“Well, Jesus was perhaps a favorite son among the prophets. In any case, you Christians have been fearfully wrong in turning him into a god, when there is no God but God.”
“What about Jesus’ own claims to deity?”
“He never made them. This is only another example of how your Scriptures have been corrupted, or, to phrase it better, an example of how errors have intruded into their texts when manuscripts were recopied. In fact, here is what Jesus did say on this subject.” Abbas picked up his Qur’an, paged through it, and said: “Here it is. I quote from Sura 5:116: “Then God will say, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, did you ever say to mankind, “Worship me and my mother as gods besides God”?’ Jesus will answer, ‘Glory be to You. I could never have claimed what I have no right to. If I had ever said so, You would surely have known it… I told them only what You bade me. I said, “Serve God, my Lord and your Lord.”’”
Al-Rashid closed the book and looked directly at Jon.
Jon again shook his head and said, “Jesus would never, ever have said, ‘Worship my mother and me as gods.’ This drastically violates everything we know regarding his relationship with his mother, Mary, and so-”
“So you agree with me, then?”
“No, I do not. In his ministry, Jesus took great care to distance himself somewhat from his mother, most probably so that any worship of his mother would never take place. Accordingly, God could never have asked a question like that.”
“But the Holy Qur’an says that God will ask Jesus this question.”
“And our Holy Bible shows that it would be utterly impossible for God to ask Jesus a question like that, especially in view of everything we know about God, Jesus, and Mary from the pages of the New Testament.”
“So, then, you also deny that Jesus ever said or ever would say what the Holy Qur’an plainly states are his very words?”
“Yes, I simply must deny that Jesus ever said, or ever would say, the words that you quoted.”
“Then are you calling the Prophet-may his name be blessed-a liar ?”
“No-” Jon started to reply but was forced to pause as loud, agitated murmuring arose from the crowd. He raised his voice a bit. “No, I would never call him a liar. Muhammad did not write down those words himself, since he could neither read nor write. They were first written down-as the Qur’an-under his successor Caliph Uthman twenty years after his death. How can we be sure that those were the actual words of the Prophet?”
This prompted an even louder drone of disapproval until silence returned when the crowd seemed eager to hear Abbas’s response.
“It is an article of faith in Islam that they actually were the Prophet’s words-may his name be blessed. And certainly the same could be said about the words of Jesus in the Gospels. He never wrote them down.”
“This is true enough, Dr. al-Rashid. But the overwhelming evidence of the different followers of Jesus who wrote down his words is consistent in reporting what he said. Many were eyewitnesses. The same cannot be said for a source six centuries after Jesus.”
Silence followed. It was a very powerful argument, not because Jon had come up with it, but because it was simple, logical, historical fact.
Finally Abbas responded, “I must prefer the true and final revelation of God himself in the Holy Qur’an against that of human beings, whether they wrote as eyewitnesses or were removed even thousands of years from what they reported.”
Jon waited out the inevitable applause from the Muslim half of the audience, then replied, “I respect you for your faith, worthy Imam.” He suppressed what he wanted to add: even though no historian in the world would agree with you. What he did add was: “And I trust that you will respect mine.”
The moderators rang a bell, indicating that it was time for the midafternoon break. Both sides of the sanctuary offered applause, clearly enthusiastic enough to exceed what was merely routine or polite.
Jon’s luncheon group, along with their detail from the Turkish police and the CIA, retired to what would have been the green room in any other public venue, but at Hagia Sophia it had to be a robing room in the apse of the basilica. More than anything else, Jon wanted to hear Osman al-Ghazali’s reaction to the afternoon debate, thus far. As a convert from Islam, his opinions were of utmost importance.
“Brilliant defense of the faith, Jon,” he opened. “And you really scored some potent points against Islam. By the way, it seems that most of the national television networks in the Muslim countries are making use of Al Jazeera’s feed from their big camera crew in the east balcony.”
“Great. But why are you frowning?”
“Oh, was it that noticeable? Well, I’m… just a little concerned…” His voice trailed off.
“Concerned about…?”
“Well, during the debate, I’ve been watching the other side very carefully, particularly several of their well-known mullahs whom I recognized, sitting near the front. Some Shiites were there too. One, in fact, was Ayatollah al-Kazim from Tehran, not the one who laid a fatwa on your head, but his lieutenant. And then there was Imam Chasbullah, who evidently came all the way from Indonesia, Amir Ahmad Riza Khan from Pakistan too. Among the Sunnis there were several princes from the royal family in Saudi Arabia, as well as a big Egyptian delegation-mainly faculty colleagues of al-Rashid. But I digress. My concern is this: every time you scored a debating point against Islam, I watched their reaction. We’re talking narrowing of the eyes, clenching fists, and corrugated foreheads. Lots of frowning, too.”
“You mean they weren’t exactly applauding me?” Jon quipped with a wink to Shannon that was intended to forestall any worry on her part.
“Well, put it this way: I wouldn’t want to break bread with any of them afterward.”
“Hadn’t really planned to, Osman.” Jon looked up. “Uh-oh, here comes Ferris with that cell phone molded to his left ear.”
“Hi, team,” he said. “Our debate’s been on for an hour now in the States. It’s replacing the morning shows on NBC and CBS, with ABC cutting in from time to time on Good Morning America. CNN is covering everything from gavel to gavel, but with a commentary team that’s half-Christian and half-Muslim.”
“Excellent!” Jon said. “I’ll bet watching that would be more fun than the actual debate!”
“Yeah, but-” Ferris’s face fell a bit-“the NBC studios at Rockefeller Center received a bomb threat from someone who called in with a Middle Eastern accent.”
Shannon bit her lip and glanced at Jon with a look that all but shouted, I knew something like this would happen!
“What are they doing about it?” Osman wondered.
“Well, they have to take it seriously, of course,” Ferris replied, “but that sort of thing is quite routine nowadays, unfortunately.”
“We have to go back shortly,” Jon said. “Any further advice, Osman?”
“Just beware of any traps that al-Rashid may try to set for you. If you’re caught in one, he could win the debate. I’d only suggest that you continue walking that tightrope, Jon. You have to defend the faith, of course, but try to do it as diplomatically as you can-”
“Without enraging the other side. Got it, Osman.” Blasted restraint, he almost muttered. How I’d love to cut loose!
On the way back to the dais, Jon weighed the obvious. They were now on the last lap. What if he got tired-or impatient-and let his guard down? One ill-chosen phrase, evidently, could ignite the Islamic world. Again that dreadful double standard: Curse Christ as much as you wish in the West, or draw caricatures of his church, or place a crucifix in a pan of urine and call it art (duly funded by the government), and you easily get away with it. Try the same with Islam or Muhammad and you’re dead!