For a Muslim, asking “Is God Dead?” begs the question, “If God is dead then how am I alive?”
Sohaib Sultan is the Imam and Muslim Life Coordinator in the Office of Religious Life at Princeton University.
TIME’s 1966 cover story—which provocatively asked “
Is God Dead?”—was and remains an ethnocentric proposition with Liberal-Protestant-Christian-Western premises about history and theology. The story of God through the prism of Islam seems to tell a very different story in the modern period.
Despite everything that the Muslim World has been through—from colonialism to violent sectarianism—there is no evidence whatsoever of Muslims en masse abandoning a belief in God or fleeing the mosques. Quite to the contrary, the last few decades have seen a revival of religiosity among previously secularized Muslim societies and among former communist states that tried to wipe Islam out altogether. Many thinkers in the West might assume that the reason for this return to a God-centric approach is due to lack of democracy or freedom to think critically about faith, but I would argue that Islam—as a faith and civilization—is actually an antidote to some of the theological problems posed in TIME’s piece 50 years ago.
To begin with, Muslims’ conception of God refutes what modern people may find to be implausible about the divine. The God of Islam is a decidedly un-anthropomorphic deity. The Qur’an plainly states: “There is nothing like God” (42:11). A common saying among Muslim theologians is: “Your incapacity to perceive of God is your proper conception of God.” Islam’s very testimony of faith begins with a negation, “There is no god,” before the affirmation, “except for God.” Muslim theologians spend as much, if not more, time negating who God is before affirming who God is. In Islamic theology, God is known through named attributes—both intimate and transcendent—not through physical characteristics. God is not, and cannot, be confined to the limitations of time, space or gender.
God in Islam is certainly loving and compassionate, but also vengeful and overpowering. Like the ocean, God is both beautiful and majestic. The experience of God can be as serene as it may be intense. God reveals God’s self in different ways for reasons and wisdoms often beyond our knowledge. As such, Muslims do not always expect God to manifest in the gentlest of ways. Suffering is not so much a theological riddle as it is a reality with a purpose—to know God more profoundly.
In Islam, God entrusts the human being as earth’s caretaker and demands that role be taken seriously. There is no passive religiosity in the hopes of God’s grace. God expects action and struggle—praying regularly, taking care of the poor, practicing self-denial from wrongdoing, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and so on. God, then, is experienced through servitude and willing submission.
The popular expectation of experiencing God is often overdramatized. And it is this over dramatization that leads many to feel disappointed when the commercialized experience does not happen. Islam does not promise miracles; rather it allows one to see the miracles that are happening around us.
God is not dead, but rather our ability—because of the distractions of modernity—to be aware of God might be. In one passage, the Qur’an asks: “O human being, what has deluded you away from your most generous Lord?” The commentators quip, it is the generosity of God that distracts us from God!
The excitement of scientific advancement and discovery may be one of those distractions for modern peoples—but it need not be. God and science are not on a collision course. The Qur’an, in fact, urges its readers to search for the signs of God on the horizons and within oneself (41:53) and to contemplate the purpose of life by observing the heavens and the earth (3:190-191). Muslim civilization produced some of the greatest scientists and most important scientific breakthroughs; scientists were not persecuted or maligned for their discoveries of the universe. The notion that science somehow replaces religion is both a misunderstanding of science and religion. Religion’s purpose is to contemplate the “why,” not the “what” and “how.”
To insist that the scientific method is the only methodology to approach all knowledge is no less fanaticism than religious fundamentalism. If the mystic were to tell the scientist to run around his or her laboratory chanting God’s names instead of conducting scientific experiments to determine the validity of a hypothesis, we would dismiss and mock the mystic as a fool. Yet, scientists often insist that the mystic searching for God does so using a methodology that was not made for arriving at metaphysical truths.
One of the names of God that Muslims invoke most often is the Ever Living—Al Hayy. It’s consistent and rhythmic chant can bring elation to the spiritual heart. It is in these chants that the mystic sees God more clearly than they see their own selves. God is closer to you than your jugular vein, says the Qur’an (50:16). Proving one’s own existence, independent of God, is far more confounding to the believer than proving the existence of God. For a Muslim, posing the question, “Is God Dead?” begs the counter question, “If God is dead then how am I alive?”
When whisperings started to spread that the Prophet Muhammad had passed away after a short but intense illness, one of the Prophet’s closest disciples, Umar ibn al-Khattab, went into a temporary frenzy drawing his sword out threatening to strike anyone who would dare say that the Prophet is dead. At that moment, a solemn but calm disciple, Abu Bakr, addressed the mourners with these words: “Anyone who worshipped Muhammad, know that Muhammad has died. Anyone who worships God know that God is alive and will never die.”
