Loving our Muslim neighbours

The world woke last Monday morning to the news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

For most of us in Britain he had become a largely marginal figure, relegated recently by the wedding, football, cuts and fine weather to a footnote on the foreign news when a terrorist outrage occurred overseas.

However he was not forgotten by the Americans, nor by our armed forces, nor by millions of Muslims. So it was genuinely front-page news when we heard he was dead.

There are also the stories of daring-do by American forces, flying over large areas of Pakistan to a pinpointed site and successfully carrying out their raid without so much as a scratch. The intelligence coup is as great, a case (it seems) of brilliant American detective work without any Pakistani involvement.

So what should we do? Cheer like the crowds in the USA? I think it is better, as a Christian, to reflect a little more deeply. Niggles immediately occur when we hear that bin Laden was unarmed. To what extent was it part of a war and to what extend non-judicial execution?

Most, I am sure, will have little truck with such quibbles and indeed there is the example of the great Dietrich Bonhoeffer who, although a pacifist, was part of the plot to execute Hitler. Sometimes “regicide” is justified.

Yet I found it difficult to celebrate wildly like the Americans we saw on TV; any person’s death causes me to reflect on my own mortality.

Nevertheless there is a natural reaction of relief at his passing. Osama bin Laden (and his whole belief system) has caused great misery around the world. His radical Islamic faith has been based on the Salifi school of thought that dominates Saudi Arabia but it is an extreme version even of that. It is violently opposed to the life style and beliefs of the West, but it is equally opposed to (for example) Christianity and Shi’ite Islam.

However, any such relief at his death needs to be tempered with the knowledge that the cycle of violence is likely to continue, partly in reaction to bin Laden’s death. Bin Laden himself had become a figurehead and symbol of Al Qaeda. His death will not cause it to cease and in the short term will probably lead to more attacks.

The underlying causes of the movement he spawned have not gone away, which include western foreign policy as well as some Muslims turning to a violent interpretation of Islam. This is perhaps an opportunity for western governments to show some sympathy for the cases of injustice that Al Qaeda uses for recruiting. Sadly there seems little likelihood of that happening.

What should Christians do? We are commanded to pray for our enemies and to convert them by love to the way of love. So as followers of Jesus we must commit to pray for and love those Muslims who mean us harm, especially at this time. We also need to walk together with the majority of Muslims who are prepared to stand for peaceful solutions to the world’s ills.

In our community there are many who are like this and there are many who wish to talk and have good relations with those of others faith. For example I am helping to organise an annual meeting called by the Bishop of Chichester in two weeks time to which all the faith leaders of Sussex are invited. As usual there has been a strong response from the Muslim imams; most of them will be present.

Osama bin Laden’s passing is undoubtedly a key event. It may inflame Muslim opinion or bring about new opportunities for peace. In any case the Christian’s response is the same: love your neighbour as yourself.


The Rev John Chitham is inter-faith adviser in the Diocese of Chichester