Benedict XVI and Islam
By John L. Esposito*
The primary purpose and message of Benedict XVI's address in Regensburg, Germany was not about Islam, referred to in only four paragraphs of his eight- page lecture. And yet, this Papal address to a university audience turned into an occasion for an international protest across the Muslim world. Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican, heads of state from Turkey to Indonesia voiced criticism, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar commented on the Pope’s ignorance of Islam, and leaders of Muslim organizations called for a public apology. The incident has also triggered public demonstrations, the burning of the Pope in effigy in Pakistan and acts of violence against Christians and Christian churches.
The Pope clearly stated that his primary purpose
was to discuss the “issue of ‘faith and reason’. He did so reacting and
responding to a major concern of his, the excesses of secularization: the
triumph of secularism and increased weakness of Christianity and the Roman
Catholic Church in his homeland, Germany, and in Europe in general, and attempts
to exclude religion from the realm of reason.
Although the Vatican stated that the Pope did not intend to offend, his remarks
did in fact upset many Muslims. Particularly offensive to Muslims was his
citation of a fourteenth century Byzantine emperor’s remarks about the Prophet
Muhammad: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will
find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword
the faith he preached.” Muhammad is revered in Islam as the final Prophet of
God and the model of Muslim life. Moreover, the remark that he commanded the
spread of Islam by the sword is simply inaccurate. The Quran and Muhammad did
recognize the right to defend Islam and the Muslim community, by fighting those
Meccans who threatened and attacked Muslims. Equally problematic is the Pope’s
statement that the Quranic passage, “There is no compulsion in religion” (Quran
2:256) was revealed in the early years of Muhammad’s prophethood in Mecca, a
period “when Mohammed was still powerless and under [threat]” but was overtaken
later when he ruled Medina by “instructions, developed later and recorded in the
Koran [Quran], concerning holy war.” However, both these statements are
incorrect. Quran 2:256 is not an early Meccan verse but is itself from the later
Medinan period and the Quran does not equate jihad with holy war. This
interpretation of jihad developed years later after Muhammad’s death when it
came to be used by rulers (caliphs) to justify their wars of imperial expansion
and rule in the name of Islam.
Benedict XVI is a distinguished Catholic theologian but he is not an expert on Islam. The Vatican in the recent past has had some first class scholars of Islam serving the papacy as advisers. The inappropriate references to Islam in the Regensburg address could easily have been averted. If the Pope’s primary purpose was to address the issue of the relationship between faith and compulsion on the one hand and faith and reason on the other,” Christian history offers ample examples (the Inquisition, Galileo, and other issues he mentions, violence and extremism, holy wars) without having recourse to passages drawn from mutual polemics.
Have Muslims overreacted to the pope’s statement? Their responses need to be understood in the context of our post 9/11 world with its greater polarization and alarming increases in Islamophobia. Many Muslims feel under siege. A Gallup World Poll of some 800 million Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia indicates widespread resentment over what respondents see as the denigration of Islam and Arabs and Muslims in the West. The cartoon controversy in Europe demonstrated both the dangers of xenophobia and Islamophobia and depths of anger and outrage. Therefore, it is easy to understand why Muslims would express their disappointment and anger and call for an apology and dialogue much the same as Jewish leaders strongly urged meetings with the Pope or other Church leaders for offensive comments or actions. This was the case for American Jewish leaders before the papal visit of 1987 after Pope John Paul II had met with Kurt Waldheim. As prominent Muslim leaders noted during the European cartoon controversy and in the current situation, expressions of concern or outrage do not preclude discussion and dialogue and certainly never justify acts of violence.
Pope Benedict has now apologized but more can be done. The Pope could invite Muslim religious leaders and scholars to meet and discuss the issues that his statement raised and hear their concerns and responses to his specific comments about Islam, the Prophet, and jihad. He could invite them to join with him in mutually acceptable language to express concern about violence in the name of religion and the abuse of human rights. The pope’s upcoming visit to Turkey could be an occasion to demonstrate in his public pronouncements his respect for Islam and Muslims and his desire to continue the major accomplishments that the Catholic Church has made since Vatican II in Catholic-Muslim dialogue.
