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Scholar proposes Abyssinian model for Christian-Muslim relations
A GBGM Staff Briefing

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Dr. Farid
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 by Rebecca C. Asedillo

In the early stage of Islam, followers of the new religion experienced such great persecution in Mecca that the Prophet Muhammad advised them to move to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The Christian king of Abyssinia received them with sympathy, and for several years Muslims lived with their Christian neighbors in peace. Dr. Farid Esack

On November 1, Muslim theologian Dr. Farid Esack proposed reviving the Abyssinian paradigm as a way to move forward with Muslim-Christian relations. Speaking at a General Board of Global Ministries Staff Briefing, Esack said that the Abyssinian experience exemplified a model of interreligious relationship in which Christians and Muslims lived with each other justly "with no religious hegemonic design."

Esack, a Visiting Professor in Islamic studies at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York played a leading role in South Africa's struggle against apartheid. His book, Qur'an, Liberation & Pluralism (Oxford: Oneworld, 1997) documents the interreligious solidarity that was instrumental in bringing an end to apartheid in his country. In this book, Esack showed how South African Muslims succeeded in the struggle against oppression while being true to their faith.

Esack professes in having no interest in a "show and tell" version of interfaith dialogue where one quotes nice verses from the Qur'an and from the Bible. "I'm way beyond that," he said. Candid in his view that very many Muslims feel resentful about United States' hegemony over the world, Esack explained that among Muslims, there is a very profound, mythical yearning for the reign of God, which to them implies the reign of the shar'iah, ' the religious law of Islam.

"Don't ask us to unravel this problem," Esack said. "The only paradigm we have is that it is either Mecca or Medina." The early followers of Islam were persecuted in Mecca. Medina, on the other hand, was where the Prophet Mohammed exercised full control from the moment he entered it. Thus, Mecca offers the paradigm of persecution, victimization and marginalization, whereas Medina represents the paradigm of control and domination.

"Theologically, we don't seem to have a way of dealing with the world as equals, as co-citizens," Esack said. "Medina is the utopia. We want to go back to Medina. But even if we would like to, we are not able to incorporate Medina in our daily life."

"It is easy to die for Islam, but not to live for Islam," Esack said, commenting on the temptation among some Muslims for "unbridled belief" rooted in the notion that a human being to become complete must become a Muslim. [In his book, Esack challenges traditional interpretations of the Qur'an, and provides with his contextual and textual analysis a Qur'anic basis for interfaith solidarity in the movement for social change.]

In the six weeks since September 11, Esack said he has noted a shift taking place in Muslim thinking and theological discourse. In the midst of the sorting out, he himself has proposed the Abyssinian model as a hopeful one. "When we understand that all of us together --including those indigenous religions 'without the Book,'-- can form an Abyssinian community, we have reason to hope," Esack said.

Nonetheless, Esack reminded his Christian audience: "You are reaching out to us not to make us feel better, but because we are part of you." In the same vein, his challenge was: "As Christians, you have responsibility to your own faith, to your own selves, to your own beliefs."
November 7, 2001
General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
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