34 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Seeking a Common but Shaky Ground, March 17, 2011
This review is from: Allah: A Christian Response (Hardcover)
Using "political theology", Volf's main thesis is that the God of Christians and Muslims is the same. His approach is from that of a Christian but he is able to balance that with a few quotations from the Koran and Hadith. He argues persuasively that since "normative" Christianity's description of God's attributes is similar to "normative" Islam's description of Allah's attributes, therefore both religious traditions worship the same God.
When it comes to the issue of the Trinity (Muslims believe that Christians worship three gods instead of one), Volf brings in the masterful argument set forth by theologian Nicholas of Cusa (1401 - 1464) and that of Reformer Martin Luther. Volf gave a good summary of the explanation of Nicholas of Cusa of the Trinity to the Muslim so that there is "no dispute between Christians and Muslim about God's unity" (51). One part of his explanation is that "[n]umbers are for creatures. God is not a creature. Therefore God is beyond number - beyond the number one as much as beyond the number three" (52). It must be noted that Nicholas of Cusa came up with this ingenious explanation of the Trinity after the fall and rape of Constantinople in 1453 by the Muslim armies of Sultan Mehmed II and the Christians were trying to sue for peace. The argument by Martin Luther as explained by Volf was a bit confusing except that "the main emphasis of Luther's theology: God's unconditional love" (73). However it must also be noted that Luther's thinking was in the context of Sulaimen the Magnificent capturing Hungary and laying siege to Vienna. If Vienna falls, then the whole of Europe will follow. The Christians were again trying to find common grounds.
Having set the groundwork by appealing to Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther, Volf set forth to argue in the second half of the book that the common attributes of the Christian God and Islam's Allah are the same thus concluding that both are the same. All other points of differences are then explained under "eternal and unconditional love". Though I appreciate Volf's attempt to set a common ground for dialogue, and suspect his affirmation that "If Muslims and Christians have a common God, are not Islam and Christianity just two versions of the same thing?" (191), I am not comfortable with his approach.
As Volf himself has pointed out, the Apostle Creed reveals two essential aspects of Christianity - who God is and what He has done. One cannot explain away so easily the Trinity- God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit in one Godhead (Christians believe in one God, not three Gods). Also the work of Jesus Christ on the cross cannot be explained away by just using the term "unconditional love" without going into atonement and Jesus' words "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). In the index of this 314 page book, there is only three references to Jesus' death on the cross.
The second sentence Volf's introduction chapter almost broke my heart. He writes, "Christian responses to Allah - understood here as the God of the Quran - will either widen the chasm or help bridge it (1). In Malaysia, the Christians have been trying to appeal against the government who wants to restrict the use of the word Allah to Muslims only. In one sentence, Volf gave away all that the Malaysian Christians have been fighting for all these years. Volf is aware of this issue in Malaysia (80-81). Allah has been used as synonymous with God by the Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) speaking Christians in Malaysia long before Malaysia became a country. Allah is an Arabic word meaning God.
This book is an excellent scholarly monograph in bridge building between two religious traditions. If it is from the Christian perspective, then one must be careful not to give away the basic tenets of one's faith.
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20 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Love trumps truth as Volf looks at Allah through Christian eyes, September 4, 2011
This review is from: Allah: A Christian Response (Hardcover)
"Do we worship the same God?" This has become a hotly contested and divisive question, posed in these troubled days by many Christians about Muslims and Islam. Influential theologian Miroslav Volf, who is Henry B. Wright professor of Systematic Theology at Yale, offers an answer in his latest book, Allah: a Christian response. Volf's influence is considerable, and this book deserves careful consideration.
Three influences and one agenda
Volf comes to this question with three formative influences, and an agenda.
His first influence is a long-standing engagement with the theology of reconciliation and conflict resolution, out of which he wrote his acclaimed Exclusion and Embrace. This engagement was shaped by growing up as a Pentecostal Croatian Christian in communist Yugoslavia, and through reflection on the Yugoslav wars of 1990-1995.
Volf's second formative influence is his intensive dialogue with Muslims in recent years, particularly through the Common Word initiative.
Volf's third influence is his admired father, to whom his book is dedicated, and who taught Volf from his earliest years that Christians and Muslims do indeed worship the same God.
The agenda Volf pursues is one of political theology. He asks, "Can religious exclusivists, adherents of different religions, [i.e. most Muslims and Christians] live comfortably with one another under the same political roof?" (p.220). Volf's answer to this question is `yes': on the basis of a shared belief in the one God.
The `Commonalities Approach'
To fully appreciate Volf's argument - and its limitations - we must take careful note of his `commonalities approach'. His rules of engagement with the other are:
1. "Concentrate on what is common," and
2. "Keep an eye out for what is decisively different." (p.91)
At the heart of Allah are a handful of claims about God which Volf contends are shared by `normative' Islam, and `normative' Christianity (p.123). He argues from these shared convictions to propose a political solution for how the two religions can live together in peace.
Volf's six core beliefs of monotheism are: (1) There is only one God. (2) God created everything that is not God. (3) God is radically different from everything that is not God. (4) God is good. (5) God commands us to love God. And (6) God commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves.
The first four beliefs, Volf says, establish his claim that, when people say God (or Allah), they refer to the same object, while the final two reinforce this claim (p.110).
