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In Quest of God: Maneri's Second Collection of 150 Letters, translated by Paul Jackson, S.J., xxiv + 327 pages, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand, booksgsp@sancharnet.in, Rs. 200, consists of personal letters sent in response to letters written to Maneri by a wide variety of people.
Muslims Ask, Christians Answer /by /Christian W. Troll, S.J., Dr.
David Marshall (tr.), Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 2005, pp. xi+146,
Rs.80.00, ISBN 81 89317 05 9
This short but comprehensive book is in the mind of the author
“primarily addressed to Christians” providing “them with information…to
prompt them to engage in further reflection and learning” and to “offer
a basis and a reference point…to understand more accurately the
questions put to them by Muslims about the Christian faith and way of
life, and…to prepare themselves to respond…as honestly and
sympathetically as possible.”(p.ix) It is a “thorough revision” of the
book, “/Trying to Answer Questions/ (Rome, Pontifical Institute for
Arabic Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies [PISAI], 1989)”(p. x),
which may have been made with the help of Catholic and Protestant
Christians who met from 1999 to 2002 at the Catholic Academy in Berlin.(p.x)
It contains twelve chapters: Scripture and the Word of God; The Divinity
of Jesus and the Incarnation; Cross, Sin, Redemption; Muhammad and the
Christian Faith; God, the Three in One; The Church; The Holy Eucharist;
Prayer; Religion and the World; Celibacy as a Religious Vocation;
Religious Pluralism and Freedom of Religion; The Heart of Christianity.
Each chapter follows a similar pattern consisting of Muslim Questions,
General and detailed Muslim perspectives, Christian perspectives, and
Christian answers. And the book ends with a list of books for further
general reading on Islam, Christianity, and Christian-Muslim Dialogue.
Besides treating each topic in a truly extensive way, the author also
gives the fruit of his “many years of experience and study of Muslim
civilizations and of work with Muslims in different parts of the
Christian-Muslim world”(p.x) in reflections like the following: “Indeed
in the Quran’s powerful proclamation of the one transcendent God I can
acknowledge that an essential element of the message of Jesus himself is
recalled and also that I am invited to life in deeper agreement with
that message. Giving a believing Christian response of the message
proclaimed in the Qur’an, I thus acknowledge that Muhammad was sent by
God to proclaim an essential aspect of the truth, namely, the oneness
and transcendence of God. This is an enormously significant aspect of
the truth not least in the modern world, with its widespread
forgetfulness of God.”(p.41) Again, for instance, the author says: “In
response to questions from Muslims, there should be no concealing of the
fact that faith in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God is an essential
part of the apostolic confession of faith. Only by the working of the
Holy Spirit can we acknowledge and proclaim Jesus as Lord (1 Corinthians
12:3).”(p.17)
The book is easy to read and deals with the more important questions in
Christian-Muslim dialogue. It may be useful to those engaged in
dialogue, and also to those who may otherwise wish to gain some
knowledge of Islam. It could even be used by Muslims teachers who every
now and then have to explain different aspects of Christianity to their
Muslim students in the Departments of Islamic Studies in the various
Universities in India and abroad.
Desiderio Pinto, S.J.
Iftar at St Xavier’s Shahbad-Daulatpur
Victor Edwin SJ
St Xavier’s Institutions, Shahbad-Daulatpur organized an iftar for Muslim friends in the campus on 24th of October 2005 on the 19th day of the Muslim holy month Ramadan. Muslims fast during Ramadan. Fasting (roza in Persian and sawm or siyam in Arabic) is one of the five pillars of Islam. Roza is to mean abstinence from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk and married persons have to restrain themselves from having sexual relations during the fasting time. Imam Kausar and the members of the mosque committee of Shahbad-Daulatpur Dairy were present for the Iftar.
Why do Muslims fast? It is God’s command that every Muslim fasts during Ramadan. It is reveled in the Holy Quran. Every Muslim bound by this injunction, says Imam Kausar, who teaches Urdu to this present writer. He further added that one of the important Muslim values is taqwa, which means to be consciously aware of God. Fasting helps one to be aware of God. Prophet Muhammad instructed his companions that fasting strengthens will power to control one’s desire and the selfishness of one’s soul. The fact that he is abstaining from food and drink both in public and in secret shows his honest faith and strong love of Allah, Kausar continued. During the month of Ramadan Muslims listen Tharawee, the recitation of the Holy Qur'an, they spend money in charity and some Muslims confine themselves for the last ten days of Ramadan in the Masjid for prayer and invocation leaving the worldly activities. As for social aspects, iftar includes inviting friends, sharing food, hospitality ... If a Muslim feed someone to breakfast, he will get the same fasting reward without decreasing the reward of the person who fasted.
The Muslim friends on their arrival at St Xavier’s campus performed their ritual ablution and sat down on the dhari. Imam Kausar prayed for various intensions of Muslim communities and peace and harmony in the world. He thanked God for giving them the grace to obey his commandments, asked for forgiveness of sins, begged for grace to be faithful in their duties towards God and humanity, sought blessings for each and every person present on the occasion. The congregation responded to the prayer of petition with amen. When the time for breaking the fast came, they consumed a date and drank some water and ended fasting. Then they offered Namaz in the school hall. It was a beautiful spiritual experience for the Christian present there. Often times one hears a complaint: what Muslim prays neither he understands nor the other understands. I felt I should not be in a hurry to complain like. Why? Muslims indeed offer namaz in Arabic which most of the Indian Muslims do not understand. However, in a recent article Prof Dan Madigan SJ, comments this act of worship as a Sacrament for the Muslims. Sacraments are channels of grace which puts the human person in touch with God. It builds bridges between the concrete and the transcendence and helps human person to relate with mystery. In namaz Muslim uses the words of the Holy Quran, which is the Word of God for them. They deeply find meaning in that interacting with the Word of God in complete surrender to the Word. They understand the meaning of the Word through surrender. In that sense one cannot simply dismiss that they do not understand what they pray. Moreover, the spontaneous prayers are said in Urdu that any one who knows the language understands. Seeing them praying during the iftar, was indeed a spiritual experience for us the Christians. It is also commonplace to hear that when we organize interfaith events hardly any Muslim comes. Is that a foolproof statement? I doubt a bit for it was informed to the Muslims that at iftar many Christians would be there. They felt it was an honor to have iftar with Christians. Many Christians were informed of iftar at the campus. However at Iftar besides the Jesuits only just couple of Christians turned up. Reflecting on such events one gets to understand the enormity of the task: the task of understanding, appreciating and loving one another better. |
