Historically, both Christianity and Islam have failed the test of religious tolerance and have acted as if such a concept were a betrayal of their religions.  They took turns in using violence to dominate huge portions of the world and they waged destructive wars such as the infamous Crusades against each other.  More recently, as a reaction to Western imperialism, religiously-justified terrorism became a significant manifestation of the animosity between the two religions.   Islamic terrorists saw themselves as divinely empowered to use violence against their perceived enemies or oppressors, even if innocent people were killed in the process.  In the Middle East, terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS became infamous for the atrocities they were willing to perpetrate in God’s name.

At the same time, both religions have always known, at the conscience level, that violence is ungodly.  Moderate Muslims have made declarations to distance themselves from the more extremist segments of their religion, but their voices have not been perceived as loud enough, and they have been criticized by the West for not being firm enough in their rejection of terrorism.

It turns out that there has been a growing movement among some Muslims to promote religious tolerance.  A collaboration has also been in progress between this movement and evangelical Christians, as Jayson Casper has been reporting in Christianity Today.

In a previous post, I discussed Pope Francis’ visit to the Middle East and his message urging religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence between various communities.  Today, I will discuss efforts toward religious tolerance by moderate Muslims and by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

When evangelicals such as Franklin Graham talk about religious freedom, they are usually pushing for advantages and concessions that favor their own brand of Christianity rather than the right of all religions to freely compete with each other.  Franklin, a supporter of a ban against Muslim immigration to America, certainly would not extend his religious freedom ideas to Muslims.  But not all evangelicals are like him.  In an article published on January 27, 2016, Morgan Lee talks about efforts by Bob Roberts, the pastor of a Texas megachurch, to build relations with Muslims.  In January 2016, Roberts traveled to Morocco to attend a summit organized by Muslim leaders who released a groundbreaking statement called the Marrakesh Declaration.  This 750-word document calls for religious freedom for Non-Muslims in Majority-Muslim countries and follows guidelines set by the Charter of Medina, which was produced by the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, and provides instructions on how to govern a state with many religions.

Among other things, the Marrakesh Declaration gives Muslims and Non-Muslims rights that include “freedom of movement, property ownership, mutual solidarity and defense, as well as principles of justice and equality before the law.”  It also urges Muslim stakeholders such as educational institutions, politicians, and artists to fight extremism.   Its full text is pasted at the end of this post.

Lee quotes Roberts who expressed his enthusiasm about the declaration: “I’m blown away. This is a Muslim conference put together by the top sheiks, ministers of religion, the grand muftis of the top Muslim majority nations, and they came up with a declaration, literally using the language of religious freedom to declare that violence cannot be done in the name of Islam.”

In May 2016, following the Marrakesh Declaration, 300 Muslim leaders representing 30 countries gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia.  This country has the largest number of Muslims in the world: out of a population of 250 million, 87% are Muslims, 10% Christians, and the rest includes Hindus and Buddhists.  Muslims in Indonesia have, historically, been more peaceful than those in the Middle East.

The conference was hosted by Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in the world with a membership estimated to be between 30 and 50 million, with most of them in Indonesia.  Jayson Casper, in an article published on May 18, 2016 in Christianity Today, quotes the NU leader:

“We don’t want to dictate to the world, but we want to inspire [other countries by showing that] our concept of Islam could maintain peace and harmony within the diversity of Indonesia.”

Conference participants were from Iran, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere.  They signed the Jakarta Statement, which emphasized two main ideas:

• Indonesian Islam’s willingness to accommodate local culture can be a model for others. It is seen, for example, in the fact that an ancient Buddhist temple was promoted as a historical site.
• One must recognize that extremism thrives through poor interpretation of religious heritage that does not compromise between Islam and nationalism. Religious tolerance can be promoted effectively if leaders honestly identify elements from Islam that can easily be used to justify extremism.

NU has been involved in promoting peaceful Islam in contrast to the kind of Islam practiced in countries like Saudi Arabia.  It has focused on producing theological understanding that delegitimizes extremist movements such as ISIS.  And even though Indonesian Christians have not always enjoyed equal protection in practice, the work done by NU has been encouraging.

As mentioned above, evangelical leaders such as Bob Roberts have been building relationships with Muslims for some time.  An article by Thomas K. Johnson, published in November 2020 in Christianity Today, describes how the WEA has been interacting with NU.  Johnson explains why these interactions make sense:

“NU formed as a reaction to the rising influence of Wahhabism, the more puritanical version of Islam that had come to dominate what is now Saudi Arabia. Many Indonesian Islamic leaders received training in Saudi territory, so Wahhabi repression and persecution of more broad-minded Muslims had a direct effect on them.

Over decades of seeking to counter Islamic extremism in Indonesia, NU leaders realized that to achieve their goals, they had to directly challenge the radical versions of Arab Islam.”

Contrasting the vision of Islam offered by NU to more extremist versions, Johnson says:

“In contrast, NU leaders’ vision of “Humanitarian Islam” proposes a clear distinction between eternal or universal religious norms and contingent, temporary norms. In their view, the obligation to show universal love and compassion is unchanging; the obligation to compel obedience to Islam by military force or to execute apostates is contingent and no longer relevant to the modern context. (It’s a parallel to Christians’ belief that the Ten Commandments are universal but Old Testament penal law no longer applies.)”

