MY MUSLIM FRIEND

An ordinary moment became extraordinary in a blink…

Last Friday I walked into a local business to drop off some equipment that needed a repair. The owner turned and saw me at the counter and promptly approached me with a smile and a question. In the presence of other customers he asked me: “Hey, Pastor. Are you going to be burning a Quran this weekend?” This question came as no big surprise to me; everyone seemed to be talking about this story. However, the thing that made this particular inquiry different… the owner of the business was a Muslim.

I promptly looked and him and responded, “No. I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon.” My response was dressed in a smile that conveyed to him the message that I would never indulge in such a ridiculous behavior. Furthermore, I didn’t think it was the perfect setting to get into a big discussion about such controversial matters, so I suspected that the conversation would end with my reply. Boy, was I mistaken.

I won’t herein go into all the details of our exchange, but what began in a blink lasted over 20 minutes. For what would be to this point, my longest one on one conversation with a committed Muslim, I was given a full opportunity to enjoy an open and honest dialog with a very smart and articulate disciple of Islam.

He asked me why a “Christian” pastor would do such a thing. My response was that just because a person calls themselves a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean that they are one. There are radicals among the Christian faith just as there are among Muslims. I then went on to tell him how and why I, as a Christian, ride with the Patriot Guard to protect the grieving families of soldiers that have been killed in the war from being exposed to the protests of the radicals of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas.

Because this Quran story quickly was being connected to the NYC mosque debate, our conversation soon circled around to include this national hot potato. I looked my Muslim friend directly in the eye and said, “You could build a Mosque right across the street from my Church and it would bother me a bit. My quarrel is not with Islam.” He seemed surprised by my words, but not as surprised as was I by his response. He said to me, “I wouldn’t build a mosque across from your church until after I had spoken with you to see if you were agreeable to me doing so… That would be the right thing to do if we were going to be good neighbors.”

It was then that our conversation took its most serious turn. I repeated my previous statement extending my open willingness for a mosque to be built next door to my church. I also again repeated that I have no quarrel with the Islam. Disagreement: yes. Quarrel: no. And then… then I added… “My quarrel is with the advancement of Sharia law. I as a Christian and you as a Muslim recognize and are willing to admit our theological differences. I believe one thing and you believe something else. But as an American, I believe that we must both adhere to Constitutional law alone. The media continues to make this an argument about religion. To do so misses the point." (I did not say this to him, but I am content to let Court of heaven be the final judge as to which one of us was correct. One thing is certain: we cannot both be correct because the theological differences are irreconcilable.)

The conversation continued on for several minutes with him explaining the deep rift within Islam pertaining to the application of Sharia. In the end, we shook hands as friends and I believe we both walked away smarter than when we began. I, with great eagerness, look forward to more opportunities like this one.

Epilogue:

I do not expect for an American Courtroom to be a Christian Courtroom. I likewise do not expect for there to be two Courts - one Consitutional, the other Christian - thereby giving a person a choice. And, I most certainly do not believe that there should be three courts; Constitutional, Christian, and Sharia/Islamic. I do expect for there to be one Court ruled by the Constitution alone.

If I, as a Christian, or my Muslim friend, as a follower of Islam, feel that we cannot act according to the requirements of the Constitution, then we each must make the personal decision as to how we should act. If my actions as a Christian American results in a penalty according to law of the Constitution, then I must be prepared to take the penalty without complaint. Likewise, if Sharia law demands that a Muslim American kill a family member that converts to Christianity, then that Muslim must be prepared to suffer the penalty prescribed by Constitutional law for murder.