Open Discussions/ Gulf Cultural Club
Lent, Easter and Ramadan
Religious practices in post-modern world
*John Parry (United Reformed Church minister)
** Shaykh Ayub Rashid (Religious scholar, Imam and activist)
*** Hannah Brown (member of the Joint Public Issues Team at the Methodist Church)
Lent is a time when Christians are expected to observe special prayers, fasting to mark this time of repentance and reflect on the life of Jesus Christ. We take this opportunity to explore the commonalities between Christianity and Islam, how faith can play role in the post-modern world and help reconstruct the human soul on the path to establish justice, promote compassion and defeat evil. How relevant is religion to the modern world? And how can Christians and Muslims work together to achieve a better world?
16th April 2019
Chairman: The topic for this evening is quite interesting and important. Usually at this time of the year we have a programme on Easter and of course Ramadan coming next month I suspect we will have another programme for that particular month for all of you to join.
However the relationship between Easter and the Lent which is 40 days of fasting for many Christians and of course Ramadan as you all know is a 30 day stint of fasting between sunrise and sunset. So really how do religious practices in the post modern world fit in with those who like to live in a God zone rather than a God free zone?
Easter is a time when Christians are expected to observe special prayers, fasting throughout Lent and a time of reflection on the life of Jesus Christ. We take this opportunity to explore the commonalities between Christianity and Islam, how faith can play a role in the post-modern world and help reconstruct the human soul on the path to establish justice, promote compassion and defeat evil.
Quite often people talk about peace and we also greet with the Islamic greeting of salam as peace. But we can’t have peace without justice and one of the characteristics of God is that God is just therefore we must also practice justice and hence we take a journey towards peace and happiness.
How relevant is religion to the Muslim world and how can Christians and Muslims work together to achieve a better world? A tall order I suspect but I am sure our guest speakers will think about this topic.
John Parry: Thank you very much, Salam Aleikum. One of the things I noticed was that my brother said we were going to discuss commonalities. The problem that we face is that in this week of all weeks we have two of the issues that are probably two of the most divisive issues between Christianity and Islam that is on the one hand the question of whether Jesus actually died on the cross and that is one of the significant questions that I am very often asked by Muslims. The second question is can someone actually die for the sins of another. That of course is the second issue where we may differ because the Quran actually says that no person can answer for the sins of another. Those are two of the things that we have often discussed over the years. And whether or not they divide is to be put to one side for the moment.
What I want to do this evening is to look at the concept of Easter and try to understand what is the significance of Easter in the light of our present day situation. Let me look at three days which are significant in the whole Easter period.
This coming Thursday evening we will be remembering the last meal that Jesus took with his disciples and that meal is at the basis of a service which we as Christians take part in some of us in a regular manner some of us in a less regular manner. So for instance that meal is commemorated in what my Roman Catholic friends call the mass which is celebrated by them most days whereas the background that I come from, essentially a congregation and Presbyterian background we have what we call the Lord’s super – the commemoration of that meal much less regularly. For some of us once a month, for the Scottish Presbyterians once a quarter.
It is at that point that we remember that last meal that Jesus had with his disciplines. And one of the significant things about that is the very remembrance is something that unites us not simply across time but also geographically across continents.
So very often when I am involved in that service of what we call the Lord’s super I remember my colleagues in very many different parts of the world and so that the Easter example of the evening meal that Jesus had with his disciples – that example is one which unites the Christian people right across the boundaries of both time and space. In effect it is not dissimilar to the ummah in terms of its unity of all Christians together. So that is one part of the Easter story.
The second part of the Easter story is that which takes place on what we call Good Friday and that is the time when we remember that Jesus was taken. He had been through a trial on trumped up charges and was condemned to death. The Christians would say that that is the time when he was crucified. And for us that is central, it is pivotal to our faith. So the crucification of Jesus is not something that we would want to give up easily.
It was a trumped up charge. It was the result of two groups of people being antagonistic towards this person, Jesus of Nazareth. On the one hand you had the leaders of the Jewish community who happened to feel that Jesus had said things against them, had betrayed them, had spoken badly of them. And there is no doubt that he was one of the people who was willing to speak out against the mal practices that he found in this own religion at that time. Many of the Jewish elders and religious leaders wanted him out of the way.
