As an interfaith activist, the question of God comes up surprisingly frequently in my discussions. Who do we worship? What do we call God? And how is our God different from the entity worshipped by other religions? As a Muslim, my belief is simple: there is one Creator, and He is the God everyone worships. You could call him Allah in Arabic or Yahweh in Hebrew or God in English, it really doesn't matter from an Islamic perspective.
But I realize that for many other belief systems, that answer is less simple. Especially for Christians. The issue of the Trinity, who God really is, and whether the God of Islam is the same as the God of Christianity have usually been questions we've skirted around in the interfaith field. In most of my interfaith groups we talk about other, more inviting topics, and the issue of God's definition is left unsaid, undiscussed. Why? Because the Trinity is sometimes at odds with the God of a strictly monotheistic faith like Islam or Judaism, and interfaith dialogue is all about finding common ground.
But recently the question has been on everyone's minds. A few weeks ago a Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins started a storm of controversy by stating that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. A theological statement that is problematic, especially for a professor at an evangelic Christian college, who is bound by her employment contract to uphold the theological rules of the college, and ultimately the Christian faith.
I see Wheaton College's dilemma of course. An employee shouldn't be saying things in direct opposition to the institution's ideology. That's like a McDonald's employee saying Burger King's nuggets are better. In other situations, Hawkins would have been reprimanded and asked to reaffirm her commitment to the college, and the matter would have ended. But the issue today is bigger, more complicated, and definitely attracting more attention from all quarters. Why? Because anything remotely connected to Muslims seems to fire up our collective imaginations and get the media frenzy going like nothing else.
Hawkins wore a hijab in solidarity with her Muslim sisters before the controversy. Hawkins is also African American and a woman. All these situations can be and are used every day to discriminate against someone, so the waters are truly murky now. Did Hawkins get on her employer's wrong side by wearing the hijab or because of what she said regarding God? Was she discriminated against because she is black or because she is pro-Muslim in an increasingly anti-Muslim environment? It is almost impossible to tell.
The fact is that Muslim organizations, and many Muslim American women are grateful to Hawkins for standing up for them during a time when the hijab is fast becoming a symbol of bigotry and hatred. When hijabi women are being abused and targeted in the U.S. a Christian professor wearing the hijab is a strong message of mutual cooperation and harmony. It's the same token as when a Christian woman visits my mosque wearing a scarf on her head. She's not saying she believes in the theology of the hijab, or even the one represented by the mosque she is visiting.
So for Professor Hawkins, and Wheaton College, it is indeed a troubling dilemma. Wearing the hijab is one thing, because it is a symbol of solidarity one needn't really believe in. But making a public statement that Muslims and Christians worship the same God is theologically inaccurate from an evangelical Christian point of view.
As an interfaith activist, I understand this so very well, and I respect the differences between all our faiths. I am not in the business of forcing people to change their beliefs or to announce theologically inaccurate statements to please public sentiment. Rather, my passion is to share our differences respectfully, celebrate our commonalities, and love each other regardless. That's my plan to achieve peace in my community.