As if building churches in Saudi wasn't controversial enough, the Vatican landed themselves in more hot water this week when the Pope baptized a controversial Muslim convert in a traditional Easter eve ceremony. Magdi Allam - an Egyptian born Italian TV and newspaper commentator - has angered many people with his comments about Islam and strong support for the state of Israel.
After his conversion to Christianity, Magdi expressed his controversial view that it is impossible to separate Islam from Islamic extremism. Attacking Islam as a whole, he stated:
"I asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a 'moderate Islam', assuming the responsibility of exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Qur'an. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive."
His baptism - which was kept secret by the Vatican - has been denounced by some Muslim observers. Mohamed Yatim - a commentator for the Moroccan daily Attajdid - called the baptism "a new provocation for the islamic world and part of a trend that has intensified in recent years with the caricatures of the Prophet". Similarly, the Saudi daily al-Watan carried a report of the baptism on its front page, and described Allam as a man with close ties to pro-Israel groups who "worked tirelessly to attack Islam".
Aref Ali Nayed, the head of Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, criticized "the Vatican's deliberate and provocative act of baptising Allam on such a special occasion in such a spectacular way". Furthermore, he said that "it is sad that the intimate and personal act of a religious conversion is made into a triumphalist tool for scoring points". Mr Nayed's criticisms are potentially very damaging for the Vatican. In recent years, Mr Nayed has been intimately involved in trying to improve relations between the Catholic and Muslim worlds. He was at the forefront of a recent Vatican endorsed initiative to create a forum for improving Muslim-Catholic relations. The baptism comes at a time "when sincere Muslims and Catholics are working very hard to mend the ruptures between the two communities". However, despite the Vatican's actions, Mr Nayed is convinced that there is still plenty of scope for dialogue to improve relations: "Our basis for dialogue is not a tit-for-tat logic of 'reciprocity' but a compassionate theology of mending".
In response, the Vatican have stated that the baptism was not intended to cause offense, and was aimed at stressing "in a gentle and clear way, religious freedom". However, Rev. Christophe Roucou - the Catholic Church in France's top official for relations with Islam - questioned the publicity the Vatican gave to the baptism - "I don't understand why he wasn't baptised in his hometown by his local bishop".
This story raises an interesting question: what is the Islamic legal position regarding baptism? In the Christian faith, baptism is a sacramental act of cleansing in water which is used to admit someone into the Church. For the majority of Christians - with the exception of some evangelical and fundamental protestant groups - baptism is seen as essential for salvation. The sacrament of baptism is not recognized in Islam. In contrast, the first pillar of Islam is the testification of faith - ash-Shahaadah - in which a convert testifies his/her belief that that there is no god but God - one without partners - and Muhammad is the servant and last Prophet of God.
However, the idea of ritual ablution for the purpose of purification has been preserved in the Islamic tradition. In an interesting fatwa, Dr Muzammil Siddiqi - president of the Islamic Society of North America - discusses baptism from an Islamic perspective. He argues that the Qur'an teaches us that Allah made water a source of purification:
"And He it is Who sendeth the winds, glad tidings heralding His mercy, and We send down purifying water from the sky." (Qur'an 25: 48)
Dr Siddiqi recognizes that water was used for purification in Old Testament times. He also recognizes that Yahya - John the Baptist - used to cleanse people of their sins in the Jordan river, and that Jesus used water to purify himself before prayer. In this sense, baptism is accepted by the Islamic faith. However, Dr siddiqi is critical of Paul for changing the definition, meaning and significance of baptism:
"For Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, and his followers the Baptism was just a bath or ablution to purify themselves physically, ritually and spiritually, but with Pauline interpretation it became a symbol of belief in Jesus' so-called death and resurrection. We, as Muslims, accept the early tradition and that is what Islam has preserved and reaffirmed. We don not accept the later interpretation and doctrinal aberrations."
Ritual purification with water is an essential ingredient of the daily lives of all Muslims. Before prayer Muslims must perform partial (wudu) or full (ghusl) ablution with water - depending on their state of ritual purity. Furthermore, after a convert recites the Shahaadah it is obligatory that he/she undertakes ghusl. However, this ghusl is not equivalent to baptism, because it is the shahaadah rather than the ablution which wipes away previous sins.
Islam and Christianity share a common tradition which emphasises the importance of ritual purification through the use of water. I personally don't agree with the simplistic and sensationalist views of Magdi Allam, but I do support freedom of expression and freedom of religion - including the right to freely convert from one faith to another, without fear of retribution. I am sure that the baptism of Mr Allam was seen by some in the Vatican as an opportunity to send a public message to the Islamic world about the strength of the Catholic church. I must confess, that I find it hard to believe the Vatican's explanation that the baptism was intended as a symbol of religious freedom. In my experience, most religious institutions only support freedom of religion when it means freedom to convert to their faith. In future posts I hope to explore the complex Islamic legal debates relating to freedom of religion and apostasy. Until then...