Volf also distinguishes between referring to and worshipping God, and proposes that `To the extent that Christians and Muslims strive to love God and neighbor, they worship the same true God.' (p.124). The Allah of whom the Qur'an speaks, Volf argues, is the God of the Bible, and this one God `requires Muslims and Christians to obey strikingly similar commands as an expression of their worship.' (p.124)
Volf is an advocate of religious freedom, and argues that common belief in the one God requires both Muslims and Christians to support the impartiality of the state toward all religions (p.238), and specifically to embrace freedom of religion, without interference by the state, including the freedom to leave or change one's religion. (p.234). This conclusion rests crucially on Volf's claim that Muslims and Christians both accept God's command to love one's neighbour.
Packed with Interesting Perspectives
A `hot and spicy' dish, as Volf calls it, Allah is jam-packed full of interesting ideas and perspectives. Volf's reflections on what Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther had to say about Islam are rich (chapters 2-3), as is his discussion of the Trinity in chapter 7, in which he argues that what Muslims deny when they reject the Trinity is also denied by orthodox Christianity, and `Christians affirm what Muslims affirm' about God's oneness (p.143).
Another engaging feature of Allah is Volf's capacity to point out that Christianity has had a history of perpetrating the very abuses which some present-day Christians attribute to the God of Islam, such as persecution of apostates, or the use of warfare to impose religious observance.
Blind Spots: Warfare against Unbelievers
Volf's statements about Islam betray large blind spots, in part because he relies too uncritically on the testimony of his dialogue partners. This problem is particularly acute in his discussions of warfare against unbelievers, which is an important issue for peaceful coexistence.
Martyrdom Operations
For example, in a brief discussion of martyrdom operations, Volf cites the Amman letter to Pope Benedict as his evidence that `normative' Islam condemns what he calls `suicide terrorism' (p.112). Yet there is no reference to or discussion of suicide terrorism in the Amman letter.
One of the points Volf makes is that Islam rejects suicide. Yet he seems to be unaware that among the Amman's letter's signatories are several who have endorsed what they refer to as martyrdom operations (i.e. suicide bombings). These scholars do not consider these operations to be acts of suicide:
- Shaikh Ali Jumu'ah, Grand Mufti of Egypt and Amman letter signatory has stated, "The one who carries out Fedaii [martyrdom] operations against the Zionists and blows himself up is, without a doubt, a Shahid [martyr] because he is defending his homeland against the occupying enemy who is supported by superpowers such as the U.S. and Britain."
- The second signatory to the Amman letter, Professor al-Buti, has said martyrdom operations are completely legitimate if the motive is to spite the enemy.
- Another signatory, Shaykh Ahmad Al-Khalili, Grand Mufti of Oman, has stated, "We are quite sure that the Jews are in their way to extinction, this is the promise of Allah ... Suicide is human boredom of life and his intention to kill himself, those Palestinian mujahideen are not bored with life and their intention was not to kill themselves: instead, they wanted to spite their enemy."
The truth is that a great many leading Muslim scholars endorse `martyrdom operations', while rejecting the view that these are acts of `suicide' on the grounds that if the intention of the bomber is to attack a legitimate enemy, blowing himself up is not an act of suicide at all.
Aggressive Jihad
A more serious blind spot shows when Volf alleges that the use of military force to extend Islam is `rejected by all leading Muslim scholars today' (p.210), again citing the Amman Letter.
However, nothing in the Amman letter rejects aggressive jihad. What this letter rejects is killing people simply for the sake of their faith, and the use of force to compel conversion. It does not reject the use of warfare to extend the political dominance of Islam over unbelievers.
As Haykal's magisterial 1993 survey of jihad in Islam shows, many leading scholars, both past and present, endorse jihad to make Islam dominant in the world. That the purpose of military jihad is to extend Islam is supported by the consensus view of classical scholars, including the Shafi'i jurist al-Ghazali, of whom Volf states `he is in many ways the most representative Muslim thinker you'll find, from any period' (p.169).
Aggressive jihad is also supported by many Saudi scholars, such as Shaykh Muhammad al-Munajid, who has said, "Undoubtedly taking the initiative in fighting has a great effect in spreading Islam and bringing people into the religion of Allaah in crowds."
Even among the signatories of the Amman and Common Word letters can be found advocates for aggressive jihad. For example, M. Taqi Uthmani, one of the leading Muslim jurists in the world today, and signatory to both these letters, has taught that "Aggressive Jehad is lawful even today... Its justification cannot be veiled ... we should venerate ... this expansionism with complete self-confidence".
Muhammad Salim Al-Awwa, a prominent Egyptian cleric, is another prominent scholar who signed the Common Word letter. He has pointed out that the word for Islamic conquests in Arabic is fut'h `openings'. Al-Awwa explained that the purpose of conquest in Islam is `to clear the way between Muslims and the invitation to Allah without the obstruction of the [non-Muslim] rulers'. In other words, conquest opens up a land to Islam by removing political obstacles to the Islamic mission.
The Killing of `Innocents'
At some points Volf seems almost gullible. He recites the oft-repeated claim that Islam forbids `the killing of innocents', whereas in fact what sharia jurisprudence forbids is the killing of those whose lives Islamic law does not allow to be taken. The classical view is that the blood of disbelievers not living under a dhimma pact is halal (i.e. it is permitted to kill them).
While it is true that the laws of jihad forbid the killing of women and children - these should be enslaved rather than killed - it is permitted for infidel adult males to be put to death, `innocent' or not. Even killing women and children is allowed as collateral damage. For example, Volf's favoured authority al-Ghazali wrote `[O]ne must go on jihad at least once a year... one may use a catapult against them when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire to them and/or drown them.'
An Ungenerous Reading of an Opposing View
On the one hand, Volf gives too generous an interpretation to his dialogue partners, finding rejection of objectionable aspects of sharia where there is none. On the other hand, he misrepresents a view which is opposed to his own...
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