February 4 is the annual international day of fraternisation. The date of 4 February was chosen because on that day in 2019, Pope Francis and Imam Ahmad al-Tayyib of Egypt's Al-Azhar University met in Abu Dhabi.
The question is how many Christians and Muslims worldwide will know about this day of fraternisation. Worldwide, there are as many as seven hundred special days to celebrate every year. Perhaps it is only a handful of people who know about it, negligible out of the 4.5 billion who call themselves Christian or Muslim.
Power versus fraternisation
What got more attention was that meeting of the Pope with the imam. Such a meeting can, of course, be questioned. Al-Azhar University is a very influential centre of Islam. If it says it will commit to brotherhood, that could be very good news for Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. However, Muslims who become Christians in Egypt are still apostate and most churches do not dare baptise them. At Al-Azhar, it is still taught that these apostates should be killed in accordance with the shariah. The idea that Muslims should strive for political power and that political rulers should force people to respect Islam is deeply rooted in Islam. What are such fine declarations and days of fraternisation worth if nothing changes? In many regions, the situation for Christians has only worsened since 2019.
The power of the message of God's love
Still, it remains useful to entice prominent Muslim leaders to speak out publicly that we should strive for peace, freedom and respect for all. This is valuable, even if there is no room for naming injustice in those moments. As Christians, we should use opportunities like these to say something about the character of God's love and his desire that we be given the space and responsibility to respond personally to his voice. In doing so, it is important that Christians make it clear that we are not pursuing a secular Western ideal of freedom in which the individual is central, but rather want to promote a holy life for God.
That kind of message does have an effect in the Muslim community. Totalitarian regimes do not simply give up their positions and terrorist groups do not simply lay down their arms. Yet in recent years, millions of Muslims have come to the conclusion that what their leaders say is diametrically opposed to what they actually do and that that cannot be God's intention for this world. Many left Islam embittered and some became Christians.
Linked together
Fortunately, we do not have to limit conversations with Muslims about fraternisation to the International Day of Fraternisation. With a term like fraternisation, as a Christian I can do a lot in meeting Muslims. They believe with me that we are not separate individuals, but are created by God and like a family of Adam and Eve we are connected and have responsibility for each other. Together, we will soon agree that enmity and alienation has come between people and God and people among themselves. The good news of the gospel is that Christ came to break the circle of blood vengeance with his cross and his blood binds people into a new brotherhood.
Cees Rentier is associated with the foundation as pastor-director Gospel & Muslims
