A beautiful gesture of peace, connection, and good will was recently sent from the world-wide Muslim community to church leaders around the globe. Over the past three years, 138 Muslim clerics, scholars, and leaders from many different countries have written and endorsed a document called "A Common Word," which reaches out to Christians with a hand of friendship and common understanding. Christians and Muslims comprise over half the world's population, making endless war a mindless dead-end. Common ground between Christians and Muslims, according to the letter's authors, may be found in our common assertion that there is only one God, who is to be loved and worshiped with all we have and are...and also in our common duty to love neighbor as self. The letter is irenic and hopeful and asks that all Muslim-Christian interaction begin from these points of commonality.
We gathered on Sunday Evening to read sections of the document and pray over its implications. We have obvious differences with the Muslim community, particularly in the way we understand the lordship of Jesus Christ. But it seems to me that this offering of peace and understanding certainly offers us a more constructive place to begin than bombs, hatred, and war. Let's think deeply over how we might respond to this offer of understanding and peace, both locally and beyond.
Aref Ali Nayed, one of the leading Islamic scholars involved in writing the letter said: "The world is a garden. We can focus on the weeds or we can focus on the fruit. And we are choosing to focus on the fruit."
Read the letter and view "A Common Word" website here.
Read an article about the document here.
