Is This Offensive? Please Critique and Advise

[Ahl al-Dhikr]

My dear friends!

A friend of mine forwarded this with me, and asked me to share it with you. It is a rough draft of a "spiritual accord," to be affirmed by individual Muslims and Jews. He wanted to know if there was anything in it that might be offensive to Muslims, and/or if there was anything that might be changed or worded better so as to make the document more amenable to Muslims.

What do you think? Please feel free to critique, re-word, suggest, advise, ask, etc....

We, the undersigned, do affirm and celebrate our common heritage and history, as the descendants of our father Abraham and his righteous sons Ishmael and Isaac. We acknowledge and respect the covenants which God has established with the descendants of both Isaac and Ishmael and are committed to furthering our mutual goal of sanctifying the name of God, together, as mere servants of our Heavenly Ruler.

I) We agree to confer upon each other the proper respect due to human beings made in the image of God.

II) We agree to recognize each other as true descendants of our father Abraham, in fact and in spirit.

III) We agree to validate the Hebrew and Muslim scriptures as sacred gifts from God to each of our respective peoples, calling us to return to God and to follow the holy laws which we have been given.

IV) We agree to seek out the religious values and spiritual insights offered by the wise and humble servants of God, children of both Isaac and Ishmael, which are true sources of inspiration and illumination on our respective, as well as common, paths to God.

V) We agree to educate ourselves and our co-religionists about the rich history and religious culture shared by Jews and Muslims, as well as the unique spiritual perspectives and customs of each.

VI) We agree to respond to hateful and misguided speech about Muslims and Jews, when spoken in our presence, with words of compassion, information, and reconciliation.

VII) We agree to refrain from supporting political action which will result in any further grievance or animosity between Jews and Muslims, even when such action is undertaken in the name of justice, peace, and/or God.

Thanks in advance for your help and insight!

 

[Ali_Cena]

peace to you brother, all i can tell you as i am a bit busy is that your first point- well i could talk about all of your points but your first one, well we belive that Allah has got no image-from his creation. did you understand, you can not compare Allah The Creator, with his creation, otherwise you could be in lots of troubles, take a lot at this video as i am a bit busy... anways
Peace to you----all for your first point only.

video---http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rRT_qNN7Pvw

 

[Zafran]

salaam

all of them look ok except the first one as muslims dont believe anything is like God on earth.

 

[doorster]

salaam

all of them look ok except the first one as Muslims don't believe anything is like God on earth.

ditto!

 

[Ahl al-Dhikr]

Thank you all very much for the enlightening responses thus far!

"Image of God" is a poor English translation of the Hebrew "Selem Elohim," where "selem" actually means something sharing a transcendental quality with something else. It's taken as axiomatic that God is completely unknowable; while there is much discussion as to what exactly the "salmuth" that is shared by God and humanity is, most center around the idea of God being the Creator and human beings also being creators (or, along the same lines, just as God freely creates, so to human beings are capable of making free choices). In any event, the "Selem Elohim" that is unique to humanity is believed to be shared by all human beings and is seen as a reminder of the Divine within each and every human.

Is there a similar concept in Islam, in which all of humanity is seen as sharing a unique characteristic that relates us to God?

 

[aamirsaab]

....
Is there a similar concept in Islam, in which all of humanity is seen as sharing a unique characteristic that relates us to God?

Sort of. We're encouraged to be merciful and forgiving in Islam - both of which are namesakes of God.

 

[Ahl al-Dhikr]

That's really interesting!

Truth be told, I should also add many Jewish teachings also opine that the entire creation is made in the "Selem Elohim," as it appears that the verses in the Tora which talk about the first human can be understood, on a deeper level, as referring to the creation as a whole.