It is this sense of God’s permanence and greatness that gives the community of Muslims hope in a dignified existence even during these hard and turbulent times.
5 facts about the Muslim population in Europe
Recent killings in Paris as well as the arrival of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim refugees in Europe have drawn renewed attention to the continent’s Muslim population. In many European countries, including France, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, concerns about growing Muslim communities have led to
calls for restrictions on immigration. But just how large is Europe’s Muslim population, and how fast is it growing?
1Germany and France have the largestMuslim populationsamong European Union member countries. As of 2010, there were 4.8 million Muslims in Germany (5.8% of the country’s population) and 4.7 million Muslims in France (7.5%). In Europe overall, however, Russia’s population of 14 million Muslims (10%) is the largest on the continent.
2The Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily. In recent decades, the Muslim share of the population throughout Europe grew about
1 percentage point a decade, from 4% in 1990 to 6% in 2010. This pattern is expected to continue through 2030, when Muslims are projected to make up 8% of Europe’s population.
3Muslims are younger than other Europeans. In 2010, the
median age of Muslims throughout Europe was 32, eight years younger than the median for all Europeans (40). By contrast, the median age of
religiously unaffiliated people in Europe, including atheists, agnostics and those with no religion in particular, was 37. The median age of European
Christians was 42.
4
Views of Muslims vary widely among European countries. A Pew Research Center survey conducted this spring found that majorities in France, Britain and Germany had favorable views of Muslims. Opinion was on balance favorable in Spain while negative views prevailed in Italy and Poland. Views about Muslims are tied to ideology. While 36% of Germans on the political right give Muslims an unfavorable rating, just 15% on the left do so. The gap between left and right is also roughly 20 percentage points in France and Italy. And significant differences are found in the UK as well.
5As of 2010, the European Union was home to about 13 million Muslim immigrants. The
foreign-born Muslim population in Germany is primarily made up of Turkish immigrants, but also includes many born in Kosovo, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Morocco. The roughly 3 million foreign-born Muslims in France are largely from France’s former colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post cited a 2014 Ipsos MORI poll on peoples’ perceptions about the size of the Muslim population in European countries. The reference was deleted because the poll was conducted through an online panel for which the participants are recruited in a way that does not allow us to know each respondent’s chance of being selected.
NOTE: This is an update of a post originally published on Jan. 15, 2015.
How Christians Can Observe Ramadan
A billion Muslims are fasting and seeking God. Let’s pray he comes to them.
Jerry Rankin/ JUNE 18, 2015
Most Americans would be unaware that Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, begins on Thursday. Many would only be casually aware that this is one of the five pillars of Islam, its date changing each year due to the lunar calendar. Faithful adherents fast from dawn to dusk until the month concludes with the Feast of Eid.
Having studied Islam, we were familiar with this expression of piety, but learned much more during the years we lived in a Muslim country—the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia. In more observant places, fasting is compulsory, though allowances are made for foreigners and non-Muslims. All do without food, but more devout Muslims refuse to drink water, and some don’t even swallow their saliva.
There is irony, however, in the fact that Muslims probably eat more during the month than at any other time. Women of the house arise in the early morning to prepare an elaborate breakfast to provide nourishment throughout the day. When the call to evening prayer signals the breaking of the fast, everyone hurries home to indulge in what could be described as a Thanksgiving dinner. Not much gets done during Ramadan as offices are open for only a few hours, no one has the strength for much physical labor, and it is easier to endure the denial of food by sleeping through the afternoon.
During Ramadan, we found our Muslim friends were more open to talking about spiritual things. We would ask them about their practice, why they were fasting, and what they hoped to gain by it. It was surprising to them when we shared our own practice of fasting from time to time to seek God. We do not fast to get something from God but out of a desire for God himself that exceeds our desire for food. Wonderfully, God does meet our needs and answer our prayers, but we should not fast presuming by our piety we are obligating God to do something for us.
While most Muslims observe the fast because they are commanded to and believe there is merit to be gained, many do it as a perfunctory obligation. Some want to avoid the condemnation from more pious family members. However, for the devout, the Muslim month of fasting is actually for the same purpose that we as Christians may occasionally fast: the desire to know God in a deeper more intimate relationship.
