Should Christians Share in Muslim Iftar Meals: Episcopal Priest says Yes; We say No

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

March 29, 2025

As the Episcopal Church moves further and further away from the gospel over the biblical doctrine of marriage; it should not come as a complete surprise that in the area of interfaithery, TEC should take an equally leftward turn.

Recently an interfaith iftar was hosted by St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California which brought the Rev. Jessie Turnier, the church’s rector, with the sentimental line, calling the iftar, “a beautiful way of loving one another.” The rector said the event grew out of the church’s interfaith partnerships.

Atilla Kahveci, vice president of the Pacifica Institute, an organizer of the gathering, explained that during Ramadan, a holy month of fasting, worship and community, Muslims “don’t eat or drink anything in the daytime. Then we gather to break the fast at an iftar, a community meal. We are here because we believe when the blessings are shared, it doubles, triples and quadruples,” ENS reported. Some 70 persons were invited.

The Rev. Paul Colbert, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles, said hearing once again the call to prayer, reminded him of his former experiences in Sudan and Yemen, “So thank you for that.”

“We’re all here as those on the path seeking the divine and we all have different ways of approaching that, different disciplines,” Colbert said. “It’s a joy to be with others on the road seeking the divine presence in our midst.”

Marianne Cordova, an associate minister at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living and a member of the Claremont Interfaith Council, said she drew strength from the gathering. “We’re all one. We’ve got to practice what we believe, I believe that. There is strength in coming together and understanding each other.”

The Rev. Tom Johnson, retired Claremont School of Theology professor and retired pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Covina, California, addressed the gathering and said, “Diversity, equality and inclusiveness is a wonderful thing.”

However, the Rev. Dr. Gerry McDermott Anglican theologian and scholar had a different take on this event. “It all sounds charming.  But is it based on truth?  Is the Rev. Colbert right that we are ‘on the [same] road seeking the divine presence’”?

“That implies that we are all going to the same God.  But what if the gods we seek as Christians and Muslims are very different gods?

“The Muslim God--Allah--is quite unlike the Christian God.  Allah is not a Father; the Qur'an never calls him that.  And Muslims insist he could not possibly have a Son.  They reject fiercely God as Trinity and the crucifixion (not to mention the resurrection) of the Son of God.

“Furthermore, the God of Islam is not a God of love.  Love for God is never commanded by the Qur’an and is rarely even mentioned. The paramount commandment in the Qur’an is fear of God, not love for him. The Bible portrays God as father and shepherd and lover whom we are to love in return, but according to specialist in Islamic law Sir Norman Anderson, “In Islam, by contrast, the constant reference is to God as sovereign Lord (Rabb), and man as his servant or slave (‘abd).”

“Love for God has been important in the Sufi mystical tradition, but many Muslim leaders have denounced Sufism as heterodox or heretical. Besides, the Sufi conception of love for God dissolves the human self in unity with the divine and dismisses the idea of God’s love for us as “incompatible with the very nature of God as sublime” (Murad Wilfried Hofmann) to both Sufi and non-Sufi Muslims, God does not have unconditional love for humans generally. He loves only Muslims who are faithful to him. In contrast, the God of the Bible pursues sinners even in their sins and offers his love to them.

“If Allah does not love sinners, neither does he tell Muslims to give universal love to others. In fact he commands his followers, “Do not take as close friends other than your own people” (sura 3:118). The Encyclopedia of the Qur’an explains that in Islam “one can truly love only [fellow] believers, since love for unbelievers separates one from God and . . . is equivalent to lining up on the side of the enemies of God. “This stands in stark contrast to Jesus’s command to his followers to love their enemies.

“Therefore, Muslims and Christians might all be on a path seeking a divine presence, but the Muslim divine presence is radically different from--and in fact opposed to--the Christian divine presence. The Qur'an tells Muslims to kill non-Muslims, including Christians: Surah 9:5: "Then kill the disbelievers (non-Muslims) wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush …"

“Religious diversity in the abstract might be a wonderful thing because it represents religious freedom.  But sentimentalist cliches can obscure the hard truths that the Christian and Muslims paths go to very different places.  One destination is marked in fact by an absence of love.”

British Anglican theologian Dr. Ian Paul says that in the UK, the Ramadan fast has a different status. “Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam (along with confession of faith, ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet’, prayer, giving alms, and pilgrimage to Mecca), and the iftar meal usually happens just before evening prayers. In a non-Muslim culture, the iftar will have an important function in identifying and encourage cohesion for the Muslim community. But it isn’t possible (as some have argued) to simply say that the iftar is not a religious meal. Islam does not separate the ‘religious’ from the ‘social’, and has a totalising world view, making exclusive claims over the whole of life.”

END