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Religion, Reason and Violence: Pope Benedict XVI and Islam
By Prof. Hans Koechler
In his lecture entitled “Faith,
Reason and the University:
Memories and Reflections,”[1]
Pope Benedict XVI intended to
demonstrate the compatibility of
the Christian faith with reason
(λόγος) as defined in classical
Greek philosophy. He did so,
regrettably, at the expense of
Islam and Prophet Mohammed,
reviving anti-Islamic prejudices
of the Middle Ages. In the
present context of increasing
tensions between Islam and the
West, caused to a considerable
extent by Western powers’ wars
against Muslim countries, his
remarks and references to false
and one-sided perceptions of
Islam and to hostile statements
against Prophet Mohammed, made
hundreds of years ago, can only
be seen as inflammatory und,
thus, undermining his
predecessor’s efforts at
dialogue between the two great
monotheistic religions and
civilizations.
As a scholar of theology, the
Pope is wrong about Islam in
several respects. For instance,
in Par. 3 of his lecture, he
refers to Sura 2:256 of the
Qur’an – “There is no
compulsion in religion” – as one
of the Suras of the early
period, when, according to the
Pope, “Mohammed was still
powerless and under threat,”
while in reality this Sura dates
to the middle period (around
624/625) when the Prophet was
already in a position of
strength, controlling a state in
Medina. His understanding of
jihâd also appears to be
rather narrow, ignoring the
term’s original meaning, namely
that of an effort to achieve
human perfection, whereby armed
struggle is only one of many
aspects.
As head of the Roman-Catholic
Church, Benedict XVI has
unfortunately revived the spirit
of the crusades and has
alienated the entire Muslim
ummah. In the same Par. 3 of
his lecture he quoted – without
any further comment – the
following phrase from a text of
the 14th century
Byzantine Emperor Manuel
Paleologus: “Show me just what
Mohammed brought that was new,
and there you will find things
only evil and inhuman, such as
his command to spread by the
sword the faith he preached.” It
is hard to see how Benedict XVI
– if this derogatory perception
of Islam and Prophet Mohammed is
left unchecked – can be a
credible partner in the
“dialogue of cultures” to which
he invites other religions in
the last paragraph of his
lecture. I am afraid that his
professed intention of
“listening to the great
experiences and insights of the
religious traditions of
humanity” is not sincere and his
arguments against violence and
in favour of dialogue are not
convincing as long as he
develops them by restating the
anti-Islamic sentiments of the
period of the crusades.
In his lecture preaching the
compatibility of reason and
faith, Benedict XVI, the
scholar, deliberately overlooks
the fact that the insights of
Greek philosophy – its
commitment to the λόγος – have
been brought to medieval
Christian Europe by the great
Muslim thinkers of the Middle
Ages. What he calls the
“encounter between the Biblical
message and Greek thought” (Par.
5 of his lecture) was, to a
large extent, the result of the
influence of Muslim philosophers
– at a time when European
Christians were totally ignorant
of classical Greek philosophy.[2]
There is a tendency in the
entire lecture of Benedict XVI
towards associating Islam with
an attitude that is hostile to
reason. In philosophical terms,
however, the Islamic conception
of God, in the sense of
monotheism (tawhid /
wahdania), is more clearly
and consistently defined than
the roman-catholic doctrine of
the Holy Trinity, the latter
being rather ambiguous in terms
of its distinction from
polytheism and elements of
paganism. In this regard,
Islamic theology may more easily
meet Benedict XVI’s requirements
of “rationality” than the
doctrine of the Church he
presides over. The rich
interpretation and adaptation of
Greek philosophical thought in
Islamic philosophy is one more
proof of this, something which
is totally overlooked by the
Pope.
Apart from the problematic
scholarly aspects and certain
inconsistencies in his argument,
the Pope appears to be rather
hypocritical in his criticism of
violence carried out in the name
of god. While referring to the
condemnation, by a Byzantine
Emperor, of violence in the name
of Islam, he totally fails to
address the issue of violence
used by the Roman-Catholic
Church over hundreds of years
against Muslims and others it
considered as non-believers. By
not even mentioning the crusades
and the forced conversions in
the course of colonization he
has not only defeated his
argument, but discredited the
Roman-Catholic Church as an
honest partner in inter-faith
dialogue in the 21st
century. Furthermore, the notion
of “Holy War” which the Pope
appears to detest so much is not
an Islamic term; the translation
of “jihad” by “holy war” is
highly misleading. Literally,
“holy war” is the translation of
the Latin term bellum sanctum
which was used to describe a
crusade against the “Saracens”
in the Middle Ages; thus, this
notion was part of the doctrine
of the Roman-Catholic Church
over many centuries.
