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Barbara Campbell’s approach to Comparative Religion—seeking similarities and not highlighting “differences” between Semitic faiths in a multicultural and multi-religious society—is commendable. Fortunately, we have moved beyond medieval times when religions and religious thoughts were evolving and the clergy adopted a defensive and exclusive approach through which they could monopolize salvation, condemning other faith traditions as inferior and evil. This exclusive approach was used to control people’s thought for power as well as financial and political gains.

During this time, religiously motivated wars were justified and religious fervor was used as a motivator for people to fight in the cause of their faith which was “under threat”. These conflicting and, at times, contradictory beliefs of the various religions created a highly confused state in the human mind which can only be resolved by an objective understanding and unbiased analysis of the history, goals, and the teachings of different religions. The net result was that religious traditions prevented people from developing intellectually as they were confined to their respective dogmas.

In the Christian tradition, for example, development in Europe occurred after the Renaissance (15th century) and Reformation (16th century), movements when Christians rejected the Catholic dogma and freed themselves of the clergy-imposed restrictions. This rejection gave birth to the Protestant Church and led to the Industrial Revolution which transformed Western societies and cultures. Similar movements occurred in the Jewish faith and continue to happen among Muslims, resulting in sectarian divisions.

Interestingly, the Muslim transformation has followed a reverse transition in the sense that rational thought became prevalent among Muslims in the 8th century, shortly after the advent of Islam in the 7th century. This Golden Age of Muslims began during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809) who allowed free thinking and did not monopolize salvation. He established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad where scholars from various parts of the world, with different religious and cultural backgrounds, were mandated to gather and translate the world’s classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian.1 Consequently, Muslims quickly rose as the unrivalled economic and military power in the world which lasted several centuries. This period is traditionally said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate due to Mongol invasions and the Siege of Baghdad in 1258.2

As industrial developments occurred in Europe, Europeans ventured out to other continents in search of raw materials and markets to satisfy the needs of their emerging industries. Technology evolved and Europeans developed and modernized their armies and naval fleets to battle the Muslim Empires (Ottoman, Mughal) who, as leading military and economic powers in the world, were unaware of the changes in Europe and did not feel the need to modernize like the Europeans.

The Muslim Empires were eventually defeated, and their lands colonized. Rejecting rationality, the Muslim clergy filled the leadership vacuum in the colonized empires, citing God’s wrath as the cause of defeat and declared Islam to be in danger from the West; the politicized clergy led the Muslims towards dogma as they defined it for political expediency.

This decline in rational thought among Muslims started earlier, in the 14th century; dogmatic control was completed after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1924. Several orthodox Muslim sects and “reformers” have since appeared and attracted disenfranchised Muslims towards their dogma. Dogma-led religious groups, in all traditions, discourage free thinking and prohibit discussion and rationalization of their teachings, encouraging believers to accept simplistic and even illogical explanation as faith.

Geopolitics, the cold war between the US and USSR, and the regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran have fueled and funded this dogmatic rivalry among Muslims. The 11 September 2001 terrorist attack has been a pivotal point in Muslims’ radical dogma; many Muslims are now attempting to find rational approaches to the issues at hand.

Unfortunately, the Muslim dogma, initially developed in the 14th and 15th centuries and reinforced, relatively unchecked, for the next two centuries, was developed when the global economic system was agrarian. It has been difficult to transform the long-held, agrarian-era dogma with a rational understanding of the industrial era, especially in the light of low literacy levels and lack of economic development in the Muslim world. The only source of news, for many Muslims, is their local cleric or mosque who are often funded by some established sectarian and politicized entity who must defend their existence.

Muslim political clergy discredit any reformer by labelling them as a puppet, a traitor, or non-Muslim! The average Muslim is not informed or bold enough to challenge the radicalized clergy in view of the blasphemy and apostasy legislations in many Muslim countries where people are lynched by mobs for such allegations; these “crimes” also carry mandatory capital punishment.

People have thus evolved in “dogmatic silos” which Barbara Campbell is trying to break within the Semitic faiths by explaining the similarities in teachings of their scriptures—Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an—in chronological order. This is a sensible approach as the three Semitic faiths agree on their common origin—Prophet Abraham.