Secondly I found it fascinating that Jesus is seen as someone who also had a remarkable following and right the way through his ministry in the north of Galilee he was someone who was seen by many people as a potential messiah. The definition of messiah is very much in terms of someone who would lead the people against the colonial power of the time which was the Romans.
The Roman authorities were worried stiff about the way in which he had a very remarkable and very large following. This was one of the things that he was accused of that he was treasonous and therefore was to be condemned by the Romans and in fact they condemned him to death.
We find that Good Friday is the day on which we remember the death of Jesus. We remember the death of Jesus but then we have to work out the implications of that death for the present day and age. I want to say first of all that when Jesus asked how do we follow you he said that we have to take up the cross daily.
And by that he did not mean that one had to be condemned to death but the taking up of the cross is seen in a number of ways. One it is seen in terms of the battle that goes on within us. And here I think we have an issue of commonality because you will talk of jihad, you will talk of the greater jihad and the lesser jihad the greater jihad being that battle that goes on within our souls. And that is if anything one of the ways in which we take up our cross daily in our own lives.
As I walked out of our house this afternoon – we live in a fairly narrow street – there were two cars facing each other and neither of them would move. And you could see what was happening. There was a battle going on – I am the greater, I am not moving. So within us there is that evil which talks in terms of I am the one that has to conquer here. So here is one of the battles, the taking up of the cross, the way in which we battle within ourselves to keep evil down.
Secondly in taking up the cross daily there is the battle against self centeredness. That is something that I saw this afternoon in these two people coming together. And the issue is that that self centeredness will actually prevent us very often from being God centred. So the more self centred I am the less God centred I am.
You think about it. How often do we actually talk in terms of I and me and my. I can remember as a child thinking I must not use the terms I and me and my and the next thing was I was asking my mother what I was going to have for my super that evening. We are inherently self centred. And that is part of taking up the cross daily, of conquering that self centeredness.
One of the things that we have to recognise is the battle between hedonism and living for others. And how often do we want to maintain a life style which is made at the cost of other people whether it is in terms of the clothing that we buy and we want to buy cheap clothing we go to Primark and the next thing is because we have gone to Primark we have bought clothing that is made for pennies in Bangladesh or other parts of the world. That is part of the battle that goes on. Are we living a hedonistic life style for ourselves or do we think in terms of other people?
That battle also involves issues of the environment and how we are involved in the good keeping of God’s creation. I think one has to recognise that Good Friday as we call it and the death of Jesus is not the end. We move on to Easter Saturday and in recent days Easter Saturday has become a much more important issue. We think in terms of the waiting that goes onand the waiting is a reminder that we live in God’s time and not in our own time.
In Greek, and the New Testament was written in Greek, there were two words for time. One is kyros and the other is cronos from which we get chronology and all those kinds of things.Cronos is the time that is measured that time is not God’s time. God’s time is the kyros time and we cannot force God’s hand.
So Easter Saturday reminds us that we must be there in waiting on God for God’s time in order to do what is God’s will and not our own. So for me Easter Saturday has now taken on a much greater significance.
And finally I want to talk about Easter Sunday. It is the day of resurrection. If Jesus was killed by the Roman forces on Good Friday Easter Sunday is the day of resurrection, a day of new life. And that is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday.
What happened on Easter Sunday? I am inclined to say God only knows. I have no idea. And yet these two issues of the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus are inherently central to the Christian faith. What happened we don’t know.Paul the apostle is confused by it I think because he says that just as there is a physical body there is a spiritual body. How do you have a spiritual body.
Something happened that enabled the people, his disciples, to recognise the continuing presence of Jesus. Something happened that speaks to Christians nowadays in terms of resurrection. Death is not the end but a new beginning we know not how.
But there is also another new beginning and that is the new beginning in lives which are changed by following the path of Jesus in lives that are changed by following the openness, the honesty, the justice and the integrity of this person we call Jesus of Nazarath.
I think one has to recognise that for us that new life begins now. My Sikh friends talk in terms of givan mukat the one who is liberated while in this life and we as Christians talk in terms of living in Christ, of living a new life now.
