My next, and, academically, greatest engagement with Islam was at the Catholic University of America. I took two classes on comparative theology under Dr. Hintersteiner. The first class was specifically on comparative theology itself and introduced me, through examples we read and discussed in the class, to some assessments of Islam and Muhammad from history which were more positive than I was used to (like the one associated with the Melkite bishop, Paul of Antioch). Through them, I learned a new way to engage Islam, one which allowed me to leave open the possibility that Muhammad was truly a prophet, but one who was misunderstood; it is one which suggests that he should be seen as being given a mission from God to work for the Arab people, helping the polytheists among them come to monotheism, and, as he did so, reconnect them to the revelation of God coming from the Abrahamic tradition. It is an interpretation which Ibn Taymiyya knew about and criticized, but it is one which has given me a starting point for my own particular understanding of Muhammad. Solovyov’s writing on Muhammad, and Nicholas of Cusa’s views on religion, also have a place in my speculations; together, they allow me to recognize the positive value of Muhammad and with him, elements within the Islamic tradition, even if I have disagreements with how the greater Islamic theological tradition developed. The second class I took was specifically on the relationship of Islam and Christianity. For it, Dr. Hintersteiner recruited Ayatollah Iravani to teach the class with him, making sure we had the perspective of a Muslim scholar, and not just a Christian speaking on Islam. One of the best days of the class was when Iravani gave an introductory lecture presenting the diversity of thought in Islam, showing us many ways the Qur’an itself could be interpreted. He explained why it was wrong, for Muslims and Christians alike, to pick various verses (āyahs) as proof texts to make Islam represent what they want it to represent. He said the Qur’an requires the reader to understand the context in which each surah was written, because, without that context, many odd conclusions could emerge. He gave examples of surahs which could be read to suggest all Arabs were evil, which of course, is not what Muhammad wanted his audience to believe. In the class, we read a history of Islamic theology and the various debates found in that history; this gave me a better sense of the complexity of Islamic thought, and through it, I could see how many of its early debates would influence Christians during the scholastic era because Arabic scholars, with their debates, would be studied to better understand Aristotle.
Another thing I learned from those two classes was not just the way Islam dealt with Christians and Jews, but the way Islam worked in and with other religious traditions like Hinduism. Not only was Hinduism eventually accorded the status of “People of the Book,” I discovered that some Muslims adapted Hindu thought and history in some rather strange ways; my favorite example of this was with the Ismailis; among them were those who connected Muhammad with Brahma and Ali with Kalki (Vishnu). This gave me a different impression of Islam because it showed how fluid it could be and was, especially in its engagement with India. Even those who did not go that far, like Sharafuddin Maneri, show the influence of Hindu spirituality in their writings.
My engagement with Islam developed further at the Catholic University of America was when I was chosen to teach the class, “Ways of Peace in World Religions.” To prepare for it, I had to find and choose texts for my students. I read and explored various forms of peacemaking coming from the Islamic tradition and this lead me to Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Badshah Khan), friend and co-worker with Gandhi. His whole life was a struggle for making things better for his people, the Pashtuns; he taught those following him to respond with non-violence as they worked for and sought to create a better world. He saw Gandhi not only as an inspiration, but as someone God had chosen, that Gandhi’s mission came from God, making him someone who spoke for God. Badshah Khan would recruit large numbers of Muslims to follow him as he embraced a form of non-violent resistance influenced by Gandhi’s satyāgraha, creating, in some ways, more of a shock in India than Gandhi. But he did not just struggle with British India, he also struggled against fundamentalists in Islam; he was promoting a reformed Islam, one which took away those cultural accretions he believed went against the true spirit of God’s message; he wanted his people to be educated, even as he wanted women to be free, to be elevated, to have a voice and agency of their own. He said it was all in the proper spirit of Islam, and that many in positions of power and authority squashed the full spiritual force of Islam by trying to stop such reforms: “Every religion, when it falls into the hands of self-seeking people, is no longer imbued with the initial spirit of revelation. It becomes the religion of the moneyed class and exists in mere form.”[1] He thought there was a need to restore the democratic spirit of early Islam which had been lost over time:
The Prophet of Islam, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him (PBUH), had lit a brilliant light of democracy in Madina. I do admit that this democracy was limited to the city of Medina and to the Muslims i.e.. the leader of the Muslims and the successors of the Prophet (PBUH) were appointed on the advice of the companions of the Prophet. There was darkness in the rest of the world. And this lamp remained till the life of Hazrat Umer, may Allah’s pleasure be upon him. After his death, the desire for wealth and power took hold of the Muslims and this light was extinguished and remains so till today. Europe, which was in darkness, lit this lamp there. They were enlightened by it. And the Muslims, who extinguished this lamp, have not been able to light it again. Today, all the Muslim countries of the world do not have democracy. When power was transferred to the hands of the Bani Umaya family, Mawyia rose and changed the status of Muslims. [2]
I quickly came to see in Badshah Khan what he saw in Gandhi, that is, a man touched by God. With the struggles he went through, many with them coming from his fellow Muslims, I got to see someone who represented the kind of spirit needed by followers of all religions and religious paths. He remained faithful to his beliefs even as he was willing to criticize the way his faith had been undermined, not because of doctrinal disputes, but because of the way many use religion for their own power instead of promoting God, God’s ways, and the people who God wants helped:
Every religion has prescribed freedom, caring for others and tolerance, but they are not aware of this, nor has anyone made them wise to it. The truth is that all revealed religions are from God and have been sent to the world to promote love, affection and for the service, benefit, and comfort of humankind. It is incumbent upon the followers of every faith to remove hatred from the hearts of humankind and instil in them love and affection – so that they can be of assistance to each other. But we have not been made aware of this by anyone. [3]
I have, since my time at the Catholic University of America, continued to study Islamic history and its theologians. I have continued to find my own faith nourished by the process. While I have disagreements with Muslims concerning the “nature” of God and the full identity of Jesus, such disagreements do not mean there is nothing for Christians to learn from Islam. It’s too great a tradition to ignore.
[1] Abdul Ghaffar Khan, My Life and Struggle. Trans. Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada (Roli Books: Greater Noida, India: 2021), 84.
[2] Abdul Ghaffar Khan, My Life and Struggle, 24-5.
[3] Abdul Ghaffar Khan, My Life and Struggle, 16
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