Monasticism and Islam: Some Resemblances
Monasteries are composed of men and women from different backgrounds, united only by the bond of the Christian faith. In this they resemble, in miniature, the Islamic umma, the community or brotherhood which binds Muslims through their faith more strongly than they are bound through family relationships or cultural affinities. Secondly, the focus of the monastic community is the word of God in Scripture; the daily listening to and reading of this word, in public and private, is the foundation of the life, just as the Qur’an is for the umma. Thirdly, monasticism is a life of submission through the vow of obedience which all monks take to a superior who represents for them the will of God. This word ‘submission’ is the very essence of Islam, in fact the very meaning of the word islam. Muslims submit to God who revealed his word through the Prophet Muhammad, as monastics submit to God whose Word is revealed in Jesus Christ, whose representative the Abbot or Abbess is believed to be in the monastery. Fourthly there is a strong similarity in the practice of coming together for regular times of common prayer to praise the Creator and intercede for the needs of mankind. Muslims meet in the mosque several times a day and say prescribed prayers, just as monastics recite or sing the Divine Office with prescribed prayers which vary only with the feast being celebrated or the liturgical season. The sight of many men prostrating before the Creator in regular lines in a mosque is truly uplifting. Monastics in their public worship also have very orderly gestures, bowing, processions, etc., which resembles the formality of worship in a mosque. As in the mosque the sexes are segregated, so also in the monastery. Finally, there is a resemblance in dress. Monks and nuns wear long-skirted habits which bear resemblance to traditional Muslim attire during prayer. In fact, it is not unknown in today's world for a nun in full habit to be mistaken for a Muslim woman. The hijab of the Muslim woman has nothing to do with monasticism, of course, yet it still creates an affinity.
- Sister Agnes Angela Wilkins, OSB (From Islam to Christianity: A Study in the Life and Thought of Hassan Dehqani-Tafti and Jean Mohammed Abd-el-Jalil in the Ongoing Search for a Deeper Understanding Between Christianity and Islam, pages 21-22). Paragraph structure edited so that it isn’t a single large block of text.