And so this Easter one of the things that I will be doing is recognising that I actually have to die to my self centeredness and it in the dying to my self centeredness that I find a new way of living which is in keeping, one hopes, with the will of God.
Shaykh Ayub Rashid: In the name of Allah the beneficent, the merciful, my dear brothers and sisters salam alekium. Sorry I am late I wanted to be here from the beginning of your talk but my fellow Arabs they have a saying sometimes a sheep can be taken to a direction it does not want to go. That was the case with me today.
Looking at the poster which says Easter is a time when Christians are expected to observe special prayers, fasting to mark Lent and the time of reflection on the life of Jesus Christwe take this opportunity to explore the commonalities between Christianity how faith can play a role in the post modern world and help reconstruct the human soul on the path to establish justice, promote compassion and defeat evil. So how relevant is religion to the modern world and how can Christians and Muslims work together to achieve a better world?
I think there are a lot of points looking at this poster. Maybe what we can try and discuss today is the role of faith in the modern world and how truly speaking we can work together as Muslims and Christians to promote justice within our communities.
We as Muslims are now in the month which is known as Shaban and after Shaban comes the holy month of Ramadan. In the month of Shaban we celebrate many occasions of the birth of holy people, including the grandson of the Holy Prophet Imam Hussein, his brother Abdel Fadl Abbas and Imam Sajad the grandson of the Holy Prophet. All Muslims recognise the importance of 15th Shaban. It is a day when sustenance will be distributed for the whole year. At the same time we celebrate the birth of the saviour of mankind and we call him Imam Mahdi.
Looking at this there is a narration which says that when Jesus returns it will be on 15th Shaban. So here we can say Muslims and Christians meet on 15th Shaban together by recognising a very important figure who will come to bring peace, justice and tranquillity around the world.
And when we look at the tradition of the Holy Prophet Mohammed it says that Mahdi will return, to fill this world with peace and justice after it has been filled with corruption and injustice.
Another narration actually mentions that when Jesus comes he will work with Al Mahdi. They will team up to bring peace and justice. So looking at this only one narration from an Islamic point of view we see that there is commonality between Christians and Muslims when it comes to the idea of waiting for the saviour who will come to save humanity.
I remember clearly some of my teachers when I was at the Islamic seminary they used to say if we mankind were to look at solutions from the United Nations then it is difficult to find all the solutions from them. The United Nations is like a lion without teeth. I come from Africa and I have never seen a lion without teeth. However they said the United Nations is like a lion without teeth. So when can we get our justice back if the United Nations will pass resolutions and some of those will be broken time and again and we do not have anybody to turn to to find peace and justice.
And it is here actually there are narrations from the Islamic point of view which say that when corruption prevails and people will not find justice then you wait until Mahdi comes back because he will be able to do that job which was not done by messengers before talking about peace and justice to prevail around the world. So that is point number one.
Point number two is how can we promote faith in the modern world as Muslims and Christians. When we look at the Holy month of Ramadan on which I want to put a lot of emphasis in my discussion this evening we find that Christians have a way to observe fasting during Lent. Muslims observe fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan. So fasting can be traced within these Abrahamic faiths. And it is through fasting we see today – and it is so beautiful to live in the UK where the English language does not borrow but it accepts many new words.
Today for example if we talk about kebab everyone knows what that is. So now when we talk about Ramadan many people acknowledge and know that there is a month which is known as Ramadan. Nowadays many Muslims invite Christians and people of faith and those without faith to break fasting together. This is to show that we can come together in the modern world to promote faith by bridging these gaps which are there by not knowing the other.
Now when we look in terms of the Islamic faith. The definition of fasting as we know in Arabic they call it al imsakis to refrain from eating and drinking and doing some of the things if you commit or if you do them your fasting will be broken just before fajr sunrise until sunset. So this refraining from eating, drinking and other things which are known as breakers of fasting.
So when we look at the fasting in terms of Islam the question is why do we need to observe fasting. How can we promote our faith, our iman through fasting. It is here we come to the Holy Quran. In Surah no two chapter two verse 1.83 to verse 1.87 when find that when fasting is mentioned when Allah God the Almighty says: All you who have faith fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order for you to be God conscious.
