With the approach of Christmas this year, as the Christian Muslim Forum, we wanted to celebrate the way Christians and Muslims come together at this time of year and how traditions associated with the Christian festival have been adapted by other faith communities in this country.

We have produced a short booklet, An Inclusive Christmas, which can be found here.

An Inclusive Christmas Booklet

We hope it inspires new inter faith encounters and encourages deeper dialogue between Christians and Muslims during the festive season.

Merry Christmas
Bishop Paul Hendricks and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Co chairs, Christian Muslim Forum.

At this time of year, stories about ‘banning’ Christmas appear. So here is the Christian Muslim Forum’s ‘Christmas Statement’, first published in 2006.

Over the past few years there has been concern about the secularisation or deChristianisation of certain religious festivals. In particular, concerns that local authorities decided to rename Christmas. In fact, this was not the case, although stories persist of Christmas ‘being banned’. Some have suggested that Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and wishing people ‘Merry Christmas’ offends members of other religious traditions.

Some suggest that wishing people ‘Merry Christmas’ offends members of other religious traditions.

As Christians and Muslims together we are wholeheartedly committed to the recognition of Christian festivals. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and we wish this significant part of the Christian heritage of this country to remain an acknowledged part of national life. We believe that the only beneficiaries of a declining Christian presence in public life are those committed to a totally non-religious standpoint. We value the presence of clear institutional markers within society of the reality and mystery of God in public life, rather than its absence.

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and we wish this significant part of the Christian heritage of this country to remain an acknowledged part of national life.

We believe that our open and democratic society should promote freedom and expression of religion in the public space rather than restrict it. We welcome, for instance, public recognition of ’Id al-Fitr (Eid al-Fitr), as Muslims celebrate the conclusion of Ramadan. We value partnerships in some local communities which enables others to share with Muslims at this time of celebration. This affirms the public contribution people of different faiths bring to our society. We believe that downplaying the celebration of religious festivals promotes frustration, alienation and even anger within religious communities. Such negative approaches devalue religion and undermine the positive contributions that faith communities bring to society.

We believe that downplaying the celebration of religious festivals promotes frustration, alienation and even anger.

We also rejoice in the contribution and value of all religious communities in our country – Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and others. It is important for the integrity of all religious traditions that we recognise the centrality of their major festivals. In our diverse society we need to foster a mature and healthy outlook which recognizes this country’s Christian heritage as well as the important part that other religious traditions play within our culture. This demands increased religious understanding by
government and local authorities, and we are encouraged by the involvement of the Department for Communities in this area and the annual Inter Faith Week.

In our diverse society we need to foster a mature and healthy outlook which recognises this country’s Christian heritage as well as the important part that other religious traditions play within our culture.

We are thankful for policies and actions which respond helpfully to our changing religious environment. On the other hand, we are concerned that approaches based on anti-religious philosophies, or fear of religion, risk causing alienation in many communities and fanning the growth of extremism. Those who react to religious pluralism by downplaying the place of Christianity in British society unthinkingly become recruiting agents for the extreme right. They provoke antagonism towards Muslims and others by foisting on them an anti-Christian agenda which they do not hold.

They provoke antagonism towards Muslims and others by foisting on them an anti-Christian agenda which they do not hold.

People need occasions for festival and celebration. For many in our society, these opportunities are fundamentally religious and spiritual. We encourage everyone with responsibility in national and local government to give an open and welcoming space for religious festivals as part of a positive contribution to community cohesion.

First issued November 2006, updated.  Download the statement.

On Tuesday 8th December, in partnership with the Christian Muslim Forum’s Campus Encounter project, the newly formed King’s College London Inter Faith Network held ‘A Winter Celebration of Faith’ event. Over 30 students attended the event which involved stalls relating to Hanukkah, Christmas and Eid. The students were invited to sample traditional foods relating to each festival and filled themselves up on delicious doughnuts, mince pies and baklava, as well as learn about the symbols and practices relating to each festival. Please see the fun had at the gallery here Campus Encounter.

