Articles - From the Vicar

Baghdad was a veritable City of Palaces, not made of stucco and mortar, but of marble. The buildings were usually of several storeys. The palaces and mansions were lavishly gilded and decorated, and hung with beautiful tapestry and hangings of brocade or silk. The rooms were lightly and tastefully furnished with luxurious divans, costly tables, unique Chinese vases and gold and silver ornaments.

During the late eighth and early ninth centuries Baghdad was one of the great centres of the Muslim world. The Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad ruled over much of present day Iraq and Iran and the city was renowned for its culture and learning. Some sense of the city’s magnificence at this time can be gained from reading contemporary descriptions such as the one with which this article begins.

There is at best ambivalence and at worst hostility in the Arab world towards the coalition forces that have hastened the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime. If we in the west are puzzled by this it is because we look at history through a completely different lens, a lens that sees Baghdad (for instance) simply as the capital of a brutal modern-day dictator’s nation state rather than as a pan-Arab symbol of Islam’s long and distinguished contribution to literature, science and philosophy. 

Christianity and Islam have much to learn from each other. To acknowledge this does not mean that followers of either faith have to compromise their integrity. But it may well mean that followers of both faiths must set aside ancient and ill-founded prejudices in order to live peaceably and creatively together.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay