Send this article to a friend

5 Aug 2005

Christians and Muslims show compatibility in Syria

Mel Lehman
Damascus (ENI). Atop the historic Omayyad Mosque in Damascus is the Jesus minaret which honours the founder of Christianity. Inside the great mosque is the Shrine of St John the Baptist. It is a small, beautiful jewel of a church which is said to contain the head of St John who is revered by both Islam and Christianity.

I recently visited the mosque with a Syrian Christian friend. As we knelt in prayer before the Shrine of St John, trying to get a sense of the religious history of that ancient holy place, I noticed several men wearing sunglasses who were also kneeling in prayer next to the shrine.

"These are blind sheikhs," my friend told me quietly. "They offer blessings to children and people with special needs." Indeed, as I watched, I noticed several children kneeling around one of the sheikhs and receiving his blessing.

How remarkable, I thought: here is a Christian shrine inside a mosque with a minaret honouring Jesus, and Muslim holy men have chosen this small church as a place of healing to offer their blessings to children and sick people. The next day I asked Sheikh Salah Kuftaro of the Abou Al Nour Mosque in Damascus about this remarkable co-incidence of Islam and Christianity. As the son of the late Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro, he is one of the key spiritual leaders of Syria. He and his staff gave a warm welcome.

"St John the Baptist is one of the prophets of God whom we venerate," said Sheikh Kuftaro. "If a woman is not feeling well she will ask God, through the sanctity of St John, that she be cured. Women who are childless seek the help of God so that they can conceive and have children." Through the nearly hour-long discussion Sheikh Kuftaro emphasised the close relationship between Christianity and Islam in Syria both in theology and in practice. "Religiously, we are an ideal society in Syria," he said. "We Christians and Muslims live as one family."

That relationship was demonstrated by the friendship between Sheikh Kuftaro and Mahat Farah El-Khoury, my Syrian Christian friend who had arranged the interview with the Sheikh and accompanied me to the meeting. They were old friends who had worked together for many years. They comfortably exchanged jokes between my serious questions.

Close friendships between Christian Arabs and Muslims are common in the Middle East. How much better it would be, I thought, if Christians in the West knew at least one Muslim as a personal friend, rather than getting their impression of Islam from the distorted images they receive from television.

Sheikh Kuftaro said the Canadian ambassador had visited his late father, the Grand Mufti of Syria. The ambassador asked how many Christians there were in Syria. The Grand Mufti replied that there were 17 million. The diplomat thought that perhaps there had been a problem with the translation since 17 million is roughly the total number of people in Syria, and Christians are only a minority. The Grand Mufti repeated that there were 17 million Christians in Syria "and I am a Christian. I have to be a genuine Christian," he explained, "in order for me to be an accepted Muslim." There is an "urgency" to have interreligious dialogue, Sheikh Kuftaro believes, and he and his foundation are reaching out to have dialogue with the West. "This is our duty," he said, "we have to work, to act and to meet so that we can know each other. We are all passengers on the same boat, this planet, which God ordered us to take care of."

Mahat Farah El-Khoury said: "Christians and Muslims have more in common than we have differences." She worked for the Middle East Council of Churches for many years and she has a deep knowledge of the spiritual life of her Muslim neighbours. "Every morning I wake up to the chanting of muezzin calling people to prayer from the minarets, followed by the sound of church bells and hymns."

In a lifetime of work building understanding between Christians and Muslims, Khoury has won many honours, including a medal from Pope John Paul II and state honours in France and Poland. Her work advocating for peace and justice has taken her to Europe and America and everywhere she goes, she talks about the cooperation between religions in Syria. During a recent trip to North America as part of a Mennonite Central Committee Peace Storytelling Tour, she reminded Christians they need to do more than just talk about Jesus; they need to advocate for policies that support peace and justice for all peoples in the Middle East.

"It is important to know the true origins of our faith and not just the appearances," she said. "Put the accent on the three principles of Christ: justice, peace and love."

:: Mel Lehman is active in peacemaking and humanitarian work related to the Middle East and visits the region frequently. He lives in New York City; e-mail ML9612921@aol.com. He has some photographic prints from his visit that can be obtained by contacting him at his email address.

© 1994 - 2006 Ecumenical News International.

Top of Page

---

Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22 791 6111     Fax: +41-22 788 7244   
Email: eni@eni.ch