Imam Abdel-Malik Ali

Today we had our last Arabic class (the prof has to be away next week for a "family emergency"). Instead of the normal sprint of grammar lessons, exercises and exhortations, we watched a video on Ramadan. It was not a documentary, and it was certainly not in Arabic. The speaker was Imam Abdel-Malik Ali, a black American with a Muslim student association in California. He was a great preacher, for a sermon it was.

Two points come immediately to mind: first of all, she could probably get in trouble for showing such an overtly religious piece. If it had been a Christian sermon delivered with the same absolutes and conviction, she assuredly would have gotten in trouble.

More importantly, it was very interesting to hear this sermon. One could say that it's not orthodox Islam because Americans always butcher the real theology. However this guy was well versed in his Qur'an and was unheretical as far as I could tell; besides, it was shown by an orthodox Palestinian professor.

There was a distinct "Christianization" of this guy's style and even theology; everything sounded very close to how a pastor might deliver a lively sermon on fasting. In fact, with a few aesthetic changes, you could pass it off as Christianity to the secular observer. This was good actually, because for me it made the fundamental differences stand out all the more.

The first thing I noticed was that he talked about "subordinating" the "animal side" of oneself to the "spiritual side." This sounds well and good - and he made a point often made in Christianity that whatever you put first in your life is your god, and thus don't be ruled by your carnal desires. Real Christianity, however, doesn't subordinate the carnal man; it kills it. Christianity is a radical religion.

The second major difference is who's doing all this subordination and purification, which I agree are noble and right goals. Imam Ali said that one's "taqwa", which can be translated "righteousness" or, as he preferred, "God-consciousness", prevents one from sinning, and fasting helps build taqwa (which it does). In the Biblical view, this is completely vain and misguided. Man is sinful, and cannot purify himself; that only substitutes pride for sloth, as C.S. Lewis points out in "Mere Christianity". Rather, man must ask God to purify him, both in this life and for eternity. I can see why Islam is attractive to Americans; it demands a lot of people, and it really is a "man's religion", in the sense that it puts the onus of conquest of oneself on each believer. This appeals to men especially, who often feel useless in our anti-masculine culture. Christianity offers no such solace in man's relationship with God; man is purified by faith alone, and can do nothing to save himself. Now, he can be truly fulfilled, and has a distinct role in the gender-specific social order outlined in the Bible. But that's a secondary role to his place as one who worships at his Father's feet, fully dependent and reliant on the latter's grace. Christianity is definitely a radical religion.