Jews, Christians and Muslims have a common ground for establishing peace - their common roots.
The followers of Muhammad - Sallalahu Alaihi Wassalam (peace be upon him) all over the world gathered in solemn prayer last October 12, 2007 in order to mark the end of Ramadan. Together, they offered thanksgiving to Allah for all the blessings He bestowed upon them as the rest of the world joined them in celebrating Eid "l Fitr which marked the end of 40 days of fasting. The calls of the muezzins reverberated everywhere enjoining the faithful to prayer and most significantly, in almost all the sermons given by the imams, the call for universal peace resounded with greater resonance. In the following days, most of the newspapers bannered peace in their headlines as the sole desire expressed by every Muslim, which in turn was greeted with much gladness by Jews and Christians alike. Everyone seemed to be overjoyed.
But peace has been a long sought for dream. For centuries, peace, which the Hebrews call Shalom, Pax by Latin speaking Christians, and Salam in Arabic tongue had been very elusive specially to the three major religions of the world. Unending enmity has stood at the midst of the Jews, Christians and Muslims since time immemorial. Each of them reviles another, as mortal enemies loathe their adversaries. And since the very beginning, bloodshed has dominated their common histories. Worst of all, they killed and continue to annihilate one another in the name of God whom they believe to be One, and Common Father.
No one perhaps can ever imagine the horrors of the Christian inquisition against the Jews during the medieval period which was further accentuated by their perceived indifference when genocidal Hitler exterminated over 6 million Jews without any reason at all except being Jews. On the other hand, who can forget the crusades and jihads - those devastating wars waged by both Christians and Muslims against each other and which both religions collectively called “holy”? In contemporary times we saw the September 11 attacks of the twin towers in the United States which killed thousands of innocent civilians. We also witnessed and coiled in grim outrage over suicide bombings being carried out almost everywhere; and reacted with anger over the perennial terroristic activities of Abu Sayaf in the Phillipines. Right now we are spectators to the unending conflict between the Zionist Jews and the Palistinian mujaheedins or holy warriors in Middle East.
When will they ever stop? Why do these religions which call Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) their Father, and God as One, fight one another with unrelenting tenacity? Why do they hold one another in constant contempt?
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are religions of peace. It is even striking to note that one of the colloquial Jewish greetings is Shalom or peace, Christians greet one another with “Pax te cum” (peace be with you) and interestingly it comes in Arabic language as “Assalamu Alaikum”- a Muslim greeting stated in the holy Qur"an itself. Aside from that, all three adhere to the common belief in monotheism - the Oneness of God. This common tenet is perpetually recited every day by their faithful during acts of worship. For one, the cornerstone of the Jewish faith expressed in the Hebrew Torah particularly in Deuteronomy says “Shemah Israel, Ad-nai El-henu, Ad-nai Echad!” (Hear oh Israel! The Lord is one, the Lord is God). The Christian belief which is enshrined in the Nicene Creed and also known as Simbolum Nicenum, exclaims “Credo in Unum Deum..” (I believe in only ONE God), and the Muslim Shahada or confession of faith declares “La illaha illalah” (There is no God but Allah). But sad to say, these meaningful areas of unity are overlooked and replaced with hatred and suspicion. The very roots which bind the three together as belonging to one family of faith are being cut by their common odium against one another.
Perhaps it is now the right time for every Jew, Christian and Muslim to retrace their common origins. So that the wounds of apathy among themselves be healed by common dialogue, understanding and respect. There is no way that the three different faiths can be the same but there are so many ways in which their beliefs can manifest similarities. On these lies the unimpossible hope that that the unfathomable gap among these sister religions can be bridged and sealed for good. At least on these, let mutual understanding be built so that true peace will be given a change to reign. For the love of the Only One God that we worship, for the sake of the world long torn by conflicts and senseless bloodshed, for the future of our posterities, and in solidarity with all other religions, let there be peace.
