Terry Jones and Religious Tolerance

To this day we still do not know what was behind the cruel treatment of two followers of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) of Bekasi. We just hope the police can promptly disclose the culprits’ identities and their motivations in a transparent way.

Disclosure by the police is very important for two reasons. First, this event indeed became a point of discussion between Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in their second meeting, on Friday, Sept. 17, in Washington. Second, and this is fit to be underlined, an event that is tied with an issue of religion always becomes a sensitive issue for us in Indonesia. No matter how small, if a religion or its followers are fueled by slander or feel violated, the followers of that religion will quickly respond strongly. Second, look, for example, at what happened with Salman Rushdie (Satanic Verses), Ahmadiyah, Islamic Defender Front (FPI) and others. Don’t forget that which is still warm in our memories, the plan to burn the Quran by the preacher Terry Jones not long ago. At the moment the news broke about the provocation of the preacher, it was not only Muslims in various countries who were angry but also church leaders of the world. Even the Vatican condemned that plan.

If we discuss this issue of Terry, we become angered: what does he truly know about the Quran? It is very possible that the leader of that small evangelical church, The Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, did not presume that his plan to burn the Quran to commemorate the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, would have a very serious impact.

Despite the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — the amendment that grants freedom of speech — giving the right to anyone, including a church, to do anything whatsoever, Jones’ acts drew criticism from a majority of Christians.

Everyone regretted that occurrence. Whereas, if only Terry Jones understood how the Quran respected Jesus, who in the Quran is named Isa, he would most likely not have concocted the plan in the first place.

Does Terry Jones know that the basis for Muslims respecting Jesus is in the Quran? Does he know that Muslims always say the name of Jesus (read: Isa) with the honorific “alaihi salam” or “peace be upon him” — which is meant as a glorification, in the same manner as is given to the family of the Prophet Muhammad, friends and holy people within Islam?

The Quran explicitly mentions Jesus, “Isa” in the language of the Quran, at least 25 times. That means five times more often than the name of the Prophet Muhammad is mentioned. The Quran also honors Jesus, whose name originates from the Hebrew language, Esau and Yeshua, with noble titles, among them “The Messiah,” “Word of Allah,” “Messenger of Allah” and “Son of Mary.” He is referred to as “the messenger of the pious” (Al-An’am 85), and “the bearer of the Gospel” (Al-Maidah 49). There are still other comments such as the controversy of the crucifixion, but this is not the place to discuss it too far.

Besides the writing about the miracles of Jesus such as speaking while in the cradle, resurrecting the dead and healing the blind with the blessing of God, the Quran also pays extraordinary respect to his mother, Mary. One chapter in the Quran is even given the name “The Chapter of Mary.”

Even the birth of the Messiah is portrayed well, such that every Muslim knows the story of Mary and her noble position when devoting herself in Jerusalem, before the gift of the birth of her son Jesus, who was delivered without a father.

Muslims’ anger toward the book burning is because the Quran is a holy book that is very sacred. First, they are very certain that the Quran is authentic. For Muslims, the Quran is not the creation of humans (the Prophet Muhammad) who cannot write or read but a revelation from God himself.

Since it was passed down 14 centuries ago, the Quran is read beginning from the high ulamas, the ayatullahs, the ustaz (scholars and clerics of Islamic studies), to the laymen. It is the only “book” that can be memorized orally, from the beginning of Surah Al-Fatihah (The Opener) until its end (Surah An-Nas, The Chapter of Mankind) — without even one letter differing from what is written down. Even non-Arab people can memorize all 30 of its parts.

Although the Prophet, his family and his companions memorized its contents, guaranteeing the protection of the revelation of God, the Prophet ordered several companions who were known for their writing ability — such as Ali ibn Abi Talib and Zaid bin Thabit — to write those verses on date skins, stone or animal hide and bone. He also communicated the placement and arrangement of each verse within its respective chapter so that all would be noted down. Those writers were known as the writers of the revelations (kuttab al-wahy). For other tasks, there was a secretariat tasked with writing letters, pacts and other things.

The first caliph, Abu Bakar, formed a writing team that was led by colleague Zaid bin Tsabit. Abu Bakar commanded that the people should bring their manuscripts to the Nabawi Mosque in Medina to be examined by Zaid’s team. The manuscripts that were accepted had to fit with the memorizations of other colleagues and represent the result of the command of the Prophet, not the initiative of that person alone. Even this act had to be reinforced by two witnesses.

The steps that Abu Bakar took were continued by the second caliph, Umar, and the third caliph, Usman bin Affan. Several transcripts that were already verified by Zaid’s team were disseminated to various cities of the world and became the reference source every time there was a verification of fitting with the contents of the Quran. Besides serving as evidence of the truth of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran functions as the number one source of guidance for Muslims. It is the basis of Islamic law and the “life and death” of every Muslim. Thus, it is not strange if Muslims then are angry toward Terry Jones.

But maybe there is wisdom in everything. Who knows, it may be precisely the Terry Jones incident that teaches us a lesson so that we will be more careful in judging the religion of other people. Who knows, it may be precisely the consequence of this happening that two large religions of this world, Islam and Christianity, can be friendlier and their followers more tolerant while mutually respecting each other. And Allah knows best.