Barbara’s idea of Abraham’s Tent—a summer camp to bring together school children from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions—was a successful attempt to break these dogmatic silos by demonstrating the commonalities between these faiths to impressionable and inquisitive minds. Sadly, dogmatic differences among the faiths, and within each faith, may have prevented this idea from blossoming further than it did. Maybe, the idea was ahead of its time!

There are two unintended consequences of growing within dogmatic silos: (1) the intellectual confusion when inquisitive minds fail to rationalize the major “differences” between faiths, and (2) the ease with which propaganda and hateful messages can grow in societies. Exiting these silos enables individuals to understand the big picture and empowers them to challenge propaganda and check the spread of malicious and hateful messages. In the absence of appropriate and rational explanations, the intellectual confusion causes people to drift further away from God and reject religion.

I have similarly researched the origins and commonalities among the Semitic Faiths and attempted to find evolving and common threads between scriptural prophecies. This research started after a Christian colleague in Australia—where I lived for three years—started emphasizing the superiority of Christianity over Islam.

Having studied at a Catholic high school, I was familiar with Christianity but, like majority of Muslims, lacked the knowledge and confidence to start a meaningful discussion on Islam. He accepted my proposal that we agree on common questions regarding our respective concerns about the other faith and attempt to find answers to these questions from our respective scriptures. The resultant literature search resulted in the publication of my first book.3

Surprisingly, and consistent with Barbara’s approach, this research showed a strong evolutionary trend among the prophecies in the Semitic scriptures—the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an.

My premise for this research was to explore two possible options: Either believe that there are several Gods in the world, each guiding their chosen group of people in different directions or believe that there is one God Almighty who has revealed Himself to all people at different times, but that the message of this one God has been misinterpreted.

The first assumption is absurd and is unanimously rejected by all major religions. For this assumption to be valid, it must be accepted that humans are involved in a “War of Gods”, the resolution of which is beyond human control. It is simply inconceivable to visualize a multitude of Gods controlling competing sections of humankind.

The second assumption appears reasonable; I followed this approach to determine any connection between the Semitic scriptures. The validity of this assumption entails that: (1) God is Almighty, All-knowing, Just, Wise, Compassionate, Merciful, Forgiving, Loving, and the ultimate power in every matter, and (2) the basic laws of nature are perfect, uniform and consistent. Our understanding of these laws is imperfect, has evolved with time and our understanding of science. The Perfect God does not need to break, bend or modify His laws to reveal His presence to humans whom he created out of compassion. That compassionate God cannot send conflicting messages to humankind.

Today, while religion has become a mere tool for gaining political control and is exploited by opportunists to achieve personal and political goals, the common message of all religions is to gradually elevate human behavior from the basic instinctive–stage to moral, and ultimately, the spiritual–stage. Religious practices can be regarded as training tools for disciplining human thought and behavior to become peaceful and loyal citizens, and serving disenfranchised members of the society.

In broad terms, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, essentially summarizes the teachings of all religions. The Declaration is a statement of ideals which each faith tradition should aspire to attain. This is the only approach to usher in peace to the world. Interestingly, I have seen a publication where each article of the UN Declaration has been referenced to the Qur’an.4

I thus see Barbara Campbell’s book as an attempt to demolish the destructive dogmatic silos and enable the reader to broaden their understanding of comparative religion within the Semitic faiths. Bridging this intellectual divide is critical for transforming societies and making religions serve humanity to minimize suffering and usher peace into society.

Arif Humayun

Amaddiyya Mosque, Portland, OR

www.circleofpeaceonline.org

1. Vartan Gregorian, “Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith”, Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pp. 26–38 ISBN 0-8157-3283-X

2. Islamic Radicalism and Multicultural Politics. Taylor & Francis. 2011-13-01. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-136-95960-8. Retrieved 26 August 2012.

3. Arif Humayun, Islam: The Summit of Religious Evolution, Islam International Publications (1992). ISBN Number: 1- 85372 505 6

4. Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Islam and Human Rights, Islam International Publications, ISBN: 978-1-84880-862-1