The Judge of the Egyptian council of State, Mohamed Mahmud Salam has played down suggestions that the Islamic and Christian faith can be unified to form an “Abrahamic Religion”. In a speech that was released on abouna.org, Mahmud described this notion as a false narrative. ayokinews.com reports
Mahmud who has served as an advisor to Sheik Ahmed al-Tayyeb strongly believes that the concept of human fraternity has some loopholes and falsehoods.
In a recent document, he stated that for many years, the Western media have painted a negative picture of Eastern citizens. Religious intolerance has been highlighted as one of the key attributes of Eastern citizens. He further mentioned that religious differences have been used as an excuse to commit various atrocities like murders and land extortion. Amidst these conflicts, tolerance and coexistence have still been achieved to a relative degree amongst citizens in the Middle East.
In 2019, the document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together was published to promote peace and coexistence regardless of religious beliefs. The initiative has led some to conclude that both Pope Francis and the Grand Imam who endorsed the document are joining forces to birth an Abrahamic religion. The basis of the Abrahamic religion is that both Christians and Muslims originated from Abraham according to the holy books.
In the Middle East and Western world, it is no longer uncommon to see a church, mosque, and synagogue being constructed within the same premises.
Mahmud explained that some individuals on social media have cited this premise as a basis for unifying religion. Terms like “Chrislam” have also been used by the media to promote the idea of a single Abrahamic religion. Mahmud, however, pointed out that despite being on the same premises, the church, mosque, and synagogue are in three separate buildings and that each individual building and gathering will clearly express its connection with its faith.
The different buildings will host rites in accordance with the beliefs and values of the individual religious entity. And while Jews, Christians, and Muslims can all be traced to the Patriarch Abraham, each religious entity still has its own unique entities and values that differentiate it from others.
In late 2021, on the 8th of November, the Egyptian House of the family held its 10th-anniversary. During the event, Sheik Ahmed al-Tayyeb warned the attendees to desist from promoting the false idea of a unified “Abrahamic” religion.
More recently too, Pope Tawadros described the idea of an Abrahamic religion as “categorically unacceptable”.
According to Tawadros, the idea of a unified religion erodes the unique qualities of individual religions and is only used to promote political propaganda.
Sources (Credit): https://acnntv.com/muslim-leader-rejects-idea-of-an-abrahamic-religion-says-christians-and-muslims-do-not-worship-same-god/
