Muslim attitudes towards Christians must change
By: Ray Hanania*

AMIN, Palestine
Dec 16 2004

The Arab World is slowly being transformed into the Muslim World as
the numbers of Christians continues to dwindle.

And although I am Christian by religion, I consider myself Muslim by
culture. Certainly, most Americans who meet me believe because I am
Arab, I am Muslim, too.

Following a speech on the justice of the Palestinian cause, an elderly
American woman with gray hair and a mild personality, walked up to
me and whispered in my ear, “How could you abandon your Christian
faith to become an Arab?”

I am amazed by the depths of the ignorance of the West towards the
peoples of the Middle East and to Arab culture. No wonder so many
Americans hate us, as hate originates in ignorance.

But every Christmas, the greatest consternation I experience comes
not from the “stupid American” with the stupid stereotypes, but the
educated Muslim who experiences bigotry so often, you wonder how they
can become bigots themselves.

I have been reading the writings of many Muslims who must believe
they are being “tolerant” and “well intentioned” when they write
that Muslims should approach the Christian season in America as
“an opportunity to convert Christians to Islam.”

These Muslim writers do not see the challenge as one of insulting
the Christians who live in the Muslim World. Rather, they view the
challenge in the subtleties of the new age of reason and understanding.

Imagine if I, as a Christian, proposed that Christians in the Middle
East should do all they can to exploit Islamic holidays, like Ramadan,
and use them to convince Muslims to convert to Christianity.

The truth is, in many “Arab” countries, that would be a capital
offense. Minimally, the offender would be jailed or expelled from
the country. Christians are not permitted to “proselytize.”

When I was in Bethlehem last October at the beginning of Ramadan,
I was pointedly told that I should not eat my food on the outdoor
patio in deference to Muslims who were fasting until sunset.

And I constantly am reminded that Christians should not consume any
alcohol in public, whether it is during or after Ramadan. That’s Haram,
the Arabic word for “sinful” or “shameful.”

I am also often invited to perform my stand-up comedy satire and
give public speeches defending the rights of Palestinians at dinner
banquets. But oftentimes, when the organizers of Muslim events discover
that I am Christian, they always note that maybe I can’t reflect the
same message to the audience as a Muslim comedian.

Even though Muslims and Christians are fighting and dying together
in Palestine? And both suffer the oppression of brutal dictatorships
and monarchies in the Middle East?

But Muslims in American feel it is their duty to convert Christians
to Islam.

One writer wrote, that at Christmas, Muslims can show Christians
“the beauty of Islam,” and explain that the embrace of Jesus, who
is recognized by Islam as a prophet, is a natural progression that
leads them to the Islamic awakening.

Really? If Muslims want to show Christians, especially those in
America, about the beauty of Islam, how about denouncing the vicious
carnage by such groups as al-Qaeda a little more often and a little
more persuasively than they have in the past?

How about if Muslims, instead of seeing Christmas as an opportunity
to advance themselves, look at it with a sense of respect for a fellow
human being whose faith shares one common belief in one God?

What if Muslims, rather than separating themselves on the belief that
Islam is a better religion, embraced not only Christians but Jews
and treated them as equals, rather than as “tolerated” peoples in a
system of ancient “millets,” religious distinctions for Armenians,
Jews, Catholics and Orthodox Christians under the Ottoman sultunates.

For many years, Christians and Jews living in the “Arab” World were
required to pay a Jizya, or tax, for the privilege of being recognized
as “special.” Christians and Jews were required to dress “modestly” in
conformance with Islamic tradition, rather than with their own custom.

Most of the Jizyas have long gone. But the attitudes have remained.

And this Christmas, while I pray for the suffering of all Muslims and
Christians who are dying in Bethlehem and throughout the oppressive
Israeli occupation, I also hope that many of the ugly attitudes that
dominated the Muslim World might change so that the world can see
the true beauty of Islam, rather than its vanity.

* Ray Hanania is an award winning nationally syndicated columnist,
author and satirist. He can be reached at