Un Musulmano Al Vaticano [MCKK Magazine 1987]
by AN Ariffin

I had done it often before since arrived in Rome; strolling through St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City, home of the Catholic Church, ostensibly to experience the architectural space. Being an architecture student, that was why I had gone to Rome in the first place, to study the architecture of this ‘cradle of Western Civilization’ and its long history of the Roman Empire and then as the initial center of all Christianity.

My rented apartment was only two streets away from St Peter’s Cathedral and today was like the other days when I had finished my classwork and came over. An early spring wind was blowing around droplets of water from the two tall fountains within the large square while grey doves fluttered about in the evening sunlight. I was with a friend and the two of us were licking ‘gelati’, excellent Italian ice creams while we walked among the other visitors to the ‘piazza’ and basilica.

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? She asked me, looking towards the cathedral.

‘Yes.’ I replied. My reply must have been halfhearted for she looked at me quizzically.

‘You don’t really think so?’

‘Well I was just remembering all the scandals and power struggles it took to build this church...’

I let it end there, referring to what we had learnt of the political, financial and social scandals that marked parts of history of the Vatican Popes.

‘Are you being objective or are you just jealous because you’re not catholic?’

I smiled. We were such close friends that bluntness no longer could bring out any hard feelings. ‘Look,’ I began, ‘I am a Muslim, I have a firm identity and a heritage of my own. You forget that while Europe and Christianity were in the ignorant, backward centuries of the Dark Ages, Islam was at the height of world civilization. Not only Mecca, but also cities like Damascus, Baghdad, Samarqand and Cairo were international centers of knowledge, trade and architecture.

My friend was only partially impressed, ‘That was then, this is now. So what’s happened to the Islamic civilization today?’ She agitated.

I’d ask the same: what happened to Christian civilization? Remember, the wealth of the materially developed West today is a secular civilization, not Christian. The fact is, Europe began to advance after it rid itself of the Church’s hold at the end of the Middle Ages. The Islamic world, on the other hard, started to decay because the Muslims neglected the teachings of Islam. It had been predicted: the first 700years of Islam’s existence would be its Golden Age, the next 700 would see its decline. 1400 years have passed by and I believe the world will witness an Islamic Revival before it ends.

‘Gosh, that’s kind of hard to believe considering the disunity of the Muslims today ‘ was her observation. Indeed unity seemed like a dream but I faithfully explained that Allah is great and He could change the situation whenever he deemed fit. ‘For example,’ I continued, ‘when I go to the mosque here in Rome for Friday prayers, Muslims of many different races pray together in unison.

‘Ah! That’s one thing I wanted to ask you. How do you fit in at the mosque here, I mean are you well-accepted?’ Her question to me revealed the fact that in some places Black Christians weren’t allowed into Churches of White communities. But I just answered her question truthfully.

‘Sure, I’m accepted. I don’t see why not. All Muslim prayers are identical no matter where in the world and the actual services are held in only one language, Arabic. Furthermore, each and every Muslim is a brother to another Muslim.

‘So much for Muslim brothers, look at Iran and Iraq!’ She shot back with a touch of sarcasm, which made me indignant as I replied, ‘Indeed, it’s a great sin for a Muslim to kill another. As I said, they’re ignoring the teachings of Islam. And didn’t you know? The American-Iranian Scandals has uncovered to the world that it was the West which silently prodded Iraq to go to war with Iran because of the fear that Iran would become a powerful Islamic state. Plus, the West encouraged the war to benefit from arms sales to both sides. And now both Iran and Iraq are too proud to initiate peace moves for fear of being seen as the loser. As they say, Pride is the greatest sin of man. ‘I had to stop to catch my breath. But I wouldn’t help adding, ‘Anyway, look at the Catholic Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland. The only difference is that the Muslims didn’t have anything to do with that.’

The logic of my outburst must have made an impact on my friend for she remained quiet thoughtful. Finally she said, ‘Yeah, I guess there’s just not enough respect and understanding not only between ourselves.

‘Well, you’ll be surprised. The Muslim respect Jesus very much, but as a prophet of God and not as Christ the Son of God.’

‘But how can you mean that when the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God?’ She queried.

I answered,’ The Bible was misinterpreted through translation to other languages, when originally ‘son’ simply meant that he was a creation of God. In fact in other parts of the Bible God refers to us as his ‘children’ but it doesn’t also literally mean we are his offspring. The word just means ‘creation’. But it’s all lost in translation, which is why the Quran and all Muslim prayers must remain Arabic, not just for religious unity but also to avoid misinterpretation

Again the truth must have hit her for she was silent, pensive once more. But this time it seemed her pride prevented her from admitting the logic of my claim. As they say, Pride is the greatest sin of man and woman. Wallahu-alam.

The sun was setting far in the west, casting long shadows from the many columns and statues in St. Peter’s Square. We started walking back home. Our discussion turning to the more mundane things in everyday university life.

Tomorrow the sun will rise in the East. lnsya-Allah.