|
The Challenge of The Faith of Islam
By
Leonardo Boff
A lot is
being written about the Muslim reaction to the caricatures
of the Prophet Mohammed. Yet, nothing I have read so far
addresses, in my opinion, the essence, the gist of the
question. Mauro Santayana, in the Jornal do Brasil, came the
closest. We desperately need a deeper analysis, because
therein lies the key to the fuse of the possible war of
civilizations, as was suggested by Samuel P. Huntington is
his controversial book Clash of Civilizations, (1996.)
Those who
say it is a matter of fundamentalism are wrong. To Islam,
the modern culture of the West, now globalized, is
responsible for the caricatures. It is considered to be a
culture without faith, one that is exploitative, immoral,
bellicose, arrogant and a violator of the treaties of world
order. Western culture considers itself universal, and
therefore worthy of being imposed on the whole world. Its
pretensions of universalism are expressed through
imperialism, as Bush's foreign policy and the declarations
of Berlusconi explicitly show. We must recognize that it is
the West that is the main source of instability, and of the
potential conflict in a pluri-civilizational world. Its
arrogance, also embedded in the Christian churches, can lead
us all to total disaster.
To the
West, Islamic radicalism, founded in pride of their culture
and in feelings of superiority for having kept alive the
public faith in God, is behind the reactions to the
caricatures. But there is also the rancor derived from the
fact that their territories are militarily occupied because
of their oil, and of being considered anti-modern,
fundamentalists and havens for world terrorism.
We find
ourselves here with mutual prejudices that, acted out in a
globalized context, can generate violence difficult to
control.
The true
bone of contention is faith, and the place it should have in
the personal and social life. Modern societies in the West
are daughters of enlightened reason. Only that reality which
withstands the screening of critical reason is legitimated,
and traditional faith has not passed that test. Faith is not
a determinant factor in Western society. Faith has been
relegated to the private world. Seen from the outside, the
West, socially, has no faith. The West lives etsi Deus non
daretur («as if God did not exist»), according to the famous
statement of the martyr of Nazism theologian Dietrich
Bonhoeffer*, who foresaw the dimming of faith in Western
society.
Such a
point of view is unacceptable to Islam. To Islam, a society
without an institutional dimension of faith is unthinkable.
It is to fail to see meaning in a universe sustained by the
Creator of heaven and Earth, it is to fail to recognize
human beings as brothers and sisters... This does not
necessarily lead to a theocratic state, as we can see today
in Indonesia, the largest Muslim State in the world. The
State explicitly recognizes faith in God in its organization,
without identifying that God with the God of Islam, nor with
the Christian God, or with the God of other religions. It is
a nonconfessional state, with strong national identity and
ecumenical faith. This public proclamation of God and the
fraternity of all human beings is the inheritance of
Mohammed that will never be renounced. But, the West
considers those values to be pre-modern ideas.
To make
caricatures of the Prophet is to ridicule the faith that
guides the life of millions of humans. That is why the
reaction of Muslims all over the world is understandable.
Faith is central to Islam but irrelevant to the West. The
caricatures seek to deride this difference. The lack of
respect for the Sacred is a testament to the profound
spiritual decadence of the West.
*Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, (1906-1945). A German theologian whose strong
opposition to Nazism cost him his life. His faith and
heroism, even more than his ideas, made him one of the most
influential Christian philosophers.
Free
translation from the Spanish sent by
mj.gm@voila.fr, done at
REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas |