Irish Independent
Monday, October 12, 2009
There was a time when Christianity was the world's dominant religion: why, the whole of Western civilisation itself was described as "Christendom". No longer.
It is clear from the most recent report (by the American Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life) that the world's rising religion is Islam.
The Muslim population of the globe now stands at 1.57 billion: that is almost one person in four among the world's population.
The Christian world population is 2.25 billion -- but Islam is spreading fast and the Muslim population is a young population. In many Islamic countries more than half the people are under 25.
Neither is Islam any longer confined to the traditional desert lands of the Middle East. Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined; Germany has five million Muslims and France 3.6 million.
Pakistan has 174 million, India 161 million, Bangladesh 145 million, and Indonesia 202.9 million. The Philippines, often regarded as Catholic, have a Muslim population bigger than Ireland's entire population -- 4.7 million.
Why is Islam such a successful religion in today's world -- a world which the followers of Richard Dawkins would argue is becoming ever more secularist? Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Islam is popular and successful: because it can be a reaction against secularism, which is not infrequently imposed by an intellectual elite and against the culture and traditions of ordinary people.
Turkey is an example of this pattern. In the 1920s, Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's modernising leader, abolished the Sultanate and declared a secular republic, Latinised the Arabic alphabet, and discouraged traditional Islamic practice of any kind -- the universities were even opened to women.
His structures are still in place, but 98pc of the Turkish population of 73.6 million remain Muslim, some fundamentally so.
Iran too: under the Shah, the country was "modernised", secularised and westernised. The revolt against the Shah, led by Muslim clerics like Ayatollah Khomeini, was a revolution in favour of the traditional faith.
Many of the revolutionaries afterwards came to regret this particular form of radicalism, but Iran remains firmly Islamic, with 99.4pc of its population adhering to the faith.
Islam has successfully spread through east, west and central Africa, from Senegal and Mali -- where French Catholic missionaries so often toiled -- through to Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Significantly, where Islam rules, the spread of AIDS is generally less. This may be partly because the semitic religions -- Judaism and Islam -- insist on circumcision, which is thought to have a restraining effect on the transmission of sexual diseases. And partly because of Islam's strict controls of sexuality.
We consider that the treatment of the Magdalenes -- regarded as "fallen women" in Irish institutions -- was horribly punitive: Islam can be a lot crueller to women who are deemed to "dishonour" their families or communities by behaving in any way improperly. "Honour killings" -- which the British Empire, in an enlightened move, successfully halted during the period of the Raj -- are today carried out by the fathers, uncles or brothers of a young woman suspected of sexual impropriety.
Only last week, in a court in Walthamstow, East London, Mehmet Goren, a Turk, and his brothers were accused of the "honour killing" of Mehmet's daughter Tulay because she had, at the age of 15, lost her virginity.
In Islamic tradition, this would have brought shame and dishonour on the family -- a dishonour which could only be annulled by her death, which indeed occurred.
To outside observers, this is the puzzling aspect of Islam's expansion and even popularity: how could such a stern religion become so dominant and even successful?
To be sure, there are plenty of moderate, even liberal, Muslims. The Koran itself -- although robust in its denunciations of "wrongdoers", and containing many passages about the punishments of hell awaiting such wrongdoers -- also emphasises compassion, especially to widows and orphans, respect to women (or at least, to respectable women!) and the necessity of alms-giving and community sharing.
In consequence, many Muslims "tithe" -- giving a tenth of their income to the Mosque, or to community endeavours associated with their faith.
Some commentators have suggested Islam's attraction is that is it such a simple set of rules: obey what it says in the holy book, fast during Ramadan, and pray five times a day. If you step out of line, expect the penalty. And, of course, when it first flourished in the desert kingdoms, it created a sense of brotherhood -- certainly between men -- and, by that token, a feeling of equality.
I would suggest that part of Islam's attraction is that it is a confident religion. It doesn't go around wringing its hands apologising for itself. It doesn't cringe. It recommends humility for sinners; but for those who follow the Prophet, it also preaches absolute affirmation in the Prophet's message.
There are theological differences between different branches of Muslims -- Sunnis and Shias, for example -- but while this can be fierce and bloody, Islam doesn't confuse the ordinary Muslim in the street by arguing over whether there should be female bishops or gay marriage.
Indeed, it is in those countries where Christianity is most threatened -- at least in demographics -- by Islam that Christians themselves are most conservative. Thus are the African Anglicans totally at odds with Canterbury, not to mention American Episcopalianism, over the liberal agenda.
To take a somewhat secular, brand-conscious analysis of the situation -- Islam is strong not just because it believes in Allah, but because it believes in itself. If Christianity is to uphold its own traditions and values, it will have to show a parallel self-assurance.
"Be ye gentle as doves," said the founder of Christianity, "but cunning as serpents." Quite.