"To speak of the Judeo-Christian tradition against which Islam is pitted as the 'other' is an injustice to the message of Abraham and also theologically false, no matter how convenient it might be for some people. There is as much difference between Judaism and Christianity as there is between Christianity and Islam. In certain domains Judaism is closer to Islam than it is to Christianity: it has a sacred language, Hebrew, like Arabic in Islam, and it has a sacred law, the Halakhah, corresponding to the Shari'ah. Furthermore, they share an opposition to all forms of idolatry and to the creation of iconic sacred art, which would allow an image of the Divinity to be painted or sculpted. In certain other ways Islam is closer to Christianity: both emphasize the immortality of the soul, eschatological realities, and the accent on the inner life. Then there are those basic principles upon which all three religions agree: the Oneness of God, prophecy, sacred scripture, much of sacred history, and basic ethical norms such as the sanctity of life, reverence for the laws of God, human treatment of others, honesty in all human dealings, kindness toward the neighbor, the application of justice, and so forth. Islam is an inalienable and inseparable part of the Abrahamic family of religions and considers itself to be closely linked with the two monotheistic religions that preceded it. Islam envisages itself the complement of those religions and the final expression of Abrahamic monotheism, confirming the teachings of Judaism and Christianity, but rejecting any form of exclusivism."
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam, pp. 41-42
OK, yes, it only seems like I'm continuing my shameless man-crush on Seyyed Nasr. Actually, this particular passage came up in class the other night, as it always does in my Dar al-Islam class. As might be expected, Nasr does a lovely job laying out the similarities and differences between the three Abrahamic faiths. As my students and colleagues can tell you the term Judeo-Christian tradition is one that I've railed against for a long time, mainly because of the very false separation that it implies between Judaism and Christianity and that ultimate "other", Islam, so I completely agree with Nasr's point here. Further, I think it is true both in regards to the religious and well as the cultural implications. On Twitter I follow Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (and you should as well: @TheRaDR) and she made a similar point the other day, although she took it in an interesting direction. Her point was that, in addition to a thinly veiled Islamophobia, it also implied a friendly cohabitation between Judaism and Christianity which hasn't truly existed. And, let's be honest, while there's sadly anti-Semitism inside of the Muslim world, we'll never get caught up to the Christians in that horrible category.
What I wish that Nasr would have discussed is how similar Islam is to another religion which seems like an odd choice: Buddhism. I know I've made this point before, but the more I study Islam the more I keep coming back to certain aspects of Buddhism. In this case I'm not talking specifically about the concept of God, as some of my Buddhist friends will propose that Buddhism is an atheistic religion, although that gets me where I'm headed. The reason why they, with their tongues only partially in their cheeks, propose that it is an atheistic religion is that so much of Buddhist thought (certainly not all, because Buddhism is as diverse and complex as Islam is) stresses a very human, individualistic and incremental path to Enlightenment. As part of the Four Noble Truths there is the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Meditation (these are sometimes rendered slightly differently, but you have the idea). Essentially, Buddhists are required to constantly reflect on every single thing they say and do and consider them in relation to their path to Enlightenment. For all of our talk in Islam about wiping away all of our sins by saying the Shahada or going on the Hajj, the vast majority of our time is devoted to the same sort of very human daily struggle to do the right thing in the decisions we face. I always come back to the concept of returning the worse with the better, and how I try to make that the central tenet of how I try (emphasis on try) to treat everyone and everything in my life; at least in my specific situation, how would that end up being that different from how a Buddhist would life their life on a day to day basis?
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam, pp. 41-42
OK, yes, it only seems like I'm continuing my shameless man-crush on Seyyed Nasr. Actually, this particular passage came up in class the other night, as it always does in my Dar al-Islam class. As might be expected, Nasr does a lovely job laying out the similarities and differences between the three Abrahamic faiths. As my students and colleagues can tell you the term Judeo-Christian tradition is one that I've railed against for a long time, mainly because of the very false separation that it implies between Judaism and Christianity and that ultimate "other", Islam, so I completely agree with Nasr's point here. Further, I think it is true both in regards to the religious and well as the cultural implications. On Twitter I follow Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (and you should as well: @TheRaDR) and she made a similar point the other day, although she took it in an interesting direction. Her point was that, in addition to a thinly veiled Islamophobia, it also implied a friendly cohabitation between Judaism and Christianity which hasn't truly existed. And, let's be honest, while there's sadly anti-Semitism inside of the Muslim world, we'll never get caught up to the Christians in that horrible category.
What I wish that Nasr would have discussed is how similar Islam is to another religion which seems like an odd choice: Buddhism. I know I've made this point before, but the more I study Islam the more I keep coming back to certain aspects of Buddhism. In this case I'm not talking specifically about the concept of God, as some of my Buddhist friends will propose that Buddhism is an atheistic religion, although that gets me where I'm headed. The reason why they, with their tongues only partially in their cheeks, propose that it is an atheistic religion is that so much of Buddhist thought (certainly not all, because Buddhism is as diverse and complex as Islam is) stresses a very human, individualistic and incremental path to Enlightenment. As part of the Four Noble Truths there is the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Meditation (these are sometimes rendered slightly differently, but you have the idea). Essentially, Buddhists are required to constantly reflect on every single thing they say and do and consider them in relation to their path to Enlightenment. For all of our talk in Islam about wiping away all of our sins by saying the Shahada or going on the Hajj, the vast majority of our time is devoted to the same sort of very human daily struggle to do the right thing in the decisions we face. I always come back to the concept of returning the worse with the better, and how I try to make that the central tenet of how I try (emphasis on try) to treat everyone and everything in my life; at least in my specific situation, how would that end up being that different from how a Buddhist would life their life on a day to day basis?
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