|
The Imam and the
Pastor: Cooperating for Peace
 |
|
Imam Ashafa (left) and Pastor Wuye
[FLT Films-London] |
Over the past two decades in Nigeria, thousands have been killed in
violent clashes between Christians and Muslims. Imam Muhammad Nurayn
Ashafa, a Muslim cleric, and Pastor James Movel Wuye, a Christian
preacher from Kaduna State in northern Nigeria, were at first sworn
enemies. Both were members of militias which fought each other in the
town of Zangon-Kataf, which erupted in violence in 1992. They are now
inseparable friends. They set up the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum in
1995 and also the Interfaith Mediation Centre. In 2002 they signed the
Kaduna Peace Declaration with many other religious leaders. They have
been awarded the Heroes of Peace Award from the New York City-based
Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. They are now seeking
to replicate their efforts through centers in Jos, Owerri and Lagos in
Nigeria, and more recently they have conducted interfaith work in
southern Sudan and Kenya. They have published a book, The Imam and
the Pastor: Responding to Conflict, and a film, The Imam and the
Pastor was released by FLT films in 2006. (See the trailer at:
http://www.fltfilms.org.uk/imam.html)
SGI Quarterly:
How did you move from hating each other to working together?
Pastor Wuye: I am a primary victim.
It took me three years to forgive the Muslims for the hurt done to me. I
had this ambition to retaliate for the hand that I lost in the conflict.
Now, I have found strength to forgive them, through the inspiration I
had from the Holy Bible and the Christian texts.
Imam Ashafa: The essence of Islam is
faith, tradition, to shift people from hate to love, from hate to
cooperation. It started from Muhammad in Mecca when he insisted that
there are no slaves and no masters, we are all equal before God. When he had victory over Mecca, instead of
transferring hate, he transferred love to the people of Mecca. Instead
of vengeance, he transferred the hand of cooperation. And that was
the spirit I later discovered in the close reading of Islam. Sincerely
speaking when I tried, it was difficult. Pastor James’s groups were the
ones that killed my spiritual teacher, and some of our brothers. I was
very sad about it.
SGIQ: Is achieving peace and
reconciliation easy or difficult?
Imam Ashafa: For me, building a
culture of peace is a very difficult challenge. There are many walls
that prevent this. For me there was the fear of the unknown and of
another culture. But religion has the
culture of creating an alternative to violence. If only one person is
able to see the light and influence one person, then we are already
creating ripples. To go beyond our fear as Muslims is to go beyond the
law of reciprocity. To do for others because we are trying to get to the
others’ need, across the line, across the border, because we feel it is
divine to do so.
 |
|
Celebrating a peace accord mediated by Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye in
Yelwa-Shendam, an area of Nigeria that had seen bitter interreligious
conflict [FLT Films-London] |
Pastor Wuye: The challenge of
finding peace is when you are hurting and you need to transfer the
aggression or the anger to someone or something. But when you learn
through true forgiveness, then you will not blame people for what
happened. Our work has impacted on quite a number of people, and we have
set up structures that are now reducing crises, particularly in Kaduna.
We have not stopped in Plateau State, because there are quite a few
other places that we need to reconcile, for example, between the Berom
and Hausa in a community called Dillimi-Kwang in Plateau State, and in
Bauchi State.
Some of our colleagues are in Sudan at the invitation of the Interreligious Council. We have to replicate ourselves so another Imam
and Pastor can start. We have discovered that our model also speaks to
people who do not profess any faith at all.
SGIQ: How important is it for
religious leaders to understand one another’s faiths in today’s world?
Pastor Wuye: I think it is crucial.
We are not preaching compromise, nor tolerance. We are preaching that
people should accept that they differ and they can do nothing about that
but accept the reality. Now, in
accepting the reality you explore the basic tenets of each other’s
faiths: While that is done, mutual respect will grow, but also you begin
to love, respect and listen to the other one.
We should be sensitive to what we say as religious leaders. If we speak
against or in favor of a particular faith, it can bring controversy and
resentment. This can lead to violence and even to a war.
Imam Ashafa: Why wouldn’t we be able
to learn about others? Well, because of our fear of the unknown. The
second barrier to learning about others is incapable scholars with
ignorant followers. They assume they know the best of their traditions,
but unfortunately they are half-baked scholars because they have the
knowledge of the texts but they don’t have the knowledge of the
environment. They cannot conceptualize the reality of their traditions
in the light of the modern challenges that they find themselves in. They
are incapable because they are living in the past. They need to move
into the future.
We need to move into the future with a positive mind. We have to stop
judging others from our own worldview. People acknowledge different
colors in the sky, the garden and the rainbow and they feel happy, but
they never acknowledge the dignity and the strength of our diversity.
SGIQ: Does religion exist to help
people in their everyday lives?
Imam Ashafa: Well, for me religion
is a tool, it is like a compass of one’s life. You should take care of
God’s creation. When you destroy the animals or plants, when you pollute
the environment, you do the same level of harm as you do to fellow human
beings. My religion is about love for all creation. That is why in Islam
Muhammad says the best among mankind is he who brings benefit to others.
Religion should put a smile, not tears, on the face of others.
Pastor Wuye: You do not need to
verbalize to present your faith. Your character is what is in the faith.
Religion should be an instrument of molding people to accept the
divinity, something you experience in
your heart, so that you follow your inner voice that leads to divinity.
You know what is said in Christianity that Jesus Christ is the Prince of
Peace, and Islam also means Peace. If you look, most of the conflicts
around the world are between Muslims and Christians. But if Christ is
the Prince of Peace and Islam is Peace, then we should be experiencing
double peace in the world.
 |
|
[FLT Films-London] |
SGIQ: What is the greatest lesson
you feel you have learned personally doing this work?
Pastor Wuye: You should not judge
actions on the surface. You should investigate every action or inaction.
While taking an action, be careful not to hurt someone by your actions,
or else you will be
judged by the same judgment that you give out. I also learned to pray
for every Muslim. We do not talk from our head, we talk from our heart.
Imam Ashafa: When I started, almost
everybody was against me, only my family was behind me. Now, over 60
percent are behind me. The greatest happiness is to be able to realize
the truth of your mission, and to be able to appreciate it. We promote
the concept of debate and the spirit of dialogue. But as long as you
fear death, you fear the loss of your inner world, or if you fear
poverty, you can never make an impact in the world. That is the lesson I
have learned.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere." For the world to be safe, we have to change the
scale of measure from materialism to the concept of piety and nobility.
Religion can still save the world from imminent danger.
|
