"Meet a Muslim" Night

I was perhaps the only Catholic at a recent meet-a-Muslim night, where about 40 Muslims were socializing. I was welcomed, mostly warmly, and there was a moderate curiosity about what I was doing there. I had several conversations about the Pope's remarks, with American-, Turkish-, and Pakistani-born Muslims. These conversations were not extensive or in-depth, since this was my first meeting, but I did not hear the argument that "The Pope is wrong to quote that medieval emperor because Islam does not teach the spread of the faith by the sword." Some stressed that they respect the office of the Pope, though I felt that a first meeting was not the time to press for a clarification of what was meant, so I accepted it as a peaceful gesture. Concerning the violent responses to the Pope's remarks, one Muslim told me that one Muslim may not 'excommunicate' another Muslim as long as they profess that 'There is no God but Allah and the Prophet is his messenger.' This, she told me, partly accounted for the difficulty in reigning in violent, radical Muslims. The structure of Islam was described as much more like Protestant Christianity than like Catholicism. Another explained that in areas where there was the most violence, the reports of the Pope's remarks were partial, and were distorted by local imams who were eager to have further justification for jihad and to make the case that the West is at war with Islam. I didn't press for why local imams might want to make such a case.

Ramadan starts tomorrow, and I was invited several times to join them for iftar, the breaking of the fast after sunset. I won't be joining them for that, but hope to continue and deepen the dialogue over the course of the next year.