Regrettably, in his lecture
preaching reason and the
propagation of religious values
by peaceful means, the Pope
totally overlooks the fact that
the Muslim world is again
subjected to the imposition of a
doctrinary understanding of
human rights and Western values
by means of armed force – as
demonstrated by the project of
the “Greater Middle East” which
some Western leaders, claiming
to be inspired by Christian
values, have professed to
implement.[3]
The illegal invasion and
occupation of Iraq, having
caused the death of thousands of
innocent people, the ongoing
intervention in Afghanistan, and
the threat of war against Iran,
are all testimony to this
inhuman policy which, unlike his
predecessor, Benedict XVI
appears to ignore, something
that puts in doubt his moral
credibility as a religious
leader.
In Par. 4 of his lecture,
Benedict XVI, in his effort to
demonstrate the different notion
of God in Islamic teaching,
supposedly incompatible with
“rational” Christian thinking,
briefly refers to the renowned
French expert in Islamic
studies, Roger Arnaldez. In
order to avoid misunderstandings
as to the approach of this
scholar, the Pope should also
have referred to Arnaldez’
lecture “Dieu comme Essence et
comme Personne dans la théologie
et la mystique chrétiennes et
musulmanes” (God as Substance
and Person in Christian and
Islamic Theology and Mysticism)
which he delivered at the
International Progress
Organization’s symposion on “The
Concept of Monotheism in Islam
and Christianity” in November
1981 in Rome.[4]
In this international meeting
more than a quarter century ago
– in the era of Pope John Paul
II – we had brought together
Muslim and Christian scholars to
explore the notion of “one god”
in both religions and to
identify structural similarities
between both conceptions as
basis for a better
understanding. In the communiqué
of the meeting, we had
identified false stereotypes as
main obstacle to genuine
dialogue between Christians and
Muslims and had expressed the
hope “that Christians from a
young age can learn from the
true culture of Islam.”[5]
To the dismay of all who are
committed to inter-faith
dialogue, with his lecture at
the University of Regensburg the
head of the Roman-Catholic
Church has seriously undermined
these efforts.
[1]
Apostolic Journey of His
Holiness Benedict XVI to München,
Altötting and Regensburg
(September 9-14, 2006) –
Meeting with Representatives of
Science – Lecture of the Holy
Father. Aula Magna of the
University of Regensburg,
Tuesday, 12 September 2006:
Faith, Reason and the
University: Memories and
Reflections. Online version
released by Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 2006,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg_en.html.
– Original German version:
Glaube, Vernunft und Universität.
Erinnerungen und Reflexionen.
[2]
Hans Köchler, "Muslim-Christian
Ties in Europe: Past, Present
and Future," in: IKIM Journal,
Vol. 7, No. 1 (January-June
1999), pp. 97-107.
[3]
See Hans Köchler, "Civilization
as Instrument of World Order?
The Role of the Civilizational
Paradigm in the Absence of a
Balance of Power," in: Future
Islam, "Insights," New
Delhi, July/August 2006,
www.futureislam.com (Online
Journal).
[4]
Roger Arnaldez, ““Dieu comme
Essence et comme Personne dans
la théologie et la mystique
chrétiennes et musulmanes,” in :
Hans Köchler (ed.), The
Concept of Monotheism in Islam
and Christianity. Vienna:
Braumüller, 1982, pp. 97-106.
[5]
Op. cit., p. 133.
Additional reading
o
Hans Köchler (ed.), The
Concept of Monotheism in Islam
and Christianity
(International Symposion in
Rome, 17-19 November 1981)
o
Hans Köchler,
Muslim-Christian Ties in Europe:
Past, Present and Future
(Lecture delivered in Kuala
Lumpur, 2 September 1996)
o
Hans Köchler, Civilization as
Instrument of World Order?
(Lecture delivered in Istanbul,
13 May 2006)
o Roger Arnaldez, Dieu comme
Essence et comm Personne dans la
théologie et la mystique
chrétiennes et musulmanes
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