Abraham: the path where three monotheistic voices meet

The path where the three great monotheistic religions meet is Abraham, the biblical patriarch. Muslims, who call him Ibraheem in Arabic, consider him the father of all prophets. The Quran mentions him 63 times in 24 of its 114 chapters (second most mentioned prophet after Moses.) Ibraheem is also known as the friend of God, or "Khaleel Allah." He has discovered monotheism through his personal quest of the Divine, without any messenger's guidance. His passion for God made him eschew all idolatry that was a traditional heritage of his father and society. He determined to leave behind all preconception and prejudgment to explore his true Creator. Similarly, Christians and Jews share the same reverence for Ibraheem or Abraham as the Genesis states that in exchange for his recognition of "Yahweh" as his God, God promised Abraham that all the nations will be blessed through his offspring.

Practicing the virtues attributed to Abraham are highlighted in Genesis and in the Quran. For example, in John, 8, the Jews say (33): "We are the seed of Abraham," and Jesus (peace upon him) replies (39): "If ye be the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham." The Quran commends Ibraheem's attributes of patience, submission, and covenant fulfillment: "For, behold, Abraham was most clement, most tender-hearted, intent upon turning to God again and again." (Chapter 11, verse 75) It commands Mohammad (peace upon him) and his followers to take Ibraheem as a model based on the virtues he possessed: "Verily, Abraham was a man who combined within himself all virtues, devoutly obeying God's will, turning away from all that is false, and not being of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God: [for he was always] grateful for the blessings granted by Him who had elected him and guided him onto a straight way." (Chapter 16, verses 120-1) "We have inspired thee, [O Muhammad, with this message:] follow the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God. (16:123)

Islam preconditions the faith of any Muslim with belief in the religion of Ibraheem: "Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Ibraheem, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered." (2:136) This may come as a surprise to many non-Muslims but the fact that Muslims must believe in all prophets and their true revelations is a must in their doctrinal beliefs. Perhaps this is where the path where the three Abrahamic religions meet: Abraham is one revelation with one conversation with one God, the God of Abraham. One revelation, in three voices, has more in common than they think they know. This is the crossroad where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam meet. It should be a unifying factor against diversity and enmity; under One God.

Ambassador Exchange

Does it really matter what royalties and celebrities say? As far as I know, people can say anything they wish to, but they’d better live up to it. On the other hand, I would look for inspiration in any uplifting quote I can put my fingers on. So here is my little vision of “global ambassador exchange…”

Dallas, Texas has been a lighthouse since the T. V. series “Dallas” sent its ambassadors, JR and his gang, to homes across the globe. Dallas still lives up to its spirit: it has welcomed other international ambassadors like Queen Noor of Jordan who came to speak at the Genesis Women’s shelter’s Mother’s Day luncheon earlier this month. This weekend, King Tut (exhibit) leaves Dallas to San Francisco where he will be residing until March 2010.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Middle East starting with Jordan, then the Holy Lands. Get the picture? The world is witnessing some ambassadorial exchange. Did I mention the Egyptian president will be visiting the US this month? Oh, and President Obama will be visiting Egypt June 4 before he heads to Europe? So what do all these celebrities have in common? Many things, but what interests me personally is their attempt to spread understanding under the umbrella of international communication.

Some say their missions are geared towards peace. Queen Noor says peace starts at home. The Pope is promoting peace (this is not the time to open old wounds about what he had previously said, for the record.) Others are planning to build a bridge of communications. President Obama has started his share, one brick at a time. Our former Dallas mayor, Ron Kirk, is the new U.S. Trade Representative and he is talking globalization. On a Fox 4 interview on May 16, 2009, he said that it was important to understand and visit the world outside the U.S. The excursion, he said, will make us interface with people with different cultures, faiths, and languages.

So what is globalization? (I’m borrowing some old prose from the internet.) Globalization is reading this blog using America’s Bill Gates technology which he got from the Japanese, through a computer that uses Philippine-made chips, Korean-made monitors, assembled by Bangladeshi workers at a Singapore plant, transported by trucks driven by Indians, and sold to you by a Chinese who drives a German car with a Dutch engine. The list goes on…

In other words, we no longer live like hermit crabs. We live in an open world that makes us interact with one another despite our diversities. And yes, as the previous Dallas mayor mentioned, the sooner we learn to understand each other the happier we will be. This applies to every community in my opinion. It is an all-inclusive package: borders are two-way streets; as citizens go out, foreigners come in (with a bundle of cultural and religious diversity.)

