation and understanding at the local level. In towns and cities with sizeable Muslim as well as Christian populations we should encourage more joint organisations devoted to that goal.

Your Grace, I referred earlier to the debate that I initiated in the House of Lords on the role of religions in establishing peace based on international justice. It was an excellent and encouraging exchange in which 29 speakers - Christians, Jews and Muslims - took part. One Muslim, Lord Ahmed, spoke very movingly: 'Only religion can help to channel human aggression to more ethical expression such as achieving victory over poverty. Jesus says, 'Love your enemies'; that is to say, do not let the hatred of others be a cause of aggression. The Qur'an says: 'Good deeds and evil deeds are not equal. Repel the evil done to you with that which is fairer and behold, he between whom and you is enmity shall be as if he were a loyal friend.'

Lord Ahmed added to those fine words an appeal to me to seek an accord between the Anglican Communion and Al-Azhar University. I welcome Lord Ahmed's suggestion and hope that this venerable institution would welcome closer ties between it and that branch of the Christian world I represent. Such a tie would not deny our differences, would not compromise our theologies or understanding of the way God has revealed himself to us, but would set them in a different context: that of co-operation, understanding, friendship and peace.

I am sure of this. We can do much more together. May I end with the words of the Persian poet Saadi, who has captured so well the spirit of the common task set before us:

All men are members of the same body,

Created from one essence.

If fate brings suffering to one member

The others cannot stay at rest.

You who remain indifferent to the burden of pain of others

Do not deserve to be called human.

We are, indeed, members of the same body, created from one essence. As we move forward together, let us allow our common humanity to lead us to find new ways of fostering co-operation, understanding, friendship, and - above all - peace.