a christian clergyman called father nicholas has been living next to me for a good few years now. when he first moved in i hastened to welcome him. i offered the initial helping hand necessary for him to sort things out and settle in nicely in his new flat. it was only a small gesture of friendship and camaraderie, perfectly in line with my commitment to my islamic teachings, which make it imperative for all muslims to maintain good neighbourly relations, regardless of the race, colour or creed of their neighbours. after all, it was the godsend prophet (pbuh) himself who said: "gabriel kept urging me to be kind to my neighbours till i thought he would give them the right of inheritance."(1)
months and years passed and father nicholas and i somehow seemed to have developed a kind of intimacy founded on a venerable 'quranic verse: "indeed… you will find that the closest and most loving to the believers (muslims) are those who say 'we are christians.'"(2) we exchanged visits regularly on special muslim and christian feasts and festivities, often spending the time talking about our two religions. we
stayed clear of the usual chatter and flattering, small talk. he told me about his faith as he understood and practiced it and i told him about mine, often to the mutual benefit of both.
things went on like this till 12/ 09/ 2006, i still remember the exact date, when the newly appointed pope of the vatican, benedictus xvi, made his well-known remarks which offended muslims and insulted the islamic prophet. the new pontiff quoted at length some moronic medieval texts, written at a time when religious wars were still raging between christians and muslims, partly due to such claims that "islam was spread by the sword" and that "the prophet of islam brought nothing new but the sword." the same hackneyed charges really, propagated by the same people and the same mentality that engendered crusades and crusaders in the first place. it is the same frame of mind still intent on raking old fires and fomenting further religious wars and culture clashes.(3) the media hype began in earnest immediately after, reporting the pope's provocative remarks and the various reactions to them.
i bumped into my neighbor father nicholas a couple of days later, on 20/09/2006 to be specific, right at the front door of our building. as usual, we said hello, shook hands, inquired about each other's health and how things are going. only this time he added:
-when does your month of fasting begin this year?
-in three or four days, i said, depending on when exactly the crescent moon of ramadan becomes visible.
-i'll come and visit you on the first day of ramadan to congratulate you on the start of your fasting feast.
- most welcome.
-what do you usually do in a typical ramadan evening, he asked? i wouldn't like to come at an inconvenient time.
-well, i usually wait for the mu'azen to call for the maghreb prayer thereby announcing the end of fasting for that day. i have a couple of dates or a drink of water, pray the maghreb then have my main meal. after that i pray the isha and the taraweh in the mosque, where i perform all my prayers. at around nine p.m., winter timing, i stay in to have some rest.
-we'll meet at nine, then, the first day of ramadan, if that's ok with you, he said.
-god willing.
-oh, and i'll bring a friend along, if you don't mind, he added. you don't know him. he'd like to meet you and speak with you.
-most welcome, you and your friend.
we said goodbye to one another. i pushed on to where i was heading and he climbed up the steps to his flat.
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(1) sahih al-bukhari, electronic copy, hadeeth no. 5568-5569; al-albani, al-silsilah al-sahihah, electronic copy, hadeeth no. 356.
(2) al-ma'idah: 82.
(3) the english zionist orientalist bernard lewis says: "to the european observer in particular, one noteworthy aspect of the islamic society was its tolerance compared to other societies at the time. for, contrary to their western contemporaries, rarely did the medieval muslim rulers feel the need to impose their faith by force on all their subjects." (b. lewis, the arabs in history, oxford: oup, 2001, translated into arabic by n. fares, beirut: dar al-'ilm lil-malayeen, 1945, p. 45.)
similarly, in his islam at a crossroad, the orientalist de lacy o’leary says: "history makes it clear… that the legend of fanatical muslims sweeping through the world and forcing islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated." (london: 1923, p. 8.)
in her history of the islamic legislature, the polish orientalist bourghinia jianah also says: "both history and commonsense give lie to the claim that islam spread by the sword." (b. jiannah, the history of islamic legislature, translated into arabic as tareekh al-tashree' al-islami, beirut: dar al-afa'ak al-jadeedah, 1980, p. 17.)
from a different perspective, the orientalist thomas carlyle points rather to christians using the sword to spread christianity. in his heroes, hero-worship and the heroic in history, carlyle says: "charlemagne's conversion of the saxons was not by preaching." (gutenberg project online, 17. 04. 2008, p. 296.)