Invitation to Islam [Electronic resources] : A Survival Guide نسخه متنی

Identifying
Types of Spirituality and Types of Approach

"Let
there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: Whoever
rejects Evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold,
that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things." The Qur'an, Al Baqara 2:256.

In
the world today most of us come into regular contact with individuals who
represent cultures, religions and life-styles different from our own. We are
thus faced with challenges and opportunities that were rare in earlier times.
Each time two people come into contact with each other, something happens.
Neither individual remains exactly as he or she was before. People have an
influence on each other.

If we
ignore this fact of life and it continues to be operative, eventually we shall
all conform to a common pattern. What that pattern will eventually be is
determined by many factors, one of which is missionary endeavor, that is,
activity which has as its goal to influence the religious life of other people
so that it becomes more like one's own. Seen from this perspective, the attempt
to persuade others of the validity of our own religion is a vital survival
mechanism. We do not have to be so altruistic that we are interested in "saving
the souls of others." The soul we save is first of all and primarily our own.

This
realization must be an encouraging one. It implies that mission activity is
successful even when we fail to persuade others to join us in our own beliefs
and practices. Nevertheless, successful activity can be attained and measured
in terms of goals. A goal-oriented approach to human contacts may seem
mercenary, but it is a fact of life with which we must deal. We are surrounded
by pressures to conform to often hidden agendas. That is why it is of value to
think about one's own agenda.

Before
setting up goals, it is necessary to understand the situation. In the matter of
religion, we need to know what kinds of forces confront us. Any model of
spiritual types reduces reality to a caricature at best. Such models are more
like maps than landscapes, but as such they may also serve as maps in a
landscape where we might otherwise be lost. The model of spiritual types in
Table One combines a series of degrees of social acceptance with a series of
degrees of religiosity. These are not the only terms that might be used, but
they provide twelve slots which can be used as a lense for both self-evaluation
and the evaluation of those which whom we come into contact. The degrees of
acceptance are based on those of Alan Race, Christian and Religious
Pluralism: Patterns in the Christian Theology of Religions, Orbis,
Maryknoll, New York, 1983. His three-part classification is a useful tool
without necessarily accepting his rather liberal view of religion as such.

It is
useful to evaluate both oneself and the individual with whom one is in contact
in order to establish what the spiritual values of each person actually are. It
is also useful to re-evaluate periodically to see to what extent the situation
has changed. One's spiritual profile may be made up of several slots, although
some of them must be seen as mutually exclusive. If we evaluate an entire
religious tradition in the same way, it may be possible to make some remarks in
all twelve categories, because religious traditions are made up of various
types of spiritualities beyond those that are generally considered typical of
it. The reality of life is also that one individual may fit quite well into one
configuration at one period of his or her life, and into another at a later
period. The goal of missionary endeavor is to facilitate that happening.

Another
possibility is that one individual may shift his or her spiritual profile
slightly or even greatly, depending on the situation. This is commonly known as
hypocrisy, but it is often used by missionaries as a vehicle. St. Paul himself
noted that he is all things to all men. Although this approach is very common
among Christian desiring to convert Muslims, it is highly questionable whether
it is licit. This is a further reason for trying to define matters accurately.
Otherwise, it is someone else who will determine the course of events.

Table
One: Types of Spirituality

In Table Two I
have defined six basic methods of approach as combining the features of
directness and indirectness with a unifying approach, a confrontational one,
and an illicit one. Most goal-oriented situations will be characterized by one
or more of these approaches. Illicit approaches must be recognized for what
they are. The desire to persuade, especially when frustrated, often leads to
one of these un-Islamic approaches. Neuro-linguistic programming has become
common in not only selling, but in therapy, teaching and religion. It is not
compatible with Islam, because it leads to a change in behavior which bypasses
the conscious decision of the individual based on reason. From an Islamic point
of view, that is immoral.

Table Two:
Methods of Approach

The
establishment of a spiritual profile is a dynamic process involving the
individual in several types of influencing circumstances. Religious
authorities, social and religious peers, and individual characteristics
integrate in an individual's experience to produce and reinforce a religious
identity, a belief system, and a pattern of behavior. This is the template upon
which all of the methods of approach noted in Table Two must come to bear.

Now
let us approach some of these issues from a practical standpoint by way of
illustration. I shall begin with a personal profile. Looking at the twelve
slots, I find myself best described by the intersection of mysticism with
exclusivity. My major form of spirituality is within the Islamic mystical tradition.
However, I consider that the direct experience of the divine is necessarily
dependent on an exclusive belief system, so I would add a secondary slot to my
profile, the exclusive belief-oriented, defined as twelver Shi'ite Islam. In
addition, I find that practice is essential, so I would add the exclusive
action-oriented slot as well. A personal evaluation reveals that I do practice
the duties of Islam more or less successfully. I have no particular interest in
the matter of religious identity, and am willing to be called anything the
observer likes.

Now
let us suppose that there is a person who would like to persuade me to become
more like himself. Let us say that the profile of this person is exactly like
mine in belief and practice, but differs in rejecting mysticism and focusing on
the importance of religious identity. What will be his goal? He will try to
dissuade me from an interest in mystical matters, gnosis or cirfan
as it may be called. Secondly, he will try to convince me of the importance of
maintaining a high profile in terms of religious identity. He will have no
goals in relation to my belief system or in relation to my actions, since I
have the same beliefs as he and since I perform my prayers in exactly the same
way that he does.

Let us
suppose there is another person whose spiritual type fits into the same slots,
but who defines their content differently. Let us suppose he emphasizes that he
is a Christian and considers this identity essential. He may also typically
emphasize belief-oriented exclusivism. His goal will be somewhat more
complicated. He will try to get me to forget about Islamic mysticism. He will
try to get me to identity myself strongly as a Christian. He will try to get me
to change my beliefs from typically Shi'ite ones to those which he himself
holds: let us say, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the doctrine of the
Atonement (that is, that God exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, and that I must look to the vicarious, sacrificial death of Jesus on the
cross in order to be forgiven for my sins and be saved). He may not emphasize
actions very much at all, except that he will try to get me to stop praying in
the Islamic way, stop fasting during Ramadhan, etc. He will try to get me to
pray by kneeling and folding my hands and speaking to God or Jesus using the
formula typical of his communion. He may try to get me to engage in some kind
of Bible study program. He may try to get me to be baptized and attend church
services. He will have a big job in front of him. It might be easier for him to
invent a theology which permits my salvation without conversion, and then he
will himself move into one of the areas of either inclusivity or pluralism.

One of the great
challenges to Islam is the fact that Western society has gradually shed the
requirements of reason and accepted absurdity in their place. This is the
process of centuries. The early Church Father Tertullian is famous for having
said that he believed in Christian doctrine because it was absurd. Reason is an
essential characteristic of Islam and is becoming increasingly difficult to
impose as a common parameter. In using direct confrontation, it is necessary to
establish the law of non-contradiction as a bare minimum. Otherwise discussion
is futile. Yet this is probably the biggest goal and the hardest to achieve. If
Muslims could infuse the critical use of reason into Western society, they
would have no other tasks to accomplish. Society would islamicize itself.

We
have tried to establish the following points. First, that people can be roughly
classed according to degrees of religiosity and degrees of acceptance. Second,
that evaluating oneself and the other person according to such a classification
is useful in determining goals for interaction and the process of achieving
them. Thirdly, that ways of achieving goals through interaction can be
classified as indirect and direct, and as confrontational and unifying. Which
of these types of approaches must be used will depend on the type of person and
situation. Fourthly, illicit approaches are noted, those involving some form of
coercion.