[Grem] Az ember teremtésének teológiája a kereszténységben és az iszlámban / iszlámból kereszténynek tért író

[Emoke Greschik]

 Creation of Man in Islam and Christianity Derya Little
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/derya-little>
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity

*It has been much harder* than I expected to explain to Westerners why
Muslims, even the moderate ones, behave the way they do. How does one
describe the trees to a kid who only ever saw the desert? Even though it is
fading,* Christianity has been* in the very fabric of the West, *making all
the wonderful things about Western culture possible, like* *critical
thinking, respect for human rights and selflessness. **None of these are
fundamental in an Islamic culture*. A Muslim child grows up in a world
where sin and salvation mean something completely different, a world where
the concept of grace is hollow and confusing. If we do not understand the
culture, all our dealings with Muslims, either during daily encounters or
engaging in dialogue, will remain shallow and fruitless.

I believe the most crucial difference between Christianity and Islam is how
each system views the human person.

*Memorizing prayers and learning to recite the Quran were crucial parts of
my summers as a dutiful little Muslim girl.* From an early age,* I was
filled with fear and awe of Allah, who demanded absolute submission without
a smidgen of doubt or disrespect. *However, in my child’s heart,
occasionally I had the audacity to try to picture this supreme being. These
irreverent falls of mine usually *lasted mere seconds as an image of a pure
bright being with rainbow eyes hovered in my mind. These moments of
light-hearted imagination were followed by crippling fear. How dare I try
to fit the all-knowing and all-powerful Allah into my measly human mind? *After
that, for days, I would struggle with this fear, waiting to be struck down
or to be turned into stone.

Given that* trying to picture Allah is forbidden*, is it really hard to
understand why *Incarnation *is not a good place to start a conversation
with a Muslim friend? *The most fundamental belief of Christianity is that
God himself became man to bring us eternal life.* But, *the mere suggestion
of God-man *is *enough for many Muslims to tear off their clothes and cry
out blasphemy. *Why does the thought of Incarnation incite such strong
emotions? There are many reasons for this outrage, but one needs to first
understand how man was created in the beginning and where Allah stands
concerning this imperfect creation of his.

*In Genesis, Scripture tells us that God created man and woman in his own
image. **Before sin severed their connection, God and man were in perfect
union, for man was a creation of love as a result of Triune perfection:*

The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion
of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among
themselves. (CCC 1702)

This image alone paves the way to *God lowering himself to become man in
order to bring salvation. Creation of man is first and foremost an act of
love, a reflection of the perfect divine love among the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit. From the beginning, Incarnation was God’s design.*

*The story of man’s creation and the relationship between Allah and man *could
not have been more different *in Islam.* To begin with, *we cannot talk
about love as the cause of man’s origin.* Without the Trinity, there is
nothing for Allah to express, for he does not know love, neither is he love.*
A consistent view of why the man was created in the first place is lacking
in Islamic thinking; *however, these verses in the Quran reveal that *it
was not as a result of a relationship or an act of love Adam and Eve came
to be:*

*Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him.
(76:2)*

*I did not create the jinn [the demons] and the humans except to worship
me. (51:56)*

*The idea that Allah the all-powerful** would desire a relationship
with us* *is
laughable without **the existence of a prior relationship among the Three
Persons of the Trinity. **Therefore, even before Adam was created, his
place was set. He would be nothing but a slave who feared his master. His
fate was to be tried over and over again until he pleased his master with
obedience and worship so that the gates of heaven will one day be opened
before him.*

*Thus, the first man was fashioned from dirt, and then life was breathed
into him. Then, his descendants were created through a sperm-drop (nutfah):*

*It is He Who has created you from dust then from a sperm-drop, then from a
leech-like clot; then does he get you out (into the light) as a child: then
lets you (grow and) reach your age of full strength; then lets you become
old, —though of you there are some who die before; —and lets you reach a
term appointed; in order that you may learn wisdom. (40:67)*

*The nutfah, semen, is a despicable fluid that is produced by shameful
parts of man, only to be washed off and discarded. It is inherently dirty
and something to be hidden, ashamed of.*

*Have We not created you from a fluid (held) despicable? (77:20)*

Even though there are verses that proclaim everything Allah has created is
good,* there are a number of verses that keep reminding man of his
beginning, lest he forget his place:*

*Now let man but think from what he is created. He is created from a drop
emitted. Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs. (86:5-7)*

*Who made all things good which God created, and he began the creation of
man from clay; And made his progeny from a quintessence of the nature of a
fluid despised. (32:7-8)*

*In other verses man’s origins are mentioned as sticky clay (37:11) or
black mud (15:28) to emphasize his infinite lowliness compared to Allah. **The
Quran establishes an uncrossable chasm between Allah and man,* a chasm, in
fact, that cannot be compensated even by an omnipotent creator. Not because
Allah is not able, but because it is unthinkable that the maker of the
universe would lower himself to bestow his own image upon men, let alone
become one of those utterly inferior creations. This is not to say that man
is the least among others. Because *Allah breathes life into Adam from his
own spirit, man is elevated above the angels, who were created from light
as opposed to dirt. However, even Allah’s own breath of life is not
sufficient to bridge the eternal gap that remains between master and slave.*

Even from the creation of man,* gnostic elements in Islam are visible,* and
they get more pronounced in the daily life of a Muslim. For instance, ritual
cleansing is a crucial aspect of religious life. One cannot enter the
mosque if one has not been ritually cleansed beforehand. If any natural
urges were satisfied, such as passing gas, the cleansing must be repeated.
Following sexual intercourse, both man and woman need to be cleansed before
praying, touching the Quran or entering a mosque. A woman on her period is
banned from all religious activities.* This idea that things related to the
human body are unclean and in constant need of restoration start with the
creation of man who came from despicable fluid and black mud. *This
infinite inferiority of man not only puts too much emphasis on man, but
projects* a deity who is capricious, incapable of love and in constant need
of admiration and worship.*

*Without love being the most essential part of this divine equation, there
is no room for incarnation.* Without *God’s love first expressed in the
Trinity,* *man* cannot be *created out of love.** The invulnerable baby who
needs the attention and protection of Mary and Joseph** is unimaginable to **a
Muslim mind,* *for Christ’s miraculous entry to our world is only possible
with love.*

Tagged as Allah <https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/allah>, Incarnation
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/incarnation>, Islam
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/islam>, Koran
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/koran>
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
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<https://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/creation-man-islam-christianity#>
[image: Derya Little]By Derya Little
<https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/derya-little>

Derya Little has a Ph.D. in politics from Durham University in England. Her
articles on foreign affairs have appeared in academic journals and Catholic
World Report. She is the author of *From Islam to Christ,* published by
Ignatius Press (2017).
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