An overview on contemporary Islam

Unusually for a Monday, I was out of the house just after nine fifteen, walking down to St John's Canton to join the diocesan Continuing Ministerial Education programme day session with the theme 'Understanding Islam and Muslims in Britain'. Sociologists Richard McCallum for the Oxford Centre for Muslim-Christian studies and Dilwar Hussein of New Horizons provided input and discussion ideas. Dilwar's comprehensive introduction to Islam, mapping out the diverse world of Muslim belief and identities was rich and insightful, perhaps because it didn't get bogged down in the minutiae of theological dissent, but considered everything from a sociological perspective. The broader view prods me to make time to resume and complete reading Hans Kung's huge tome on Islam, which I've had for several years.

I left before the final discussion session, to get a bus into town and complete a job at the CBS office. I felt I didn't have much to contribute. These days I'm a little distant from the front-line pastoral context in which local parish clergy operate. Working so much in Spain over the past few years, where the history and context of Christian-Muslim relations is somewhat different, means I haven't much to reflect upon that would be relevant to a brief conversation between clergy mostly interested in addressing immediate presenting problems. Nevertheless, the insights on British Islam today and the careful adoption and adaptation by some scholars of interpretative approaches to sacred scripture influenced by twentieth century western approaches to philosophy, theology and literature made it an encouraging and worthwhile occasion.

That's probably only the second CME day I've attended since I retired. There were about fifty people there, two thirds of the current working clergy complement in the diocese. I didn't notice anyone else there who was retired, but as it was only ten minutes walk form home, it was very easy for me to turn up. What really struck me was the diminishing proportion of people whose faces I could put a name to. Now I know fewer of the younger generation, except the half a dozen St Mike's alumni acquainted with by working at the College or on student placements in my last parish. It's funny to feel a stranger in a familiar place.  It's a price to be paid for having moved around so much over the past fifty years, I guess.