Even though the thoughts expressed here are encouraging, I find this statement striking because of the similarity in the way evangelicals and Muslims approach their scriptures.  On the Muslim side, NU obviously represents an improvement over the more extreme versions of Islam.  NU sees ideas of universal love and compassion as unchanging and therefore, a reflection of the divine will.  But NU also seems to interpret the use of military force to propagate Islam as a divine mandate that was appropriate in past history, instead of a degradation of the divine will by humans to deal with human circumstances.  Similarly, with their belief in biblical inerrancy, evangelicals prefer to see the violence in the Old Testament as justified by God under the appropriate circumstances, rather than a degradation of the divine will by humans.  Did God approve of the stoning of women caught in adultery in the past, and then changed his mind? If God hates violence, which is a tool of the devil, but must endorse violence under certain circumstances, then the devil has won.

Johnson’s added parenthesis also presents the statement “the Ten Commandments are universal but Old Testament penal law no longer applies” as an accepted Christian belief.  In fact, it is generally accepted by Calvinists and other conservative Christians.  But it violates Paul’s teaching which clearly says that Christians are no longer under the Law, but are under grace.  Paul presents life by the Spirit as a replacement for life under the Law.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16-18)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

The good news is that WEA and NU signed, last week, a statement of cooperation at the 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit held in Washington, as reported by Jayson Casper in Christianity Today.  The agreement recognizes that Christians and Muslims should be able to compete peacefully in their efforts to gain converts.  Even though they acknowledge differences in beliefs, they must live in peace and contribute to “the emergence of a truly just and harmonious world order.”  This is progress indeed.

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

Executive Summary of the Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in

Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities

25th-27th January 2016

WHEREAS, conditions in various parts of the Muslim World have deteriorated dangerously due to the use of violence and armed struggle as a tool for settling conflicts and imposing one’s point of view;

WHEREAS, this situation has also weakened the authority of legitimate governments and enabled criminal groups to issue edicts attributed to Islam, but which, in fact, alarmingly distort its fundamental principles and goals in ways that have seriously harmed the population as a whole;

WHEREAS, this year marks the 1,400th anniversary of the Charter of Medina, a constitutional contract between the Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, and the people of Medina, which guaranteed the religious liberty of all, regardless of faith;

WHEREAS, hundreds of Muslim scholars and intellectuals from over 120 countries, along with representatives of Islamic and international organizations, as well as leaders from diverse religious groups and nationalities, gathered in Marrakesh on this date to reaffirm the principles of the Charter of Medina at a major conference;

WHEREAS, this conference was held under the auspices of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, and organized jointly by the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs in the Kingdom of Morocco and the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies based in the United Arab Emirates;

AND NOTING the gravity of this situation afflicting Muslims as well as peoples of other faiths throughout the world, and after thorough deliberation and discussion, the convened Muslim scholars and intellectuals:

DECLARE HEREBY our firm commitment to the principles articulated in the Charter of Medina, whose provisions contained a number of the principles of constitutional contractual citizenship, such as freedom of movement, property ownership, mutual solidarity and defense, as well as principles of justice and equality before the law; and that,

The objectives of the Charter of Medina provide a suitable framework for national constitutions in countries with Muslim majorities, and the United Nations Charter and related documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are in harmony with the Charter of Medina, including consideration for public order.

NOTING FURTHER that deep reflection upon the various crises afflicting humanity underscores the inevitable and urgent need for cooperation among all religious groups, we

AFFIRM HEREBY that such cooperation must be based on a “Common Word,” requiring that such cooperation must go beyond mutual tolerance and respect, to providing full protection for the rights and liberties to all religious groups in a civilized manner that eschews coercion, bias, and arrogance.

BASED ON ALL OF THE ABOVE, we hereby: Call upon Muslim scholars and intellectuals around the world to develop a jurisprudence of the concept of “citizenship” which is inclusive of diverse groups. Such jurisprudence shall be rooted in Islamic tradition and principles and mindful of global changes.

Urge Muslim educational institutions and authorities to conduct a courageous review of educational curricula that addresses honestly and effectively any material that instigates aggression and extremism, leads to war and chaos, and results in the destruction of our shared societies;

Call upon politicians and decision makers to take the political and legal steps necessary to establish a constitutional contractual relationship among its citizens, and to support all formulations and initiatives that aim to fortify relations and understanding among the various religious groups in the Muslim World;

Call upon the educated, artistic, and creative members of our societies, as well as organizations of civil society, to establish a broad movement for the just treatment of religious minorites in Muslim countries and to raise awareness as to their rights, and to work together to ensure the success of these efforts.

Call upon the various religious groups bound by the same national fabric to address their mutual state of selective amnesia that blocks memories of centuries of joint and shared living on the same land; we call upon them to rebuild the past by reviving this tradition of conviviality, and restoring our shared trust that has been eroded by extremists using acts of terror and aggression;

Call upon representatives of the various religions, sects and denominations to confront all forms of religious bigotry, villification, and denegration of what people hold sacred, as well as all speech that promote hatred and bigotry;

AND FINALLY, AFFIRM that it is unconscionable to employ religion for the purpose of aggressing upon the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries.

Marrakesh

January 27th, 2016