"Trialogue of the Abrahamic Faiths"

 

 

When I went to a store in Toronto selling Muslim merchandise, I saw this book displayed on the window. I was interested and I inquired about the cost. The store owner wonderfully just gave it to me along with a small book of the Quran and an Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. I am a Catholic who has a Muslim friend. In my desire to better know and understand my friend’s Muslim identity, I am refreshing my academic knowledge of Islam (which I took as a semester’s course in my seminary-college for a Bachelor of Arts degree with major in Religious Studies, minor in Sociology and Philosophy. May God/Allah bless the store owner and his family for his generosity.

What intrigued me with the book at the onset was the title itself. It’s a conversation, so to speak, about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (the 3 great religions). I must admit that I have not finished reading it yet, but the initial chapters have made me so very thankful to God that He manifested Himself to people in different ways of worshipping Him yet mindful that He is the One True God called in different names – God, Allah, Yahweh. That alone makes me think of the greatest gift that we should be very mindful of – WE BELONG TO ONE FAMILY OF FAITH.

Sadly though, I observed, human events (or at least the ones generated in the news media) show not the very wonderful characteristic of UNITY IN GOD, being all belonging to the same Abrahamic root. Instead, I witness a cacophony of violence resulting to human sufferings and death. I will not detail them here but just to cite a couple of examples: the never-ending conflict between the Israelites and the Palestinians; the issue of “terrorist” being labeled to Muslim Filipinos; The vandalism suffered by synagogues in some places.

How has “religion” become a source of violence?

I know that as a student of history, I need to look back and recall historical data to better understand the current situation. A lot of factors were involved like politics, territorial disputes, etc. There’s a lot to read. There’s so much to learn…as well as re-learn. That will be another subject of reflection.

Going back to the book, it was a compilation of “Papers presented to the Islamic Group of American Academy of Religion” edited by Ismail Raji al Faruqi (Amana Publications, Maryland, USA, 4^th ed, 1995) The event was a 1979 convention of Muslim-Christian-Jewish Conference. The book contains four major divisions, namely, Keynote Address by the late Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli. Then the next 3 major divisions: Topic 1: The Other Faiths, Topic II: The Nation State as Form of Social Organization, Topic III: The Faith-Community as Transnational Actor for Justice and Peace. Each Topic has 3 Chapters featuring Talks of “prominent scholars” representing the 3 faiths.

As I admitted before, I have not finished reading but thus far the early talks/topics are all very interesting, some even intriguing.

The last part of the Keynote Address basically sums up what the Conference hoped for:

Let me para-phrased -

“Frist a rabbinical teaching: Most fundamental Phrase – Listen Israel: the Eternal is our God, the Eternal is One.” Most fundamental word: ‘ek had’ meaning one. Most eminent among those whose letters: ‘ahavah’: love.

Secondly, a poem by the Senegalese poet and journalist Niaky Barry: ‘Ah, brother of all things – it is in the central reaches of your soul – that I will build the Sanctuary of Everlasting God – where Synagogue, Temple, Church and Mosque – will dwell in harmony – amidst the surging waves of your longing and search for the Infinite.”

Thirdly, and last, a poem by Edwin Markham:

He drew a circle that shut me out.

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win;

We drew a circle that took him in.”

 

As I continue reading the book, I posture an openness to the understanding of the inter-relatedness of the three Abrahamic faiths…with the hope that someday humanity will comprehend that the differences of our expressions in worshipping and honoring the Supreme Being of our religions are only means to guide us in our understanding of the true nature of our relationships with one another – that we are ONE IN FAITH. ONE IN SPIRIT. ONE WITH THE DIVINE. ONE FAMILY OF LOVE.