The conclusion of my manuscript on Islam and the Middle East, at least as it currently stands

Well, I’ve finally finished my initial draft of the manuscript:

There is common ground between us, the Jews, and the Mus­lims. We should seek both to identify it and to build upon it. Indeed, we may have a special calling and responsibility to do so. “A cabinet minister of Egypt once told me,” Elder Hunter recalled, “that if a bridge is ever built between Christianity and Islam it must be built by the Mormon Church.””[1] We also have common enemies. Materialism and immorality are denounced from the pulpit of the Conference Center and the Tabernacle just as they are denounced by Muslim observers of the West. We both seek to build a society that will be pleasing to God. We call it Zion, a name that currently has offensive connotations for Muslims. But what we mean by “Zion” is something that they would not find nearly so offensive. It is a society that would embody many of the deepest values of the Qur’an, including care of orphans, widows, and the poor; worship of the one God; a religion that permeates all aspects of life and serves as the basis for our commercial, cultural, and social activities; and a desire to please God by action, by faith, and works.

So long as we are separated from the Muslims by a wall of mutual incomprehension, and by a mutual hostility that has been centuries in construction, so long as we mistrust each other’s motives, we will find it very hard to communicate any of the things that matter most to us. Generations of Christian missionaries have testified to the difficulty of bringing Muslims to an acceptance of the divinity of Christ. When once we have established that basis of mutual respect and mutual sympathy, however, I am convinced that it will be possible to share the gospel with Muslims. It may take a very long time to do so, but “the worth of souls is great” and abun­dantly merits our investment. Furthermore, the Lord promises suc­cess in that venture. Someday, he says, his blessings will rest upon Egypt and Iraq, as well as upon Israel. The three nations, no more divided by the violent political hatreds that have crippled the region for centuries, will be united in God’s service. And, most astonishing of all, a temple will someday stand on the banks of the Nile.

In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work. of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.[2]

This is a remarkable prospect. It will take all our ability, all our learning, all our sensitivity, all our devotion and commitment to make it come true. But, with the blessing of God, someday it most surely will.

[1] Hunter, “All Are Alike Unto God,” 74.

[2] Isaiah 19:19-25.

Posted from Newport Beach, California