Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 2 2009
Cleric van Buuren, Muslim daughter close 2008 in Turkey
Dutch cleric Ari van Buuren and his daughter, a convert to Islam, have
traveled to Turkey to visit historical and spiritual sites in
Ä°stanbul to welcome in the new year.
Utrecht University Spiritual Care department head van Buuren visited
Eyüp Sultan Mosque, the Topkapı Palace and Sultanahmet
Mosque in Ä°stanbul with his daughter and also made some
interesting statements regarding Islam. His daughter, Else Anne,
converted to Islam in 1998 following discussions with a Lebanese
Muslim in Switzerland. "Even though I’m a Christian man of religion,
neither I nor my family staged opposition to this decision of my
daughter," he said, terming her choice a voluntary preference. He
says, however, that he has faced some reaction from his colleagues
regarding her decision, but adds that the 10 years since her
conversion have served to teach him the similarities between the two
religions and show him that her choice was the right one. "Belief in
God and brotherhood unify all religions. I knew that Muslims also have
a book and that we all see Abraham as very important. We believe in
the same God, and the Quran says beautiful things about Jesus Christ
and also says he will return," van Buuren said. `I believe that
Mohammed was a prophet’
He noted his belief that with the development of interfaith dialogue
around the world, the essence of Islam has become more clearly
understood. In particular, the words of a German man of religion, Hans
Küng, explaining that Christianity, Judaism and Islam have the
same roots greatly affected van Buuren. "Just like Küng, I
believe that Mohammed was a prophet." His daughter’s choice of Islam
has brought the Protestant minister closer to the Muslim community in
Holland.
But this closeness to Muslims began years ago for van Buuren, when he
met divinity faculty member Aslan Karagöl at the University of
Amsterdam. There, van Buuren gathered with Muslim students for
fast-breaking meals during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and when
he returned home to the Netherlands felt uncomfortable with the
increasing levels of Islamophobia there. In particular, statements
made by Liberal Party deputy Hirsi Ali and screenings of the film
"Fitna" caused a spike in anti-Islamic sentiment. What underlies all
of this is a fear that Holland will one day become a Muslim country,
and it is for that reason the country opposes Turkey’s EU membership,
van Buuren stated.
Spiritual guides at Utrecht University
There are over 1 million Muslims living in Holland, and most of them
are of Indonesian or Moroccan heritage. There are also Malaysians and
Turks, van Buuren said. In his capacity as a chaplain at Utrecht
University, he noted that he tries to help people address the growing
discontent resulting from a spiritual emptiness. He works alongside
chaplains that are Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist as well as Christian.
The Dutch cleric expressed the opinion that the rise of atheism in
Holland had contributed to the creation of a spiritual vacuum and
noted that despite this, his department existed. "If this sort of a
department was opened in Turkey, they’d say it might lead to a
disappearance of secularism. Turks are surprised at such a department
existing at a university in Holland," he said. He also spoke about
some of the services provided by his division, including a large
multifaith prayer hall with areas where people from different
religious traditions could pray. He was reminded of the beauty of
this, he said, when he saw the Armenian church in Ä°stanbul’s
Kuzunguk, which stands next to a mosque.
The United Religions Initiative
He noted that he hopes to contribute to the development of interfaith
dialogue on the global scale and is a member of the United Religions
Initiative (URI). The organization, founded in 2000, defends a common
message of religious unity. The organization has thousands of members
representing over 100 religious traditions in 65 countries, and says
brotherhood and peace are common human points to oppose
violence. Speaking about the URI, which has held conferences in
Holland, van Buuren said: "We come together with the individual
prayers and hymns of each religion. In this way, all religions
maintain their essence."
02 January 2009, Friday
FATÄ°H VURAL / YASÄ°N TUNCER Ä°STANBUL