CAIRO: Karen Armstrong’s books on theology and history have managed to charm Egyptian readers, with new titles in demand, book sales high and often making the bestseller lists in Cairo’s bookstores.
Armstrong is famous in the Middle East for her books: “Islam: A Brief History and “Muhammad, a book recounting the life and traditions of the prophet of Islam.
So far, however, in Cairo, her most popular and best-selling books have been her comparative studies: “The History of God and “The Battle for God. These books not only review the origins of the three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, they also highlight many of the factors that characterize the three faiths and make them “strikingly similar, in spite of stereotypes that indicate that they are not.
Armstrong teaches Christianity at London’s Leo Baeck College for the study of Judaism. Generally throughout her written work, she tries to spread ideas of tolerance and peaceful coordination between religions. Armstrong implicitly suggests that instead of working alone in an idiosyncratic way in a quest for ultimate meaning, the three faiths might benefit from questioning these meanings together.
“It’s a truism to say that Muslims, Jews and Christians all worship the same God. They all have remarkably similar ways of thinking about the divine, all of them, says Armstrong.
“What struck me when I was researching for my book “The History of God is how striking it was that working in isolation from one another and often from the spirit of deadly hostility, Jews, Christians and Muslims kept asking themselves the same questions about the divine and coming up with remarkably similar solutions.
Armstrong likes to cite the story of Israa and Miraj, the Islamic story of the Prophet Mohammed flying miraculously to Jerusalem and later ascending through the seven heavens to meet God, as testimony to how unity is endorsed in the heart of Islam.
Drawing lessons of tolerance from this account, Armstrong says that, if anything, this mythos, central to the spirituality of Muslims throughout the ages, expresses two deep meanings. “It indicates the absolute active Islam or surrender to the divine, the return to the source of our being that every one of us has to make one way or another.
“It also expresses the Prophet’s yearning to bring the people of Arabia right into the heart of the monotheistic family in the city of Jerusalem, she says.
Instead of engaging in rivalry, Armstrong explains, “All prophets of the past welcomed the new prophet into their midst. The prophets all listen to one another and talk to one another and take each other’s advice.
This story, says Armstrong, is the epitome of Islamic spirituality; it has pluralism and a sense of unity with the other religions of Abraham right at its heart.
“I think this is something important to ponder on in this time of strife, pain, anguish and conflict, she adds, referring to the current conflict between the West and Islam.
Apart from studies into the three faiths, Armstrong has written books on Buddhism, while her dream project is a book about incarnation, which she is currently working on.
Meeting the woman behind the legacy in Cairo was an unforgettable experience; “an enlightening experience, in the words of some of the Egyptian fans who met her.
With short silvery hair, a wide, bright smile and an air of modesty embracing her, Armstrong maintains the look of a humble academic as opposed to a celebrity, in spite of all the glitter, fame and popularity surrounding her work or the passionate applause she has received from critics and the public.
When she speaks, she does so confidently, almost defiantly; her voice clear and her ideas imbued with novelty, a marvel to the ears and mind and, even more importantly, the spirit.
Armstrong, who has undergone a long journey and struggle with religion, is currently one of the most trusted and wide-ranging experts on religion, especially monotheistic faiths. Her quest for “practical compassion, as she chooses to define it, has led her to be what she calls a “freelance monotheist, believing in one God and embracing many aspects from the three central faiths.
Armstrong was drawn to Islam early on in her personal quest. According to the theologian, the spirit of “tolerance and unity is what first attracted her.
“It is this pluralism that first drew me to Islam; the endorsement of every other faith, recounts Armstrong. “That Muslims are taught, ‘Say to the people of the book: we believe that your God and our God is One and the same.’ It was extraordinary to me coming to that; [considering the custom of] my Christian past which said that my church, not even my tradition, was the one true faith, the only one.
Armstrong, who was born a Roman Catholic in 1945, says she gave up on her original belief when she was in her early 20s. In those early years, after failing to find God as a nun, she denounced religion all together and became in atheist.
Through the years, her beliefs were refined. She eventually returned to God, “but never to the Catholic church, she says.
As a theologian, Armstrong says that “spiritual exercise is one key to understanding that unfortunately many of those who aim to scientifically study scripture and text have abandoned it. Thus, Armstrong, who finds her ecstatus (stepping outside of herself) among books, research and religious texts, has her own form of worship and has found the right form of prayer for her “among the myriad forms of spirituality.
Armstrong not only knows how to talk about God and his texts, but also loves to talk about him. With her passionate spirit fully engaged, she often lectures about her understanding of God. “We are talking about another reality altogether, another kind of reality altogether . He goes beyond anything we can conceive, says Armstrong.
“God has an ‘ousiya’ an essence; that’s what makes God what God is . the essence of divinity is something that is always absolutely transcendent. We will never know it. It is one, she said. “But when God in his ultimate transcendence makes himself known to us, he makes himself known through these outward signs that he has made accessible to us so we can grasp.
What Muslims call “the ayat or the signs of creation, she said, “are not God himself, but signs of his presence … They are part of God, but they are not the whole of God.
In Jewish mystical tradition, Armstrong cites, there is this concept of “God without end, meaning that God can never be defined.
Armstrong, a scholar herself, encourages all believers to study God and their faiths. Armstrong says Muslims and non-Muslims all have the raw ingredients in their faith already. “You can just study it, and only turn to other traditions for spiritual inspirations, she says.
Speaking about the issue of Islam and fundamentalism, Armstrong says that Muslims have alienated themselves. “What they need is to reach out to other faiths, and to encourage dialogue, adds Armstrong.
“It is difficult to forget the pain or sweep it off the carpet, Armstrong told The Daily Star Egypt earlier during her visit; referring to the horrors that Muslims, Christians and Jews have subjected one another to.
“We must all first recognize that we have all done harm to one another and we have inflicted suffering upon one another. But before these atrocities, religious people have preferred to be right rather than compassionate, explains Armstrong.
“I think of my own tradition, I think of the Crusades . I remember the Crusaders started their journey by slaying Jews and Muslims and ended it by slaughtering Jews and Muslims in a two-day massacre. This has never been forgotten, and how could it be? she says.
The difficulty people face in accepting what others say and the thought that “the other is wrong and we are right, lies at the core of the problem. What we should think of, according to Armstrong, is “our world and that our religions cannot accept this.
According to her, the keys lie in beginning with self-criticism, self-examination and in finding “compassion. < P>“God does not change the state of a people, unless they change the state of themselves, she says, citing a Quranic verse.
