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Birds of a Feather Hopefully will Flock Together
A Muslim’s Reflections on the New Pope
By – Imam Afroz Ali
1. Birds, Francis and the New Pope
I was somewhere in between Singapore and Sydney when fumata Bianca from the chimneys of the Sistine Chapel announced to the world of a new Pope who would lead its over 1.2 billion Catholic adherents. I was flying on a modern mechanical bird; an airplane.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first non-European, was elected the new Pope on 13th March. Interestingly, before the chimneys went off in white smoke, birds flocked around it, and for some Catholics, the birds were already a positive sign given the new Pope was now given the regnal name, Pope Francis.
Pope Francis’s name is inherited from St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1286). Pope Gregory IX designated him in 1228 as the patron saint of animals and the environment. In a time of deep prayer, it is recorded in his biography that the then young Francis of Assisi heard a voice speak to him, saying, “Francis, go out and build up my house, for it is nearly falling down.” Francis of Assisi immediately left the life of materialistic living, and lived a poor man’s life with great humility and service to the poor. His dedication and loyalty to the Church’s teaching regarding care for all is exemplary.
It is this full living to the call that made him a carer of not only the sick and the poor, but also of animals, and especially birds. He had said, “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men.”
In a similar word of advice, some half a century before him, the Final Messenger of God The Exalted, Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings of God Almighty, said, “A good deed done to an animal is like a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as cruelty to a human being.” The Final Messenger had also said, “Whoever is merciful even to a sparrow, God will be merciful to him on the Day of Judgment.”
A profound saying of his, “My brothers, birds, you should praise your Creator…”, reminded me of this verse from the Quran:
“O mountains, and the birds: repeat praises of God with him…”
And:
“Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of the sky? Nothing holds them up but God. Verily in this are signs for those who believe.”
The saying of Francis was an actual sermon he gave to birds. One day while Francis and some friars were traveling along the road, Francis looked up and saw the trees full of birds. Francis went to the birds and “humbly begged them to listen to the word of God.” One of the friars recorded the sermon: “My brothers, birds, you should praise your Creator very much and always love him; he gave you feathers to clothe you, wings so that you can fly, and whatever else was necessary for you. God made you noble among his creatures, and he gave you a home in the purity of the air; though you neither sow nor reap, he nevertheless protects and governs you without any concern on your part.”
2. A Distorted History
Francis of Assisi was an environmentalist well ahead of his time known to a Euro-centric world that till today presumptuously defines the historical and developmental context of the world today. So distorted is the history told to us that the reality is there was an enlightened people during the Dark Ages of Europe; the uncivilized world of Europe did have a civilized people elsewhere, namely the Muslim lands. Even before Francis’s time, for example, adherents to Islam followed the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings of God Almighty, and had set up world’s first animal welfare programs, trusts and endowments, some of which exist till today.
But Francis of Assisi was a man of God, and not of rhetoric and political point-scoring that political historians succumb to, surprisingly more so today. Not only did Christians highly respect Francis of Assisi, but also Muslims, particularly his contemporaries as well as those who learnt about him. He is probably the only Christian held at such a very high regard amongst Muslim scholars and those of constructive influence since God’s Prophet Jesus, son of Mary, peace of God almighty be upon him, who Christians doctrinally identify with as well. In fact, Islam had a profound impact, and influence, on Francis of Assisi.
3. Muslims and Francis of Assisi
His famous journey during the 5th Crusade to attempt to convert the then Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kamal, was as profound for Francis as was his embrace of the lepers of Assisi.
Francis of Assisi probably learnt his initial assumptions about Muslims and Islam through the various stories told by those who returned from fighting during the Crusades; much of it was nasty fables against Muslims and Islam, and not any different to what the world is told about Islam and Muslims by warmongering governments and media of today. Expecting to be martyred, Francis entered Egypt thinking he would find Muslims as barbarians who needed to be converted to Christianity in order to be saved from hellfire- of earth and the Hereafter.
What he found, and experienced, was the total opposite. He found people of God, already deep in service to God through compassion, care and commitment. He found them intelligent, not barbaric; he found them innovative, not uncivilised. So profound was his experience, that he went on to seek to change Christians, modeled around Islamic practices of devotion to God. Upon return from Egypt, and a profoundly changed man, he preached to his followers, “You should manifest such honour to the Lord [as Muslims do] among the people entrusted to you that every evening an announcement be made by a town crier or some other signal that praise and thanks may be given by all people to the all-powerful Lord God.”
He also asked them to pray like Muslims do, in quite a monotheistic way: “At the mention of His name you must adore Him with fear and reverence and prostrate on the ground, so that in word and deed you may give witness to His voice and bring everyone to know that there is no one who is all-powerful but Him.”
He banned proselytizing: “You are not to engage in arguments or disputes [against Muslims], but be in readiness to serve every human being for God’s sake.”
4. Big Shoes to Fill
The new Pope Francis, has some big shoes to fill; adopting a name is one but to walk in those shoes is another; another still is to flock together with those of the same feather of piety, sincere concern, justice and conviction. This aspiration is made more difficult given the proven record of the leaving Pope Benedict XVI, who chose to play politics between servants of God and added more contagion than medicine to the world’s woes. It was the Pope Emeritus Benedict’s quips and statements like that during his infamous speech at the University of Regensburg in 2006, that really informed the Muslims of his divisive views. Because of this kind of offensive, and untrue statements and views, some 136 of the Scholars of Islam came together and wrote to the then Pope Benedict in a detailed call for peace titled “The Common Word”. It was this firm but a more significant intellectual and compassionate call, reminiscent of Francis of Assisi, that led Pope Emeritus Benedict to facilitate the “First Meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum” in 2008, not an initiative of the office of Papacy but a reaction to a higher challenge from the Muslims towards meaningful dialogue and public behaviour.
In today’s world of turmoil – of environmental degradation, economic slavery and political warfare on religion – the new Pope Francis will need to take a lot of substantive pages from the book of Francis of Assisi, to do justice to the regnal name he has inherited. As a leader of over 1.2 billion Catholic Christians, he will need to strip himself of politics and saber-rattling and wear the garments of resilience and the humility to change his own perceptions, to govern his subjects with loyalty and devotion to the Church’s true calling. When many of the States that are embroiled in war are yet again with Christian leaders, and countries like Ireland, its citizens many Catholics, which is mulling over selling its preserved forests, destroying some of the most fragile ecosystems, in order to gain economic prowess, Pope Francis’s hands are full.
Not all of the world’s problems are related to the Catholic Church, but some of the most significant ones of the 21st century are, and if its adherents do not listen to its leader, the world will be ever more like the fables told by the Crusaders returning. The adherents, the subjects, will follow in my humble opinion, if the leader only acted. The papal office is a powerful platform, and the new Pope Francis will need to choose to wield this power wisely. And we pray to God The Merciful that he will, and act in alignment with how his namesake centuries ago did, that God guide him through His Mercy and Succor.
