Standing Together, Listening to The Qur’anic Jesus & the Cosmic Christ
Based on Ekram Haque’s Book, Why Muslims Love Jesus: An Untold Story
A Talk by Fr. Carl Chudy, D.Min at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Massachusetts, together with Shaheen Ahktar of the Islamic Center in our Muslim Christian dialogue about Jesus, who is esteemed by peoples of both faiths.
Introduction
Faith is a bridge. We create lives of an evolving faith in the merciful and compassionate Creator that embrace our families and our communities, engaging in the hard work of interfaith bridgebuilding through conversation, collaboration, and solidarity. Whatever helps us to embrace our power of pluralism, where we cooperate across our differences for the common good, is the project of building the human family. The 21st-century American community on a hill has a steeple, a mosque, a synagogue, a sangha, a ward, a temple, a gurudwara, a secular humanist society, and more. You and I are not just citizens of this diverse community — together, we are architects of it. We need to build an interfaith America, starting right here.
In this light, Ekram Haque’s contribution to the pluralism project among Muslims, Christians, and others focuses on the figure of Jesus/Issa, a figure that is admittedly complex among Muslims and Christians. He says: “Despite the adoring view of Jesus on the part of Muslims and their benevolent sentiments toward his followers, Islam and Christianity have been at odds for fourteen centuries.” Although this has changed much in the last hundred years and more, we continue to live in the backdrop of threats to social connectedness, civic democracy, and moral neighborliness, where our religious beliefs are often understood in the context of tensions in our culture and the politics that house our religious communities. How do we move beyond our worst history? What new vision is to be crafted of a diverse, pluralistic community where civil rights and generous civic behavior go hand in hand, where diversity and democracy mix well, building an (interfaith) community of communities.
Listening to the Jesus of each other
What’s at stake, it seems to me, is grounding ourselves in our unique sacred journeys with the Jesus we all love, whether we be Muslim or Christian, or any other faith that esteems Jesus in some way. The inspiration and power of Christ transforms us into our best selves, God’s original creation, if we allow it. The author says, “Given their shared love for Jesus, one would expect both Muslim and Christian communities to regard him as a unifying figure. The love of Jesus should lead us to worship one God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. After all, Jesus called these the greatest commandments.” From a Christian perspective, it is our passion for Christ, and our passion for humanity. But what if I, as a Christian, were to listen to the Qur’anic Jesus with an open heart? How would the fruits of that listening compel me to anchor myself not only in the Jesus I am more familiar with, but also in the image of Jesus of another faith that has something to teach me? How would it lead me to connect with my Muslim neighbors and others to build a community of peace and justice together?
Holy Envy: Finding God in the faith of others
Krister Stendahl coined the phrase “holy envy” at a 1985 press conference in Stockholm, where he was the bishop of the Church of Sweden. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was opening a new temple, and there was some local consternation about these newcomers from Utah. So Stendahl held a press conference to assuage people’s fears. He offered three rules for religious understanding. Number one, if you want to learn about another religion, ask its adherents and not its enemies. Number two, don’t compare your best to their worst. Number three, leave room for holy envy.
Here is one example of what holy envy it may look like. It was seen at a mosque on a Friday afternoon during the Jummah prayer. Visiting Christian students who knew nothing about Islam and had never been in a mosque listened to a sermon that made a great deal of sense to them about being the change they wanted to see in the world and treating others as they wanted to be treated. They watched 600 people, including moms bending over their kids, grandmas in wheelchairs, and ordinary people bending to pray. Those students came back to the classroom and wrote papers about how they needed to take their own prayer lives more seriously. They were so touched by what they saw.
At the end of another encounter where Christians were visiting a mosque, the Imam ended his meeting with them by saying, “Our deepest desire is not that you become Muslim, but that you become the best Christian, the best Jew, the best person you can be. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, thank you for coming.” I could do that. I could speak from the heart of my faith, wishing others well at the heart of theirs. If holy envy is about me as a Christian finding God in the practices of Islam, which inspire me and help me deepen my own faith, then I could listen to the Qur’anic Jesus and find a truth that helps me deepen my experience of Christ in the Gospels. Holy Envy frees me to listen deeply, without being defensive, judgmental, or falling into the temptation to think there is only one way of understanding the mystery of Christ. That mystery originates in the creator of all things, visible and invisible, as Paul in his letters of the New Testament intimates.
The Jesus of Islam
The author states: “The Qur’ān calls Jesus honored in this world and the Hereafter, and among those nearest to God.” The Prophet Muḥammad said, “I am closest to Jesus, son of Mary, in this life and the Hereafter.” What I have found among Muslim friends is that, alongside the Qur’anic Jesus, there is a diversity of understandings of Jesus in the Hadith and other traditions, which invites inspiration for pluralism. In Islam, there is a rich theological engagement with the figure of Jesus, who is integral to Islamic spirituality, literature, culture, and civilization, which the author alludes to. The Arabic Islamic tradition of the pre-modern period, for example, contains hundreds of sayings and stories ascribed to Jesus, which is the largest body of texts relating to Jesus in any non-Christian literature. Tarif Khalidi calls this the “Muslim gospel.” Such esteem for Jesus is a strong basis for important Muslim-Christian relations.
