I enjoyed reading Cragg’s excerpt for tomorrow’s class, especially because I felt like it highlighted a tone in Islam that I felt we haven’t studied much of–love and mercy. Given that so much of Islam focuses on our human submission to the will of God, I feel that it can at times overshadow why people would do that in the first place. I think that part of the answer to why is in the Muslim understanding of Amr. Creation exists as God commands it to be. I wonder if this understanding of God mirrors the Judeo-Christian understanding of how God uses “I AM” throughout the Bible (I understand this to be a present-progressive state of being verb in Hebrew that does not exist in English. Please correct me if this is wrong!).
Both Christians and Muslims agree that God has made the effort to reveal God’s self to humanity. While we diverge on how this occurred most fully (in the person of Jesus Christ vs. in the Qur’an), we agree fundamentally on the desire of God to reveal God’s self. Furthermore, I think we agree on why God reveals God’s self as an act of mercy, and while this seems to be more explicitly emphasized in Judaism and Christianity, I believe that it is underscored in Islam as an act of love.
Could this commonality be a point of contact for peaceful relations? It seems that Islam seems to focus on the human response to revelation, but I don’t often hear about the qualities ascribed to God as a result of the revelation itself? Is the difference in the first contact with these two religions much more than an emphasis on different parts of the revelation-response relationship?
Islam & Christian-Muslim Relations, Hamaty 
Thanks for these thoughts, Andrew. One element of Cragg’s presentation of this issue that I appreciated was his observation that Christianity’s view of creation and divine mercy are self-emptying/kenotic, whereas Islam abjures exactly that quality. I suppose that seems like the starkest difference in the views of revelation, too: Christ emptied himself and took the form of a slave. Even within that difference, though, I think you’re right that there is a basis for peaceful dialogue and engagement; it would bring out both the similarity and distinctiveness of each faith.
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Good questions, Andrew. I’m thinking about your point that Christians and Muslims “agree fundamentally on the desire of God to reveal God’s self.” On a base level, this is true; but I’m also recalling our discussions early this semester that it’s more fitting to say that God makes known his will in the Qur’an rather than God reveals himself. Rahman described God’s existence as “functional” in the Qur’an. It is law that occupies central place in Islam, while in Christianity, it’s theology. So there are definite similarities, but it also seems like the nature of revelation is quite different.
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