Representatives from the Islamic society, Catholic society and Jewish society gave short presentations about the festivals, which also included a demonstration of a traditional Islamic song about Eid. The evening was rounded off with an Interfaith quiz where all participants readily mingled and assembled themselves into teams, each including members of different faiths to aid with answering questions. The quiz was completed with a friendly competitiveness and was a resounding success. The winning team were very pleased to receive their prize and all agreed that they had learnt something new and that they were very much looking forward to future Interfaith events.

Campus Encounter is a project that the Christian Muslim Forum hopes to establish in various universities throughout the UK, starting primarily in London. It is rooted in the firm belief that the university campus is an environment that plays a key role in the development of a student’s identity (including religious identity) and how they engage with people of other faiths. There is sometimes a lack of creative dialogue between Christian and Muslim groups on campus and tension can arise when proselytising activities take place without the understanding that is gained through inter faith dialogue.

Christians and Muslims share many similar concerns, especially with regards to social issues. It is a great shame then that tensions exist between Muslim and Christian groups and that this can lead to misunderstanding and contributes to religion being perceived as a problem and not a solution.

The Christian Muslim Forum intends to continue its aim of forging strong relationships between Muslims and Christians, building bridges through practical projects and initiatives such as the King’s College winter celebration that was led by students, for students. It is a great example of how people of different faiths can work creatively together when sharing their faiths with others.
Daniel Edge / Peace Worker

Christian and Muslim answers at Christmas

Jesus asks this question in the Gospel, there were various answers, but he wasn’t satisfied until Peter said, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’. Christianity still stands by this answer, as do the Christian members of the Christian Muslim Forum. The question is often used today by evangelists but it is not often wrestled with as it was in the time of Jesus.

But this December emel, is asking, ‘In a world of divisions, can the man both Muslims and Christians call the Messiah, have the potential to be a bridge? The Muslim understanding of Jesus is simple. He was a man, born of a virgin (the account in the Qur’an’s third chapter very similar to the gospels). He was given prophethood by God from birth and performed miracles during his life by God’s leave. Muslims do not believe in the crucifixion; and the majority orthodox belief is that he did not die and will one day return. In a nutshell, that is it. But there is more.’ The article goes on to ask, ‘How is it possible to accept his virgin birth and yet reject him as divine?’

Muslims recognise the religious importance of Christmas for Christians and are opening up a dialogue and challenging the perceptions of many who are unaware of Jesus’s place in Islam. There is also an article in a recent edition of the New Statesman, while the Barnabas Fund addresses it in their January/February magazine. Muslims engaging with Christians about Jesus is an encouraging development, even if it has its own difficulties. I remember an ecumenical Lent group where we talked about a Radio 4 series – people of different religions were reflecting on Jesus. One of my friends crossly said, ‘I don’t want to hear about Jesus from a Buddhist!’

We can’t be Muslims and Christians and agree entirely about Jesus, though we can try to convince each other of the rightness of our own beliefs, in the best possible way. When we don’t handle our differences honestly we end up fudging or being perceived as compromising each faith’s distinctives. This is one of the concerns which many Christians have about some conversations between Muslims and Christians about Jesus. Our work in the Christian Muslim Forum depends on there being difference between us so we should be in a good place to explore the different opinions. So let’s ask ourselves, as Christians and Muslims, ‘Who do we say Jesus is? Is emel right that can he be a bridge?’

Christian Answers, Julian Bond

Muslim Answers, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra

So where does this leave us? We are still different, we have not accepted each others beliefs. Some conversations about Jesus become unhelpful and unconvincing arguments about who is wrong and who is right. The best conversations are those where we listen patiently to each other and seek to understand, and hope that what we are trying to do is share what is important to us while giving space for ‘the other’ to share in the same way.

With greetings of Peace this Christmas,
‘Christmas statement’
Julian Bond, Abdal Hakim Murad, Ibrahim Mogra
with grateful acknowledgments to emel for the use of their image and their article