Our
small Muslim-Christian inter-faith friendship group which visited Lahore
shortly before Easter always intended that the visit should include an
element of pilgrimage.
Now,
it’s not necessary to travel to Pakistan (or anywhere else) in order to
develop spiritually: at home, any good conversation or book will provide
food for the spirit. But still, there’s no question that travel is a major
stimulus, forcing us out of comfortable routines. And the biggest jolt
to faith-routines during our visit to Lahore was an invitation to lay
on a Christian service of penitence on behalf of the soul of our host’s
former husband.
In
accordance with Muslim practice, the Imam from the local mosque would
be bringing around a group of students to recite the whole Qur’an on the
anniversary of his murder. Could we four Christians possibly do something
similar in respect to the years he had lived in Scotland? — to atone for
whatever sins he might have committed there, for whatever hurt he may
have caused the Christians with whom he did business?
Taking
a deep breath (do Muslims believe in purgatory? how many Christians believe
in purgatory?), we sought inspiration from the Penitential Service in
the (Irish) Book of Common Prayer. It did provide a framework
of suitable opening and closing prayers (but nothing from its introductory
section which is simply too strong meat). To this we added a penitential
psalm (139) and a psalm of thanksgiving and praise (148), but the heart
of our service was chapter 18 from St Matthew’s gospel with its wonderful
parables and teaching about forgiveness.
Plainly,
anxiety about the consequences of sin can trouble a conscientious Muslim’s
mind as much as any conscientious Christian’s (Muslims definitely believe
in the rewards of Heaven and the punishments of Hell). And there is certainly
one central tenet of Islam which provides reassurance, i.e. the most precious
of God’s Names, invoked at the start of all but one of the Qur’an’s 114
chapters: “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” — God
does indeed look with compassion on all who are penitent.
The
spiritual growing-point from this particular experience for me, however,
was the realisation that Islam offers nothing comparable to the Christian
theology of Salvation from Sin. — God be praised for the life of Jesus
Christ!
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