HAPPY EID AL-FITR By Pablo Yagayo I’m almost sure that the difference between Islam and Christianity is the similarity. Christians and Muslims have been reflecting on what each is about for a very long time. The first song I ever learnt in Sunday school was about father Abraham having many sons, of which I was one of them and so are you. For those of us who work together as Christians and Muslims under common initiatives, we are not strangers to each other. And, from a religious perspective, can see ourselves as cousins or children of Abraham. Christianity is not judged for not being Islam, and Islam is not portrayed as deficient when compared to Christianity. They are different but similar. We can and should acknowledge both and not make what is different difficult. My friend, Muzamiru, introduced me to the art of cooking pilao rice. It’s one of the things that almost made me convert to Islam at an early age, but I changed my mind when I was told it involved circumcision. I was scared of dying in instalments. I was asked to talk about him on camera, filming a memory lane for his wedding, and the only thing I could remember on short notice was the pilao. Muzamiru and I often argued about Christianity and Islam and found out that it mostly had to do with Jesus. He never seemed to figure out how we can believe in Jesus yet again have the trinity. I also never seemed to understand the whole story behind the prophet, Muhammad, and why he never resurrected. The more Muzamiru and I engaged in this hot religious debate, the more we realised that both our defence were dependent on scripture written in Bible and Quran. It was then that we discovered that Christians and Muslims are not a threat to each other. We figured out that we are all called to submit to God or the will of God, repentance, forgiveness of sins, basically characteristics of a life turned towards God. But there are still some unresolved issues between Muzamiru and I, which I believe are the main reason we are still close. For example, we agreed to disagree on the issue of angels. My Christian doctrine tells me that angels are created beings, non-human, some of which fell into sin and became evil; they are very powerful and good angels that carry out the will of God. Yet Muzamiru insists that angels are created beings without freewill that serve God and were created from light. The amount of money we have spent on cups of tea trying to amicably resolve this issue can buy a ship engine. The other contentious issue is about the devil. Muzamiru died of laughter when I told him that the devil is a fallen angel who opposes God in all ways and seeks to destroy humanity. He assured me that there is nothing like the devil but Iblis, a fallen ‘jinn’. He assured me that ‘jinn’ are not angels nor men, but created beings with free wills. ‘Jinn’ were created from fire. Muzamiru is now married with three wives while I’m forever restricted to one. Happy Eid al-Fitr, my brother, Muzamiru, and the entire Muslim family. @PABLO_kenkimuli
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:14:43 +0000
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