On Faith: In God we trust, too.
By: Samia Ahmed Suliman
Historically and presently, if we judge the three major world religions by the action of those who profess adherence to them, then fewer of us would have followed suit.
Moreover, being raised in a particular culture does not guarantee the adoption of the religion of that culture. In college, I have found students in the West to be more open to Islam than some of their counter-parts in Islamic countries.
In a sense, regardless of where one is born and raised, the plane field for faith is leveled.
Fundamentally, Judaism is a worship of the lord of Abraham, and a belief from Adam to Moses. On the one hand, Christianity is a worship of the lord of Abraham, and a belief from Adam to Moses and to Jesus. On the other hand, Islam is the worship of the lord of Abraham, and a belief from Adam to Moses, Jesus, and to Mohamed.
Using pure logic, one can infer with certainty that each one of the three major religions worships the lord of Abraham. Moreover, pure logic deduction leads one to argue that a Christian is also a Jew; likewise, a Muslim is a Christian and consequently a Jew. However, pure logic is not the full story. There are emotional, spiritual, customary, inherited, political and historical components of our faith adoption.
The moral conduct teachings of almost all religions are in significant agreement. I would estimate that the agreement between the Quran and the Bible to be greater than 95%; with the chief difference being the essence of whom, Jesus, the son of the virgin Mary, is. Likewise, the daily practices of Jews and Muslims bear tremendous resemblance. For instance, Jews pray three times a day, while Muslims pray five times a day.
In reading the two holy books; namely, the Quran and the Bible, I observed the difference is the reading completion time. It took me a single average day, in which I ran some daily errands of cooking, cleaning and shopping, to complete reading the entire book of the Quran. On the other hand, it is estimated that it takes one year to complete reading the Bible. Given the high degree of overlap and agreements between the two books, coupled with how busy our lives are today, I think that this is an advantage to the Quran.
In my late teens, I came across a book entitled: Why I am not a Christian, by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell. It is the reference book for those who are inclined toward the atheist philosophy, in the Western world. Russell chronicles some of the negative historical stance of the church in the face of scientific and societal progress.
Ironically, while Christianity calls for peace, tolerance and the turning of the other cheek, a few million people died in the hands of the crusaders in spreading the words of Christianity. Additionally, in the first and second world wars, a few million Christians and Jews were killed by the action of some Christians. “Why I am not a Christian” clearly demonstrate how the separation of church and state had served Europe well, and it helped transition Europe from the dark ages to Renaissance.
In the dark ages, as kids are taught in school, the queen bathed twice a year while the rest of the population bathed once a year. The modern day visitors of castles across Europe would observe the abundance of bedrooms and the scarcity or lack of bathrooms. In Europe, at the turn the 20th century, people were beaten for not attending church on Sundays. Also, it was considered scandalous for a woman to show her ankles. Now, contrast that with today.
The American experiment was founded on and for freedom of worship, and the US motto is: In God we trust. Some people in Europe consider this to be primitive. The Judaic-Christian influence on the US constitution is well established. I have found Americans citizens to be religious, and hard working. Many of them opt to home-school their children. They have a number of women–only universities. Additionally, a large percentage of the wives chose the home-making occupation.
West historians teach us that the early Muslims, of all ethnicities, established schools, hospitals, justice courts, science, medicine, astronomy, and architecture; essentially, all the elements of modern civil societies. They formed the seeds of the success of modern-day West. Early Muslim exhibited tolerance of diversity and fairness to minorities. I must confess that I am less familiar with the history of how some Muslims retarded progress.
In conclusion, the validity and the application of the separation of church and state, in my mind, is an open question for a non-western country like the Sudan. With the emphasis on freedom of worship, I think that the people of the Sudan can appropriately adopt the motto: In God we trust, too.
