An Exploration of the Christian-Muslim Landscape in Modern Syria and the Contribution of Eastern Christian Thought to Interreligious Dynamics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2020.226Keywords:
Middle East, Syria, Christian-Muslim relations, Eastern ChristianityAbstract
This paper considers Christian-Muslim relations in modern Syria and the importance that eastern Christian thought can make to the interreligious context within the Middle East. It briefly describes the diverse historical and contemporary Christian and Muslim religious landscapes that have cohabited and interacted within the country and the cultural, religious, and political issues that have impacted the interreligious dynamic.
Based on fieldwork undertaken in government-held areas during the Syrian conflict, combined with critical historical and Christian theological reflection, the article contributes to understanding Syria’s diverse religious landscape and the multi-layered expressions of Christian-Muslim relations, in a way that has not been previously attempted. Providing insights into interreligious praxis prior to the conflict and in its midst, the article contributes to an understanding of the effect of conflict on interreligious relationships.
The article considers the unique contribution of eastern Christianity to the Christian-Muslim dynamic and concludes that the significance of the theology and spirituality of the ‘Antiochene’ paradigm has been under-recognised in western discourse and that, having coexisted within the cultural environment of Islam, it is uniquely placed to play a major role in Christian-Muslim dialogue and the reframing of Islam’s engagement with modern society.
This article contributes therefore to knowledge and understanding of the changing Christian-Muslim dynamic in Syria and the neighbouring region; a new understanding of the religious landscape; and a door to exploring how eastern Christian approaches to Christian-Muslim relations may be sustained and strengthened in the face of the considerable religious and political challenges faced by both communities today.
References
Al-Habash, Mohammad Abdul. “M.A. Al-Habash: The Crisis in Syria.” Speech at the UPF Interfaith Consultation on the Crisis in Syria Amman, Jordan, October 11-13, 2013. Universal Peace Federation, October 13, 2013. http://www.upf.org/resources/speeches-and-articles/5718-ma-al-habash-the-crisis-in-syria.
Audo, Antoine. “Eastern Christian Identity: A Catholic Perspective.” In The Catholic Church in the Contemporary Middle East, edited by Anthony O’Mahony and John Flannery, 17–38. London: Melisende, 2010.
Avakian, Sylvie. The ‘Other’ in Karl Rahner’s Transcendental Theology and George Khodr’s Spiritual Theology. Frankfurt Am Main: Peter Lang, 2012.
Drevon, Jerome. “Embracing Salafi Jihadism in Egypt and Mobilizing in the Syrian Jihad.” Middle East Critique 25, no. 4 (2016): 321–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/19436149.2016.1206272.
Girma, Mohammed, Romocea, Cristian, eds. Christian Citizenship in the Middle East. Divided Allegiance or Dual Belonging? London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017.
Goldsmith, Leon T. Cycle of Fear. Syria’s Alawites in War and Peace. London: C. Hurst & Co, 2015.
Hugh-Donovan, Stefanie. “Louis Massignon, Olivier Clement, Thomas Merton, Christian De Cherge: Radical Hospitality, Radical Faith.” A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 55, no. 3-4 (2014): 473–494.
Kerr, Michael and Craig Larkin, eds. The Alawis of Syria. War, Faith and Politics in the Levant. London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2015.
Khodr, Georges. “Christianity in a Pluralistic World - the Economy of the Spirit.” The Ecumenical Review 23, no. 2 (1971): 118–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.1971.tb01114.x.
Khodr, Metropolitan Georges. The Ways of Childhood. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2016.
Krokus, Christian S. “Louis Massignon’s Influence on the Teaching of Vatican II on Muslims and Islam.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 23, no. 3 (2012): 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2012.686264.
O’Mahony, Anthony. “Eastern Christianity and Jesuit Scholarship on Arabic and Islam. Modern History and Contemporary Theological Reflections.” In Philosophy, Theology and the Jesuit Tradition, edited by Peter Gallagher, Anna Abram, and Michael Kirwan, 159–186. London and New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017.
O’Mahony, Anthony. “Louis Massignon: A Catholic Encounter with Islam and the Middle East.” In God’s Mirror. Renewal and Engagement in French Catholic Intellectual Culture in the Mid-Twentieth Century, 230–334. New York: Fordham University Press, 2015.
Pierret, Thomas. Religion and State in Syria. The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Raheb, Mitri. “Protestants.” In Christianity in North Africa and West Asia, edited by Mariz Tadros, Kenneth Ross, and Todd Johnson, 258–270. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018.
Roussos, Sotiris. “Eastern Orthodox Chrstianity in the Middle East.” In Eastern Christianity in the Modern Middle East, edited by Anthony O’Mahony and Emma Loosley, 107–119. Oxford and New York: Routledge, 2010.
Sabra, George. “Two Ways of Being a Christian in the Muslim Context of the Middle East.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 17, no. 1 (2006): 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410500399342.
Sharp, Andrew M. “Modern Encounters with Islam and the Impact on Orthodox Thought, Identity and Action.”. International Journal of Orthodox Theology 5, no. 1 (2014): 119–150. https://orthodox-theology.com/media/PDF/IJOT1.2014/Sharp.pdf.
Shemunkasho, Aho. “Oriental Orthodox.” In Christianity in North Africa and West Asia, edited by Mariz Tadros, Kenneth Ross, and Todd Johnson, 247–258. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018.
Siriani, Razek. “Syria.” In Christianity in North Africa and West Asia, edited by Mariz Tadros, Kenneth Ross, and Todd Johnson, 102–113. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018.
Wahba, Wafik. “Evangelicals.” In Christianity in North Africa and West Asia, edited by Mariz Tadros, Kenneth Ross, and Todd Johnson, 285–292. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018.
Winter, Stefan. A History of the Alawis. From Medieval Aleppo to the Turkish Republic. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016.
Ye’or, Bat. The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam. From Jihad to Dhimmitude. Cranbury (New Jersey), Port Credit (Ontario), and London (England): Associated University Press, 1996.
Zuhur, S. “The Syrian Opposition: Salafi and Nationalist Jihadism and Populist Idealism.” Contemporary Review of the Middle East 2, no. 1&2 (2015): 143–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0169796X15584034.
