Article on dialogue meeting organised by Churches Together in Luton

By Marie Heath, Obl OSB, (Turvey Abbey)

 A BRIEF MEETING OF PATHS

Fifty years ago it would have been controversial for a Roman Catholic Monastic and lay Oblate to have attended an Anglican church to hear a Baptist Minister speak about the suffering and death of Jesus. In January this year we did just that. It would have been even more controversial to have that talk in church followed by a Muslim speaker addressing the congregation, in this case of Christians and Muslims.

Revd. Dr. Mike Thomas the first main speaker of the night (the meeting did not start till after 9pm) spoke with scholarly conviction born of his Christian understanding of biblical events. He spoke of the significance for Christians of the brief biblical account of the suffering and death of Jesus as having deeper meaning in the reconciliation of God and man.

The second main speaker at All Saints Anglican Church that night was Maulana Kazmi a Shi’a Muslim leader/scholar who thinks it is important that Shi’a Muslims understand the sufferings of Jesus. During Muharram, the beginning of the Islamic year, Shi’a Muslims commemorate the suffering of Imam Husain. About 100 Shi’a Muslims came with him to the church.

His power-point illustrated talk lasted for about an hour. It consisted mainly of screen texts from the Bible and quotes from the Qur’an reinforcing his premise and that as we wait for the coming of Jesus and Imam Husain we should not wait idly but with "Godly knowledge" and "good actions" i.e. live righteous lives. A most interesting aspect of the experience for some present was that Maulana Kazmi chanted in Arabic from the Qur’an, and then, using the same style of “chanting tone”, in English. It gave us an insight into how teaching takes place in Muslim communities.

Maulana Kazmi chanted in Arabic a most haunting Psalm tone of Psalm 96 " Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice…..He comes to judge the world with justice." The Muslim men present were invited to respond with a repeated line from the Qur’an.  He only gave a very brief outline in a traditional story/chant form of the suffering and death of Imam Husain. Unfortunately there was little explanation of the significance of his death to Shi’a Muslims or its relevance to this particular day or time of day. This would have been most helpful to Christian participants. There was a short invitation at the end for everyone to stand and sing together acknowledging the uniqueness of the sacrifice of reconciliation of both Jesus and Imam Husain.

Unfortunately it was 11pm when we broke for refreshments and we had insufficient time to mingle and share informally. This would have added greatly to the encounter. A few contacts were made and e-mail addresses shared and we considered it well worth the long journey late at night. That it took place at all and we were able to attend was worth giving thanks for.