Religious Leaders Speak on Significance of Jerusalem to Three Faiths

By Rev. L. Humphrey Walz

Statements on the importance of Jerusalem in their respective faith traditions by a bishop, a Muslim scholar and a rabbi—all residents of the Middle East—have been released by Jordan's Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman. Prepared and circulated at the suggestion of Crown Prince Hassan, the Institute's patron, they are intended to stimulate study and conciliatory discussion rather than serve as summaries of platforms.

In his position as President-Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Samir Kafity speaks of his home city as holy to Christians because it was there that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the Christian Church took place. However, confronted by the contentious turmoil generated on all sides by political manipulations of religious loyalties, he urges all parties to "go beyond all exclusivist visions and, without discrimination, to consider the religious and national aspirations of others," joining them in making Jerusalem truly "a holy place of reconciliation for humankind." As a basic step in that direction, he stresses fair play by and for all citizens of whatever persuasion, recognizing "their right to live there freely with all pertinent rights."

Speaking from his background as cultural advisor to his uncle, Jordan's King Hussein, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad reminds readers that Jerusalem is unutterably holy to Muslims, as it was before them to Christians and Jews. Muslims believe that the Last Judgment will occur in Jerusalem, which they call "Al Quds," literally "Holiness." For the Prophet Muhammad, Jerusalem was the first "Qiblah," or direction for prayer, before Mecca became the center of Islamic faith.

Rabbi David Rosen, the Jerusalem director of interfaith relations for the New York-based secular Anti-Defamation League, calls the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem "the only real holy site for Judaism." He explains that "the emanation of sanctity" from what Jews call the Temple Mount "gives the whole city a sanctity greater than anywhere else." That's why, he says, "pious Jews around the world face Jerusalem three times a day when they pray."

Peaceseekers From Mideast Periphery Tell of Their Struggles

"International Peacemakers" is an undertaking of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, which is headquartered in Louisville, KY. It brings indigenous church leaders from the forefronts of regional efforts to help overcome communal, ideological or other strife abroad. Participants are made available to congregations, colleges, seminaries and ecumenical and interfaith groups. In their presentations they seek to help increase understanding of the nature, causes and possible cures of the struggles that bedevil their people's daily lives. Current International Peacemakers on tour include three Christians from the Balkans and Sudan—on the Middle East's more tumultuous peripheries.

Best known among these is Father Ivo Markovich, professor of Practical Theology at the Franciscan Seminary in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Now a refugee, he does what he can in Zagreb, Croatia, with and for uprooted Bosnian students. He tells of his personal experiences of war in Bosnia, in the course of which his father and nine other relatives were killed. His entire native parish is, like himself, in exile.

Father Ivo is probably unique in the freshness of his reports on what he calls "the disposition for reconciliation" in the war situation in Bosnia. For 20 days this April he toured central Bosnia, Zenica and Sarajevo, investigating attitudes toward reconciliation among the Muslims, Serbs and Croats with whom he visited. He has been active in Balkan peacemaking programs and movements and has published articles on "The Role of Serbian Orthodoxy in Former Yugoslavia," "The Bosnian Muslims and the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina," and "The Role and Position of the Catholic Church in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

A second International Peacemaker is Tamara Zgonjamin, a student from Sarajevo at Bucknell University. Brought there by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, she comes from a family which symbolically demonstrates the possibility of peaceful collaboration between the religious groupings which, news stories imply, are hopelessly at odds. Her mother is a Muslim and her father comes from Catholic-Orthodox parentage. When her classes permit, she shares the platform with Father Ivo.

Advance preparation for Markovich and Zgonjamin's projected audiences includes a 30-minute video, "Beyond the News, Hope for Bosnia." Featuring lay and clergy leaders from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, it tells how former Yugoslavia is a "patchwork of six republics, five nationalities, four main languages, three religions, two alphabets and one [Communist] party" with little living tradition of Christian or Muslim faith or unity, and has broken up into rival groupings that make collective efforts challengingly complex.

Another International Peacemaker being scheduled is Dr. Wal Duange, who trained in political science and environmental affairs at Indiana University. He recently played a key role in the peace settlement effort in Akobo, Sudan, between that country's basically Christian and animist south and the dominant Muslim north.

Christian Century Features Bosnian Imam

If you are not a subscriber to the Christian Century, be sure to ask a friend or your local librarian for the Aug. 2-9, 1995 issue. It features "A Bosnian Muslim Speaks Out: An Interview with Imam Senad Agic" of Northbrook, Illinois's Islamic Center. The first and last of its 21 probing questions and candid, illuminating answers follow:

Q: Americans opened their newspapers recently to see pictures of Bosnian Muslims being expelled from Srebrenica. What is your response to the latest developments in Bosnia?

A: Of course, the events are horrible. Bosnians are disappointed with the response of Christian European nations to what is happening there. They don't intervene; they only watch. Like many Muslims, I don't believe that Europe would remain uninvolved if Christians were being attacked and destroyed in the same way. Although we're disappointed with Christians, there are somesigns of support, probably too late, from some Protestant Christians in Britain. They are helping to rebuild a mosque in Mostar that Croats destroyed earlier in the war. It's not adequate support, but at least it's a positive gesture...

Q: You are dedicated to reinvigorating Islam and increasing the faith. Many Muslims who are called (at least in the West) radical Islamists or fundamentalists would seem to aspire to similar goals. Do you share affinities with any of these representatives of a more militant Islam?

A: With none. They are all wrong. Islam preaches love and coexistence. And it preaches respect for others. It is not a religion of radicalism or fundamentalism. One should not use any force, such as an armed jihad, to further Islam. The Qur'an teaches that Muslims are to use force only when attacked in order to defend themselves, as is the case in Bosnia. Otherwise there is no need for weapons or radicalism or fundamentalism. Preach love. Attract people with love. What is a more effective weapon than love?

Many Muslims today have abandoned the Islamic concept of love. They consider Sufis, for example, to be very strange—as not belonging to Islam. [Editor's note: Sufism, often called "Muslim mysticism," is an Islamic spiritual tradition that dates back at least to the eighth century.] But Islam spread with the Sufis—into Bosnia, India, Malaysia, Indonesia. Bosnia used to be the land of Sufi God-lovers. Many Sufi orders existed there after the Turks brought Islam to Bosnia.

But most important, Sufis spread Islam with love, not weapons. Even though some Muslims say that Sufis cannot be considered Muslim, renowned Islamic scholars hold Sufism in high regard. Some Islamic radicals say that Sufism was an innovation that was not genuine Islam. So let Sufism and the Islam of love help communicate the message of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And may this message be communicated in Bosnia today.

Rev. L. Humphrey Walz, D.D., retired Associate Executive of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast, is active in ecumenical and peace-making activities.