In that regard, the author goes on to refer to a very important document in Christian-Muslim relations: “On October 13, 2007, nearly 140 Muslim scholars wrote an open letter to the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, calling it a ‘Common Word Between Us and You.” The letter’s title comes from the Qur’anic verse, which orders Muslims to dialogue with Christians about the command to worship one God. The letter says:
“The letter said: “Muslims and Christians comprise well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace on earth. “The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God and love of the neighbor. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbor is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.”
The letter goes on to state: “Islam puts great emphasis on loving one’s neighbor. The Prophet Muhammad said, “None of you will have [true] faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself.” According to another hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (unto him be peace) said Gabriel kept emphasizing the neighbor’s right to him so much that he thought God would make his neighbor his heir, like a relative. It is noteworthy that both Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad advocated love for one’s neighbor regardless of religion. The love for the neighbor must be universal and not just for co-religionists.” Jesus of the Qur’an embodied this fundamental attitude.
In the Qur’an, what jumps out at me in this context are his miracles. In particular, his compassion is on display in the healing of the sick and the resurrection of the dead. The blind and lepers received not only physical healing, but a healing of body, mind, and soul, and rededication to God and neighbor. Qur’an 3:49 tells us: ‘I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I will make for you a bird from clay, breathe into it, and it will become a ˹real˺ bird—by Allah’s Will. I will heal the blind and the leper and raise the dead to life—by Allah’s Will. And I will prophesy what you eat and store in your houses. Surely in this is a sign for you if you ˹truly˺ believe.’
For Christians, the importance of healing in Jesus continues among those inspired by him. Through Jesus, we continue his healing in a world often wounded and violent. No one religious community can dare to undertake this call alone. As Mr. Haque states: “Christians and Muslims (and by extension people of other faiths), who represent more than half of humanity, have the potential to change this world for the better. There are countless causes on which our communities can collaborate, including human rights, religious freedom, and the eradication of poverty, racism, and bigotry. The opportunities to heal humanity and heal our planet, inspired by our deepest faith convictions, are waiting for us.
The Cosmic Christ in Christianity
The evolution of different understandings of Jesus in Christianity since his earthly existence is extraordinarily broad, as Christianity itself spread from an exclusive Jewish culture into diverse cultures and traditions. My understanding, too, has developed over the many years I, too, have experienced Christ and the people of God in different parts of the world. In Southeast Asia, the image of Christ is often a bloodied corpse on a cross, representing the plight of the poorest. In Africa, the image of Christ is rooted in a black figure, strengthening the ties of tribe, nation, and world. In the African American community where I worked in Chicago, there is a black image of Jesus depicted as a slave and breaking the chains that bind him, and us. Today I wrestle with my understanding of Jesus as the Cosmic Christ. This term was coined in reference to the works of Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
Christ is more than just a historical person who walked this earth, though he is that. He is more than a great teacher, marvelous miracle-worker, and extraordinary moral exemplar, though he is that too. Indeed, Christ is even more than the God- man who died for our sins and rose from the dead, though that is a crucial part of his identity for us. Christ, the scriptures tell us, is also someone and something within the very structure of the cosmos itself, the pattern on which the universe was conceived, is built, and is now developing. As the letter to the Colossians puts it: “Christ is the firstborn of all creation (physical and spiritual); for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created … all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Among other things, it tells us that Christ lies not just at the root of spirituality and morality, but also at the base of physics, biology, chemistry, and cosmology.
First of all, it means that the spiritual and the material, the moral and the physical, the mystical and the hormonal, and the religious and the pagan do not oppose each other but are part of one thing, one pattern, all infused by one and the same spirit, all drawn to the same end, with the same goodness and meaning. Simply put, the same force is responsible for the law of gravity and the Sermon on the Mount, and both are binding for the same reason. All reality, be it spiritual, physical, moral, mathematical, mystical, or hormonal is made and shaped according to the one, same pattern and everything (be it the universe itself hurdling through space, the blind attraction of atoms for each other, the relentless push for growth in a plant, the instinctual hunt for blood by a mosquito, the automatic impulse to put everything into his mouth by a baby, the fierce protectiveness of a young mother, the obsession to create inside an artist, or the bowig in prayer or altruism of a saint) is ultimately part of one and the same thing, the unfolding of creation as made in the image of Christ and as revealing the invisible God.
Making all things new
It is Christ’s divine task as well as ours to turn this fragmented world, through love of it in all of its visible and invisible dimensions, into one immense shining Being, the Body of Christ for us Christians, glowing with divine energy. Christ the Lord, the head of this Body, has promised to be with us and guide us, from start to finish. He said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20). Our encounter as Muslims and Christians, listening deeply to the Jesus of each other, impels us to act together in front of the great injustices all around us. Neither of us can do much alone. Who we are together, inspired by Jesus, a community among communities. The whole body of the world’s religions expresses the solidarity of Christ and creation. Chardin’s vision of a “ultrahumanity” requires harnessing the spiritual and psychic powers of all the earth and sharing these powers in a way such that we evolve toward a greater unity, that is, for Christians, toward the fullness of the cosmic Christ.