When look at verse 1.83 of surah two we see a few things. God the Almighty says to Muslims you Muslims do not think that fasting has been made obligatory only for you. It was made obligatory for those who were before you meaning Christians and the Jewish community and other communities.
And God says in order for you to have faith or to have taqa or to have God consciousness in modern day understanding taqawhich has been mentioned in this verse some of the interpreters say imagine if you go to places like Angola, in Africa. Or let us say Afghanistan. And you know a land which you have to cross is full of mines when you walk on that particular land you need to be very careful because if you step on a land mine you will either die or you will lose one of your limbs.
So taqa you thread carefully on a land which is full of mines. Allah in the Holy Quran the similarity which he brings here he says fasting has been made obligatory on you for you to have that consciousness. So we ask the question what is the similarity between that God consciousness which we are living in and the world.
We find that the world which we are living in has many temptations and desires if we follow them we will go astray. Fasting is one of the ways to make us to be able to make easy for us to understand the dangers because as far as narrations and the understanding of scholars go we as human beings have channels which lead to our souls. One of those is ears, eyes and our mouth. When we eat and eat and we look and listen without limitations it is easy for us to commit that which is known as sin.
So the tradition says that in order for you to be able to overcome these desires close the biggest entrance which is the mouth. Once you have closed that from eating and drinking that which you desire from a certain time during the day you will be able to connect with yourself. But when we fast we do not just become aware of God, we become aware of ourselves, that we have this inner power within ourselves which we do not normally use until there is a danger in front of us. Sometimes you may see someone jumping over the wall when there is a danger and when you ask the same person can you do it again when there is peace he may say no I cannot do it.Why because we suppress our inner powers and we do not use them until the time of death.
Living in the UK there are many youngsters including my children. I told them you are not compelled to fast especially at the time of summer when you have to observe fasting for more than 15 hours they will say ‘no’ and they will cry to go for it.
Then I understand it is the inner power which they have and they want to use it. Fasting not only makes us aware of ourselves and to be conscious of God. It also makes us understand the idea of hunger that it can make us people who may remember others. For example in Africa where people do not get three meals a day – forget about snacks.
When we observe fasting then someone comes and says we need to help those who do not have food then it is easy for us to understand this is the way fasting can make us able to be with others in terms of understanding. Fasting makes us able to come altogether united and this idea of observing saum. Muslims across the world whether it is in Africa, in Asia or in Europe when the holy month of Ramadan comes all of them will come together to say that this is the month when we are fasting.
The last message of Prophet Mohammed is that when you observe fasting not only refrain yourself from eating and drinking but make sure you do more than that. What more should we do? He said make sure that when you observe your fasting let your whole body observe fasting. We say how? He says make sure your eyes do not look at that which is forbidden and your ears do not listen to that which is forbidden. Don’t say that which you are not allowed to say and make sure that you are always focusing on the taqa which is God consciousness.
Fasting unites us together. When the Holy Month of Ramadan comes the hadith says a person who observes fasting will rejoice in two places. One will be to rejoice at the time of iftarwhen we break our fast. Many people rush to break their iftarquickly and they become happy but at the same time the hadith says you will be happy when you meet with your Lord because you have observed that which he wanted you to observe.
The holy month of Ramadan is the month which makes us live in the modern world by following those who were in the footsteps of the Prophet many years ago but at the same time we find that fasting helps us in this modern world as I have mentioned with all those benefits but the most important thing to say is that we wherever we are if we are aware of the commands of God we will be able to do them regardless of where we are. God the almighty is so merciful and kind he did not make fasting in a specific month in the Gregorian calendar, let us say January or February. He said it would be in the holy month of Ramadan and Ramadan rotates.
This year it will be in May and June. Maybe after a few years in will be in January. In other words those who are observing fasting in summer they will have a moment to observe it in winter and in spring in other places. So we do not have this idea because we follow this particular calendar Ramadan will always be in a particular period or season.
When we observe fasting the most important thing to remember is that it is a month of discipline. Fasting brings discipline to us. Many people who do not normally set their alarms to wake up for fajr for example will be able to observe that timing of starting the holy month of Ramadan.