Fasting during Ramadan is intended to be a time to seek God, and many sincerely do. While recognizing the futility of seeking to please God by one’s own piety and works, we avoided expressing disrespect in conversation with Muslim friends. We shared our common desire to know God. It was an opportunity to bear witness to the futility of our own efforts and how we discovered the unmerited grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Among Muslims, you’ll hear of testimonies from those who had dreams and visions of Jesus appearing to them and saying, “Follow Me.” Others will be impressed to find someone with “the book” that tells the way to eternal life. None of these revelations are sufficient for salvation, but they break down the barriers in their heart and can lead to finding out who Jesus is or knowing what the Bible says.
What does this have to do with us?
When we first arrived in Indonesia we were irritated at the dissonant sound of the call to prayer from the mosque five times a day, especially when it awakened us at 4:30 a.m. But it became a call to us and a reminder to pray for Muslims as they were praying to Allah.
What if Christians fervently prayed during the month of Ramadan that God would reveal himself to Muslims in this time of seeking? What if we covered millions of fasting Muslims with 30 days of intense intercession that something would happen in their spiritual search? Believing in the power of prayer, could we not expect God to respond to our heartfelt burden for the lost millions of the world?
It is tragic that we should be so wrapped up in our self-interests and worldview that we would be indifferent to more than a billion followers of Islam in the world that are dying without Christ, but this month are seeking what only he can provide. We are repulsed by a religion that seems to justify terrorism and suicide bombers committed to the destruction of life, but don’t we realize that Jesus is the answer? Rather than hardening our hearts and dismissing their lostness to the judgment of God as something they deserve, we should plead for their hearts to be open to God revealing himself.
Join me this month in praying for Muslims in our own communities as well as those around the world. Pray that they would truly seek God and be open to revelation that would lead them to the truth. In seeking Allah, an impersonal deity that is aloof and cannot be known, may they find a loving, compassionate God who revealed himself through Jesus Christ and died for their sins.
We have a responsibility to observe Ramadan also, to pray for those who are far from the kingdom and for generations have been locked into the bondage of sin and futile religious traditions.
After all, Christ died for them, too. God loves them. Shouldn’t we?
Jerry Rankin is the executive director of the Zwemer Center and president emeritus of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB). He served with the IMB for 40 years, the last 17 years as president. Prior to becoming president of the IMB, Dr. Rankin and his wife Bobbye served for 23 years in Asia, initially as missionaries in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. This article
originally appeared on the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies website.
Muslim Diaspora
Friday, 12 February 2010
KETIGA agama yang pembawanya masih serumpun sebagai keturunan Nabi Ibrahim semuanya pernah dan tengah mengalami diaspora.
Pengikutnya berkembang dan merantau jauh melampaui batas kelahirannya.Diaspora mirip sekali dengan peristiwa hijrah dan dengan hijrah banyak hal serta peristiwa baru dijumpai.Bahkan ketiga agama itu berkembang pesat dan melahirkan peradaban besar justru setelah keluar dari tempat kelahirannya. Yahudi dan Nasrani lahir di wilayah Timur Tengah,tetapi berkembang pesat justru di Eropa dan Amerika. Islam yang lahir di Mekkah dan Madinah pernah melahirkan peradaban besar setelah berkembang di Baghdad, Iran, Mesir, dan Spanyol. Kini Islam menyusul dan merambah dunia Barat mengikuti agama pendahulunya,Yahudi dan Nasrani.
Yang tidak pernah habis dibahas, dipertanyakan, dan digugat adalah mengapa tiga agama besar yang pendirinya masih bersaudara dan mengimani Tuhan yang sama selalu saja terlibat permusuhan dan perkelahian sepanjang sejarah? Untuk memahami bagaimana pergulatan, perjuangan, dan tantangan umat Islam di Barat,banyak buku yang mencoba menjelaskannya. Salah satunya adalah A Heart Turned East: Among the Muslims of Europe and America (1997) oleh Adam Lebor yang kemudian diindonesiakan menjadi Pergulatan Muslim di Barat, Antara Identitas danIntegrasi (Mizan 2009).Kondisi dan status sosial umat Islam di Amerika Serikat (AS) dan Eropa memiliki perbedaan yang signifikan.
AS yang bangga dengan masyarakatnya yang sangat plural lebih akomodatif terhadap kehadiran beragam agama dan budaya,termasuk Islam. Hanya saja setelah peristiwa 11 September (9ll) 2001, umat Islam di sana merasa tertekan karena selalu dicurigai. Namun dibandingkan di Eropa,umat Islam di AS lebih baik kondisinya.Mereka lebih terpelajar.Pusat-pusat studi Islam bermunculan.Semua universitas besar di AS merasa belum lengkap jika belum memiliki departemen studi Islam dengan jajaran profesor ahli yang sebagian didatangkan dari dunia Islam. Eropa dulu dikenal sebagai imperialis dan menjajah sebagian besar dunia Islam.
