Two Faiths Side by Side
Before coming to York University in October 1990, I spent a year working as a nanny for a British family in Tunisia. These are just a few reflections on things that particularly struck me from the point of view of a British Christian looking at a predominantly Muslim country.
I think the first thing was how much religion is a part of everyday life. Constitutionally, Tunisia is a secular state — its legal code is not based upon the Muslim Shari’ia and the position of the President is not based on any religious legitimisation. Compare this with Britain whose monarch is both head of state and of the state church. But it appeared to me that Islam is far more a part of Tunisian popular culture than Christianity is in Britain today. In all areas of life Islam has its place. For example, the call to prayer is played on television as are readings from the Koran. Apart from a few Egyptian films from the 1960s, the main television diet on the national station (French and Italian channels can be picked up) seems to be religiously orientated. Tunisian folk/popular music also occupies a lot of air time. Compare this with Songs of Praise and the odd token Christian of soap operas (usually presenting a face of Christianity which I’m sure does little to promote it) which is for the main the religious content of our television diet. Not that I would like to see channels of purely religious programmes but it is a reminder that in this country there is little place in most people’s lives for God. For Christians here, one has to go out of the way, to specialist shops to obtain Christian music, literature etc. In Tunisia, Allah, Mohammed and the Koran seem to be the focus for most things.
In Tunisia, as throughout the Muslim world, there is a fundamentalist presence. Politically this is suppressed, members of the fundamentalist group Ennahda alleging torture and brutality by the police. On the other side there is a younger generation that seems to be moving more towards the values of the west, desiring the ‘western’ lifestyles, particularly as the tourist industry in Tunisia grows and contact with Europeans increases. One question that I wondered about when I was first in Tunisia was whether its description ‘Muslim’ country was in the same sense that Britain is described as ‘Christian’ — a large proportion of the population being not practising. From people I talked to, their definition of a ‘non-practising’ Muslim seemed to be one who didn’t perform the five prayers each day. Even ‘non-practising’ Muslims are expected to take part in Rammadan — fasting during daylight hours for the whole of the month. I spent a few days during Rammadan in the desert area in the south of Tunisia which helped my to appreciate the commitment needed to go without water all day in heat. Again one can note how different it is from this country where people are prepared to take those bits of Christianity they like — the celebrations of Christmas and, to a lesser extent, Easter and ‘church weddings’ — but without the responsibilities and commitment of trying to lead a Christian life. I think what I’m trying to say here is that although religion and culture are closely related and therefore social pressure does play a part, faith in God is more of a motivating force in Tunisia than in Britain today. It would be a shame if the values of western secularism were to replace this.
Whilst I was in Tunisia, I spent quite a lot of time with a Tunisian family who lived nearby. Unfortunately we did have some problems regarding communication as my French was rather limited but I did manage to talk with them about my faith whilst they told me about theirs. They had misconceived views about Christianity in the same way that most of us know little about the Muslim faith — the information given to us by the media etc being rather selective. It was a strange experience for me to be on the receiving end of what can only be interpreted as their efforts to convert me to Islam. I believe that they did so out of genuine concern for me as their friend and therefore felt no resentment towards them because of this. But what was valuable were the things we found in common rather than our differences. Stories and people common to the Bible and the Koran showed our shared heritage. It was definitely all a learning experience for me. Although there were some things that we obviously strongly disagreed upon, things essential to our own faiths, I still found that I could respect their beliefs — recognising that they were as important to them as mine are to me. And in some ways we are facing the same challenges — living in a world where faith in God is increasingly being marginalised and often excluded altogether.