It is now time to move on. The Pope has apologized and Muslims and Catholics (as indeed all Christians) must now get back on track, building on the significant accomplishments in interreligious dialogue in recent decades. In the twenty-first century, critical to Catholic-Muslims relations will be how Benedict XVI’s Papacy and Catholics work with their Muslim counterparts to overcome ignorance and hostility as well as the threat from violence and intolerance globally.
*John L. Esposito is University Professor of Religion & International Affairs, Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University and author of What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam and Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam.
Et tu, Benedicte?
Ben Tanosborn
So Benedict XVI didn’t intend to offend Muslims. But he did! Any pope must realize that outside the realm of ecclesiastical dogma, his pronouncements, whether casual or formal, are always taken by people around the world, other than Catholic theologians, as if made ex cathedra. Sermons, lectures or just casual addresses by the pontiff log in for all to see where the Church stands on political, social and economic issues… not just religion. And no, they don’t have to come in the form of an encyclical.
So Benedict XVI is very upset that the Muslims feel offended by what he said. He shouldn’t be! Being upset, regardless of quality or quantity of distress, is certainly no substitute for being sad, sorry or contrite. In fact, at its worst, it suggests a lack of humility. And one thing expected from the Vicar of Christ is humility.
Here in the United States we are becoming accustomed to having fundamentalist Christian leaders indulge in their poisonous tirades, not just against Islam and other religions, but against their own Christian brethren who fail to adhere to their views. We have seen Franklin Graham (Billy Graham’s son), Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and their many televangelical clones stir up the caldron of understanding and diplomacy with their anti-Islam remarks: an embarrassment, at the very least, to their professed creed.
Et tu, Benedicte? Are you, like your short-sighted Evangelical brothers, letting Western Civilization down? Whether you like it or not, for better or for worse, you are a key representative of Western Civilization, its culture and its values, not just for your flock but for all of us born into this Western society, whether faithful, heretics or heathen. Are you, Benedict XVI, also letting us down?
Quoting Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Palaiologos, on his references to Muhammad and the issue of holy war, was totally out of place, out of time and, most importantly, out of context with the spirit of love and reconciliation that is expected to be the basis of true Christianity. Quoting a 14th century criticism of Islam can be as insensitive and damaging as pronouncing a 21st century criticism of Islam. Doing so at Regensburg University is even more significant, given the special relationship which has existed for almost four decades (Communio).
Bringing forth that quote was definitely out of step with his own writings (Dominus lesus – 2000) after he, as Cardinal Ratzinger, had explained the position of the Catholic Church on other religions, and showed the proper way to engage in ecumenical dialogue. Changing his red biretta for a papal tiara should not have affected the thinking “below.” And reenacting what was said by Palailogos – who had meddled in Ottoman affairs against Murad II – was a faux pas of considerable magnitude.
When Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope last year, he said: “I wish to speak why I chose the name Benedict. Firstly, I remember Pope Benedict XV, that courageous prophet of peace, who guided the Church through turbulent times of war. In his footsteps I place my ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples. Additionally, I recall Saint Benedict of Nursia, co-patron of Europe, whose life evokes the Christian roots of Europe.”
Commendable reasons for choosing the name, Benedictus XVI. Placing the Pope’s ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony at a time when the Middle East is ablaze – in great part due to the “crusading” efforts of major powers in the West – will be extraordinary if it does happen. Unfortunately, this incident in Bavaria doesn’t seem to follow that line. Nor does the papacy’s restrained criticism on why peace is not being sought more earnestly for places like Palestine and Iraq. But perhaps, that would be asking too much in a world where arrogant men of evil hold devastating temporal power.
But what may not be asking too much, Pope Benedict, is for you to follow the rule of St. Benedict of Nursia which in essence, as you know, proclaims “that no one should follow what he considers to be good for self, but rather what seems good to another.” And that entails both love of neighbor and humility.
Don’t be upset because Muslims are offended… for you gave them a reason to so be. Do something about it and apologize… wholeheartedly! Show that all men are fallible; even if the Roman Catholic Church has determined you to be infallible on issues where you speak ex cathedra. Humility starts there.
© 2006 Ben Tanosborn
www.tanosborn.com