Our world is fertile ground for common understanding. Monotheistic faiths share more in common than people imagine. The Pope has spoken the truth when he said during his visit to the Holy Lands: “here the paths of the three great monotheistic religions meet, reminding us of what they have in common.”Our next excursion will uncover these commonalities.

Dusting off our Differences

How do we mend our differences? How can we ensure that we coexist despite our ideological, cultural, social and religious differences? How do we practice tolerance when our hearts and minds feel the gap between cultures?

I would start by finding common grounds first: there is a lot more in common between Muslims and non Muslims than we realize. First, God created us all and sustains us all. We all believe in God and pray to Him. We are united by humanity. Citizenship also unites us. We all live in America, and no, not all Muslims hate America and want to destroy it. Only the fanatics, who are a minute minority but unfortunately get all media attention, do. Muslims are overwhelmingly peaceful and loving. Those who choose America as their homeland want to raise their offspring in a coexistent atmosphere.

But then, you might wonder, we are still different. Of course we are, because God created us different in color, race, culture, abilities, skills, languages... In the Quran, Allah (Arabic translation for God; even Arab Christians call him Allah) says: "...If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues..." (5:48) So different we are, but divided we should not be.

Once we establish common grounds, resolving our differences starts with the purification of our hearts. A heart is a wonderful gift that transcends through the human character. But when filled with hatred and bigotry, that also transcends into our behavior and attitudes. Therefore, we need to aspire to cleanse our hearts from all negative feelings. Call it anger management, call it finding peace and healing, or call it neurological programing as long as you get the picture. Even Muslims are required to cleanse their hearts as Prophet Mohammad (peace upon him) preached us: "Do not have enmity against each other." (Bukhari)

Then we need to understand that if the other has a different ideology he is not necessarily an enemy. Muslims in America suffer from this attitude as America looks at them as enemies of the state simply because they worship differently. If I wear head covering and abstain from consuming alcohol, then I no longer can fit with the American lifestyle. In other words, I can't be American; I am different. Says who? What happened to freedom of speech, religion, and expression?

Finally, you might purify your heart and decide to tolerate the other, but the other actually won't tolerate you. In that case, you keep your smile on your face and find them plenty of excuses for being rude. That bearded man who just came into the store without saying hi might be deaf or might be simply having a bad day. Muslims are allowed to have mood swings, right? I believe this is a universally accepted situation. And by the way, I am also addressing Muslims too: please don't start thinking this clerk is a bigot just because he did not salute you. He might have just been dumped by his wife.


"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America." (President Barack Hussein Obama: Inaugural address, January 21, 2009)

Tolerance: A Compromise and not a Concession

Let me take you through a leap from Madrid to Texas, where a local newspaper, Star Telegram, had published one of my letters to the editor.

Here is part of what I wrote:

“Spain had a history of more than 800 years of Islamic rule ending in 1492. The Islamic civilization of Andalusia led Europe out of the Dark Ages with lighted and paved streets, public libraries with tons of volumes, hospitals and universities. That civilization granted tolerance among neighboring Muslims, Christians and Jews most of the time. The Jews enjoyed unprecedented rights under Muslin rule, leading to the Golden Age of Judaism where a great philosopher, like Maimonides, re-adopted classical philosophy.”

A couple of readers left me comments on the newspaper’s website. Basically, they agreed to the historical facts that Muslims had a great civilization. However, they criticized the present status-quo of repression inside our Arab and Muslim countries, where, those American readers said, tolerance did not exist.

At least my readership agrees with me on some common grounds. They did not change history and deny that Islam brought a life-changing civilization. They would probably be surprised to find out that there are a lot more in common between us than they realize. This blog exists partly to put those common things under the spotlight, and then build a bridge of communication.

Tolerance is a subject of debate surrounding Islam and Muslims. So what is tolerance anyways?

Tolerance in Islam, a basic principle and a religious moral duty, is the respect of the rights of other people who differ with our own beliefs or practices. It is not overindulgence in the others’ beliefs or concession of our principles in front of the other. It does not mean accepting aggression while keeping a big comfy smile on the face. It is simply a comfort zone of acceptable compromising to beliefs and practices that are not our own, as long as the essence of our religion is not at stake.

In practice, Muslims have a present crisis in tolerating one another as well as non-Muslims. Ignorance and overreactions to differences are the reasons and conflict and division are the results. But that is not an excuse to deny the authentic teachings of Islam that promote equality, unity, tolerance, and peace. It just means we all need to work harder to correct people’s attitudes (with peace and love) so that the whole world can coexist peacefully.

The dialog must keep flowing.