It brings that discipline to individuals to the community to the nations and people become so helpful to each and every one us. This is fasting. If we take it not only as for me as an individual and my family but we take it to the international level fasting can be one of the ways to promote peace and justice throughout the whole world.
I pray that when 15 Shaban comes we will remember those people who suffer from injustices around the world and we will remember the saviour Imam Mahdi and also we will remember the messenger of Allah Jesus. And also when the holy month of Ramadhan comes we will remember those who do not have three meals a day by praying for them and contributing whatever we have to share with them.
May Allah bless you all, Illhamdu Allah.
Hannah Brown: Thank you so much for having me here this evening to join you, and to share with you my experience of the Lenten and Easter Season as a Christian.
As a brief introduction to myself: my name is Hannah, and I currently work for the Joint Public Issues Team. The Joint Public Issues Team represents four Christian denominations – the Methodist Church, The United Reform Church, the Baptist Union and the Church of Scotland – to work together on issues of peace and justice. We work to represent the voice of the church on various social and justice issues, such as asylum and migration, poverty and inequality, peace building and environmental responsibility. We also seek to equip local churches and Christians to respond to these issues in worship and service, and to explore how social justice and mission are a key aspect of the Christian faith.
One of our main projects at the moment – and the one I have been invited to focus on – works specifically on a response to environmental responsibility. This year, during the Lenten season, we have invited members from our four churches, and Christians more widely, to get involved with ‘Living Lent’. I’d like to take some time to explain to you today a little bit more about this campaign, why we chose to focus on climate change this Lent and, more broadly, why we are considering responding to justice as a key aspect of contemporary faith.
During Lent, Christians traditionally choose to ‘fast’ from something, or to ‘give something up’ in order to focus on God and to create space to see where God is present in their lives. Following this tradition, this year we invited people to choose an action – a commitment to ‘give something up’ in order to alter their lifestyle to reduce their impact on the environment during Lent. In doing so, they were invited to reflect further on how their relationship with the world and creation has an impact on their relationship with God, and how their faith has an impact on how they treat creation.
The six actions people were invited to choose from included:
When they had committed to one of these six actions, people were invited to become part of a community, receiving daily resources via email and social media in order to help them explore how their commitment might offer them the chance to think more widely about the climate, and their faith. They were also invited to become part of an online community, and to share their experiences with other people taking on one of the challenges. We have seen Christians from all over the country – all over the world, in fact – sharing, supporting and encouraging one another as they try and change their lifestyles to reduce their impact on the environment.
This was both about individual change, but also to mobilise political momentum. Members have been invited to get involved with collective action, writing to MPs and local councils, lobbying their banks and encouraging young people to speak up. Whilst the core of the campaign was to encourage people to change their individual behaviour, it went further to explore why this is significant in making change in society more widely.
So, why was this campaign an important priority for us? In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued possibly the most significant call to climate action we have heard yet. The report they issued suggested that, as a consequence of the current rate at which we pollute the planet, we are expected to exceed a safe limit of global warming within the next 12 years. We are already seeing significant consequences of global warming across the world – 2018 was the fourth warmest year on record, and extreme weather events cost the global economy over $1 billion dollars in 2018 alone. Cape Town saw the worst recorded drought in history, yet a summer of extreme floods in Japan killed over 230 people.
Approximately 295 billion pieces of plastic were used in the UK alone, with 8 million tonnes of plastic found in the world’s oceans. Approximately one third of food producesglobally went to waste, contributing to 8% of global greenhouse emissions.
In order to stop global warming from further escalating and reaching unprecedented temperatures, which would have an irreversible consequence on the eco-system and global welfare, we need to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In order to do so, the IPCC report (which I referred to earlier) called for “rapid, far reaching and unprecedented change” to our lifestyles.
We cannot help but recognise that we live in a climate crisis. This is nothing like we have experienced before as a global community, and yet the response we are offering in the face of these statistics is slow and ineffective. Government policy is not setting ambitious enough targets, and research only last week revealed that we are unlikely to reach the targets we have already set as a consequence of our current behaviour. As individuals, and as a society, the lifestyles we continue to live have a significant impact on the world we live in. If we are to respond in a way which will make any kind of difference, we need to act now.
