A profound event quietly took place this last week: Jewish rabbis and scholars in halacha (Jewish law) met with Muslim imams and scholars in sharia (Muslim law) to discuss how improved understanding and interpretation of the foundational texts, upon which their respective religious laws are based, can help bring the two communities together. The uniqueness of this coming together cannot be over-emphasized.
Though scholarly, this coming together was not just some Ivory Tower undertaking. Ancient religious texts are profoundly influential in our daily lives today. From the Golden Rule to the Ten Commandments and everything in between, our laws, society and understanding of each other are guided, and at times held captive, by the ancient texts of the Abrahamic faiths. So how they are interpreted today is crucial.
In response, an unprecedented gathering of 40 of the country's foremost minds in sharia and halacha met in a closed-door conference in New York. The October 30 inaugural meeting of the "Muslim Jewish Scholars Conference" will be an ongoing bridge-building effort between the two communities. The conference brings together Jewish and Muslim scholars, rabbis and imams, university professors and chaplains who otherwise have little opportunity to talk to each other. It will provide an opportunity for Muslim and Jewish scholars to talk with each other openly about their respective views of their own traditions; and to talk about pressure points between their communities.
With the status of sharia at the forefront of controversy, the early afternoon session on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia was of particular interest. It focused on honest discussion about the limits and contextualization of criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. It also considered the extent to which legislative attacks on sharia -- some 20 U.S. states are looking at various proposals to ban it -- logically implies similar attacks on halacha. Quoting one of the Muslim participants: "Bigotry should not only be condemned when it applies to one's own particular religion. It should be condemned when it applies to any religion. Jews should not simply condemn or focus on anti-Semitism and Muslims on Islamophobia, but we need to be united in speaking out against bigotry and extremism wherever it occurs."
Moved by an historic trip to Auschwitz and Dachau last summer, eight influential U.S. imams realized that dialogue, and condemning Holocaust denial, are necessary but not enough. It was this trip that inspired Muslims and Jews to take dialogue further.
And it did so this week. Even though not everyone was willing to publicly acknowledge their attendance at the event, illustrating that clearly this unprecedented effort is in its infancy, they showed up and they openly engaged. For example, one of the issues that confronts both religious traditions has to do with re-conceptualizing the role of women; these issues were not avoided but were explicitly discussed.
The first step has been taken.
In these times, with the rise of Islamophobia and the proposals to ban sharia, dialogue is urgent. Understanding the commonality and differences in our foundational texts will go far in explaining why attacks on sharia cannot be separated from attacks on religious law in general. Attacks on religious freedom must be rejected.
For further information about the Muslim Jewish Scholars Conference, contact:
Prof. Marshall Breger, Catholic University of America: breger@law.edu
The Muslim Jewish Scholars Conference was sponsored by the Center for Interreligious Understanding (CIU), the Catholic University of America, and the Muslim Chaplains Association with generous support from S. A. Ibrahim and the Olender Foundation.
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But if everything you do is also your belief the Law serves not function - apart from being a handy checklist. Unless we treat the Law as no more than an aid to memory we would be better off without it.
That applies to all religious "Law" - Judaic, Islamic, Christian, etc.
Killing OBL without a trial or evidence SERVED what LAW? SHIRK in my mind too. As the Constitution written or Amended would support. AND NOT Interpretation for convenience or Man's Self Motivation
That fact that this LAW is not MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE to the teaching of CHRIST, BUDDHA, KIRSHN or MOHAMMAD is not casual as you apply it is. It is directly related on PURPOSE. By those who understood life and death and Individual Rights within the Majority Rule in the Carnal World to reflect the righteousness of FLESH and SPIRIT.
Notice when we talk about the written LAW, we say in the SPIRIT of the LAW and not in the FLESH of the LAW. That SPIRIT is not a GHOST, but the essential being. So Man's personal Self Interest are not served over the many even within the Law.
Once you get behind the individual and group Self Motivation for their personal Advantage of the carnal world only
That said, each is meant and suitable for its respective religion.
Having said this, I honestly believe that there is too much emphasis on the "law" by some adherents and not enough emphasis on the inner realities of the "law" (aka outer forms).
When one dives into the realm of meaning, which is infinite, one realizes that many of the laws in the Shari'ah and Halacha lead man to the same inner reality.
For example, let's take the way the Jews and Muslims pray.
They may do that in different ways and utter seemingly different words in two different languages, but the inner reality is nothing but uniting with the Real and moving away from the illusion.
Without a solid understanding of the inner realities (meaning) of the Shari'ah or Halacha, flexibility in their interpretations and applications, and encompassing them with Love, the "law" becomes a meaningless empty outer shell and ceases to become relevant.
Justice is a pillar of Islam as much as love is. Maybe more so. Love is a nice and warm fuzzy term but justice is more thorny. Justice requires us to grapple with injustice, human need for compensation and retribution. It requires us to imagine scenarios that we wouldn't want to, but we need to in order for justice to prevail.
If talking about love solves all the worlds problems, think again.
Those who don't want to grapple with reality, facts, and the Truth, hope that surrendering and capitulation will solve all problems.
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The Law (outer form) is not meaningless.
What I have stated is that there is too much emphasis on it by some and that it is flexible and not static.
God's Mercy encompasses everything, according to a tradition.
So, even justice is encompassed within love.
Without love, justice can be cruel, harsh and meaningless.
Justice is a virtue which causes one to be fair to oneself and to others, by refraining from giving a greater portion of that which is useful to oneself and less to others, and less of that which is harmful to oneself and more to others.
The just man applies equality, which is a proportionate relation between things, and it is from this meaning that the virtue of justice is derived. Justice is the midpoint between the extremes of doing injustice to others, and suffering injustice from others or from oneself.
The virtues which derive from justice are friendship, harmony, family fellowship, recompense, fair play, honest dealing, amicability and devotion.
Keep in mind that Halacha means walking. It is a way of going and provides the necessary outer shell to cultivate the inner heart's desire to cling to its source. Of course it is among several ways or pathway to the heart and its aspiration to cling to the divine and dependent upon the individual's temperament.
You are right that one can lose sight of this objective when focusing on the intricacies of observance (Halacha or Sharia).
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That's exactly what the Shari'ah is to the Sufi Islam I adhere to.
Thanks for clarifying this inner reality of the Halacha.
Jews and Muslims have much in common, only if we can get past some of the history, current geo-political situation, and interpret our religious sources with love.