Hubungan pahit itu bekasnya masih berlanjut sampai sekarang. Negara Inggris dan Prancis, misalnya, sekarang tengah mencaricari formula dan solusi menghadapi umat Islam yang semula datang dari bekas negara jajahannya. Begitu pun di Jerman yang pada Perang Dunia I pernah merayu Turki untuk bergabung melawan sekutu––dan ternyata kalah–– banyak imigran muslim Turki yang sampai hari ini menimbulkan banyak masalah sosial. Baik di Inggris,Prancis maupun Jerman para imigran itu umumnya datang dari kalangan buruh. Mereka hidup secara komunal dan eksklusif, sulit melebur dalam budaya setempat baik karena alasan bahasa, budaya maupun agama. Problem baru muncul pada generasi kedua dan ketiga.
Mereka merasa gamang dan bingung menemukan identitas dirinya. Meski lahir di Eropa, mereka tidak merasa sebagai orang Eropa dan tidak pula merasa akrab dengan budaya asal usul orang tuanya.Ketika terjadi konflik rasial dan agama dengan pemerintah setempat, keturunan imigran muslim ini serbabingung. Mereka tidak memiliki rumah budaya dan tanah air yang memberikan kenyamanan. Mereka lahir dan berbicara dengan bahasa Eropa, tetapi tidak memperoleh pengakuan sepenuhnya sebagai orang Eropa. Sebagian besar muslim di Inggris berasal dari anak benua India. Tidak seperti Kristen dan Yahudi,muslim Inggris tidak memiliki kepemimpinan komunal tingkat nasional yang terlembaga. Hal serupa juga terjadi di Prancis dan Jerman.
Mereka terbagi-bagi pada kelompok wilayah asal daerah dan negaranya sehingga kekuatan lobinya tidak kuat dalam memperjuangkan kepentingan Islam.Perbedaan lebih lanjut juga terlihat dalam paham keagamaannya serta sikap mereka terhadap pemerintah setempat.Pengelompokan ini diawetkan oleh tampilnya ulama, aktivis, dan pimpinan gerakan Islam dengan aspirasi dan ideologi yang berbeda-beda. Ada yang bersikap radikal,tidak mau berkompromi dan beradaptasi dengan budaya setempat, dengan alasan Islam dan budaya Barat tidak mungkin dipertemukan. Jangan sampai Islam terbaratkan, melainkan sebaliknya, Barat yang mesti diislamkan.Gerakan radikal ini diduga memperoleh dukungan dana dan aktor intelektual dari negaranegara Arab.
Sadar sebagai kelompok minoritas, ada lagi yang bersikap adaptif. Bagaimanapun, mereka sebagai pendatang atau tamu mesti menghargai dan mengikuti tradisi tuan rumah, asal tidak mengorbankan nilai-nilai dasar Islam. Namun ada juga yang berpandangan lain lagi bahwa banyak tradisi dan cara berpikir Barat yang sesungguhnya sangat Islami, hanya saja minus syahadat. Dengan demikian Barat merupakan lahan subur bagi munculnya masyarakat Islam baru.
Karena Islam tidak sekadar sistem keimanan, melainkan juga ada seperangkat aturan dan kewajiban ritual serta etika sosial, kehadiran Islam di Barat ada yang melihatnya sebagai counter sistem nilai sehingga benturan dengan tradisi setempat tidak bisa dielakkan. Secara kasatmata, kemunculan masjid dan tradisi salat Jumat, berpuasa,mengenakan jilbab,dan ketersediaan makanan halal menjadi fenomenal dan sering menimbulkan gesekan. Pendeknya, muslim diaspora saat ini telah menjadi objek tersendiri bagi peminat studi Islam di Barat khususnya.
Umat Islam di sana merasakan bagaimana rasanya sebagai minoritas dengan identitas etnis yang kabur.Pergulatan ini tampaknya baru akan mulai dan akan berkembang terus. Jika di Indonesia sering muncul istilah “westernisasi” dan “Kristenisasi”, di Barat yang tengah berlangsung adalah “Islamisasi” meskipun istilah westernisasi,Kristenisasi, dan Islamisasi ini sebuah konsep yang longgar dan adakalanya kabur. (*)
PROF DR KOMARUDDIN HIDAYAT
Rektor UIN Syarif Hidayatullah