We chose to host this campaign in the season of Lent for an important reason. As we developed this project, we found crucial and relevant connections between the events and reflections we focus on during Lent, and the climate crisis.
Christians begin Lent by recognising the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, staying there for 40 days before he began his ministry. In reflecting on this time, we think about going without – taking away the other things we rely on in order to increase our focus and dependence upon God. In the face of the climate crisis, we find ourselves in a wilderness. We have too heavily relied on technology, growth and greed, which have in turn damaged creation, whilst failing to rely on the abundance God promises to provide.
As a consequence, we find creation becoming more and more like the barren wilderness the gospel describes Jesus going into. However, and I think most importantly, this is not the end of the story. Lent is not about denial and sacrifice purely in and of themselves, but as an act of preparation for Easter. It is at this point we celebrate the journey of Jesus’ death and resurrection that we might be offered the chance to live. In going without we are not suggesting that God calls us into a life of denial simply that we might focus, but a life which relies upon the love God offers us because it is the only way to full, abundant life. We reflect on the wilderness because we know that after it, God promises new life resurrection and transformation. I believe that this is a promise that we should be responding to in the face of the climate crisis.
As Christians, we believe that since the beginning, God created the planet and declared it very good. The creation – and everyone in it – is declared precious to God. The story of God’s people is one full of God’s deliverance in the form of natural abundance: in the Old Testament, the Israelites are delivered from the wilderness to ‘a land of milk and honey’, and the book of Romans promises that the creation will once again ‘liberated’ into glorious freedom. The flourishing and restoration of God’s people has always been accompanied by the flourishing of God’s land.
And this promise of salvation found in the tangible restoration of earth is one seen not only at the hands of God, but in partnership with God’s people too. In Deuteronomy, as God’s people are delivered into the promised land they commit to returning to God the ‘first fruits’ of their work on the land. At their hands, God’s gift is encouraged to flourish, and in partnership with God abundance is celebrated with gratitude. As humanity is called to be reconciled to God, so too creation can be brought to life again.
As a consequence of this belief, we should recognise that we have an important voice to bring to a global response to the climate crisis. Globally, the movement in response to the climate crisis is gaining momentum. This very week, in fact, we have seen the activist group Extinction Rebellion shut down various parts of London to challenge the unwillingness of politicians and society to respond to the threat we face. However, this is increasingly a conversation of threat, danger, denial and hopelessness. As we have a faith which shows us that we have cause instead to be hopeful, positive and life-affirming, we have a responsibility to add this to the conversation in a personal and political capacity.
So, if Lent is a season of looking more closely to God, and recognising where we have become too reliant on things of the world, why would we choose to focus on the world rather than on God? The work we do at the Joint Public Issues Team is primarily about inviting Christians to see where social mission as part of their Christian life.
Personally, at the centre of my faith is a belief that as Christians, we are not called into relationship with God simply for our own benefit or betterment, but to see the redemption of creation through justice. In Methodism particularly, we look to see God in the world by seeing God in those around us. We seek out a kind of ‘social holiness’, a sense that we have a responsibility for each other and for the flourishing of humanity. For God’s kingdom to come, all of the earth needs to be restored to God, not simply our individual lives.
The life of Jesus, and some of the key actions he took which we focus on during Lent, was deeply political. Jesus lived in a society, which experienced corruption, the marginalisation of the poor and a leadership under the Roman Empire, which did not see the flourishing of all people. By declaring his message, healing people and challenging the authorities of society, Jesus lived very much within and responded to the issues the world presented. At Easter, as we recognise Jesus arrest and persecution under the Roman Empire, we recognise that Jesus was challenging injustice, by seeking to bring a greater understanding of God’s love and promise to all people into society as he experienced it.
Therefore, we cannot separate our desire to know God better, and to make space for God in our lives, from a desire to see justice happen on the earth. We have to live in the reality of society, which at this point faces climate crisis. We cannot live in faith without recognising these realities, and our complicity in them, and sharing our response of faith this through our words and actions.
We live in a society that increasingly critiques the meta-narratives of moral and ethical living offered by religion and other philosophies. We repeatedly hear the critique that religion is distant from, irrelevant and un-necessary in contemporary society. This is paired with a decline in religious observance – now, only 47% of people living in the UK would profess religious observance, dropping by 5% in just a year.
Whilst there are many ways of responding to these critiques, one I believe is crucial to an active response to this ‘religious disillusionment’ as some might label it, is to demonstrate and prioritise actions within religion which are deeply rooted within the world as it is. We have a responsibility to take action for justice in the name of our faith, responding to the realities of contemporary society whilst remaining rooted in religious principle.
This has certainly been an endeavour of the Living Lent project. In choosing to see the world as it is, we cannot possibly ignore the climate crisis. It is a genuine threat to creation, which threatens the livelihoods and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable of God’s creation. It is predicted that by 2050, climate change will drive the total of global migration worldwide up to 200 million. We have to recognise how the development of those of us in the West has placed a burden on some of the most vulnerable in global society.
However, in the light of Christian belief and teaching, we also know that God promises to redeem creation, and to involve is in that work. We are called by God to be a voice of hope in despair, to see and respond to God’s promise of redemption, not simply respond in fear of the distress we find ourselves in. In the New Testament letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that we should ‘live a life worthy of the calling you have received’. We are invited to change our lives because of the hope we have in God’s promise of redemption, and in order to show others.
Why together?
Whilst Christians come from a particular perspective and motivation in responding to the climate crisis, as I have explored, I think responding this is an issue of all faiths. Research suggests that in order to change the perspective of society on social issues, we have to appeal to people’s moral priorities – their wider concept of ‘good’. And, one could argue, this is the role of faith in society – to allow people to engage with life in a greater capacity than simply what they see before them, to ask and answer questions. We have a responsibility not only to join in with but to lead discussions around why we should be changing our lives in order to respond to climate change.
In order to make society wide change, to pressure the government and to see international change come about, we need to work together. One of the most significant things we have learnt through Living Lent is that this is about community. Developing community between those who have shared goals and values, and can listen and understand the reason why we have reached this stage, is incredibly important in motivating and encouraging change.
Within all of this, by recognising and responding to the climate crisis, we are rooting our Christian faith in an awareness of contemporary reality, and the issues that face our society. I think it is important to recognise the role faith has to play in raising awareness, and bringing a different dialogue to the issues that are important to society. Faith does not need to be distant from society in order to be distinctive, but can be rooted in the world in order to show its difference.
*John Parry is a United Reformed Church minister, originally ordained in the Church of Bangladesh. On returning to this country he lived for 14 years in Southall and established a centre for dialogue in the King’s Hall Methodist Church. He holds a PhD on the history and theology of the encounter of Sikhs and Christians both in the UK and in India. He taught World Church Studies and World Faiths in The Partnership for Theological Education in Manchester and at the University of Bangor. He has been a guest lecturer in India, Madagascar, Samoa and Taiwan. On so-called retirement he moved to be the minister of a small congregation of the United Reformed Church in North West London and is the Director of the London Interfaith Centre.
**Shaykh Ayub Rashid was born in Arusha, Tanzania, studied Islamic Sciences at the Islamic seminary of ofQom, Iran where he graduated as a qualified scholar. He holds BA in Islamic law and MA in Islam and Community Studies in the UK. He is a qualified Muslim Chaplain from Markfield Institute of Higher Education in Leicester UK, and is currently a lecturer at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies in London and the Imam of Friday Jamaat with Khairul AmalTrust in London. He regularly lectures in the UK, US, Canada, Middle East and Africa where his audiences have benefited from his inspiring lectures on the Qur’an and the Ahlulbayt.
***Hannah Brown is member of the Joint Public Issues Team at the Methodist Church. She recently graduated from the University of Nottingham, with a degree in English Language and Literature. She spent three years with the Christian Union. Having grown up in a lively Methodist Church, Hannah inherited a faith where social justice was placed firmly at the centre. She joined Church family on protests and demonstrations, on door to door fundraising endeavours and to deliver food bank collections. Working with local churches in Nottingham and York on community engagement, she began to offer radical welcome in increasingly divided communities. Hannah is keen to understand how inequality is built into both our governing systems and our social mind-set, and how we can respond by standing firmly in the margins, amplifying the voice of those silenced instead of our own.
