Anabaptists and Christian-Muslim Relations from the Perspective of Ottoman, Iranian and Dialogue

As Muslims live side by side with Christians in a globalizing world has made it imperative for Muslims to wrestle seriously with the Christian tradition. One of the branches of science investigating this confrontation is the history of religions. Because this discipline examines religious creeds, their historical process as much as the relationships of religous people in the context of their history and theology. It can be said that Muslim-Christian relations have a positive history when taken into account the Christians of Najran, the migration of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and the Christians living under the rule of Muslim sultans. However, especially after the crusades, Islam has been regarded as the object of fear in the West. On the other hand, factors such as the Crusades, studies of orientalism,the increasing Islamophobia and Zionism in the West after 9/11 have influenced Muslims’ views on Western civilization. The history of Protestant Christians is an important area in Muslim-Christian relations. It is evaluated in this article the approach of Anabaptists, a Protestant sect, towards Muslim Turks in the early period and their relations with Shia and Sunni Muslims in the modern period. Firstly we state that the names of Mennonite and Anabaptist are used interchangeably in the article but in fact, the name of Anabaptist is an umbrella term. Protestantism basically accepts the doctrines and rituals based on the Bible, and by criticizing the religious authority of the papacy, adopts everyone to be clergy. Anabaptism, which means “re-baptizing” (ἀναβαπτισμός) in Greek, has been separated from Protestantism over time and became an independent church. Anabaptists agree with Luther about rejecting the authority of the Papacy and other Roman Catholic leaders and advocating that only the Bible is valid in the religious field. However, at some points, they have dissent towards him. For example, Andreas Karlstadt (d. 1541), who is regarded as the first leader of the Anabaptists, refused religious vows, accepted the eucharist just is a symbol to remember that Jesus’ moments on the cross. Also, he banned to addressing Luther as a “doctor”, since all the people who believed in Jesus would be equal. Anabaptists stated that the teachings of Jesus are the centrepiece and the church and state affairs should be separated since politics is not in line with him. Also, they advocated staying away from violence, just like Jesus. The main difference that distinguishes Anabaptists from other Protestant groups is that they accept adult baptism, not baby baptism. Anabaptists have been subjected to oppression by both the Protestant and Catholic Church because of this kind of believes. Many Anabaptists, like Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525), who is one of the important leaders of the Anabaptists, were executed during the Peasant Wars (1524-1525). The most striking point in the relations of the Anabaptists with the Muslims is that they refused to fight against the Turks. Michael Sattler (1490-1527), one of the first leaders of the Anabaptists, was tried in 1527 because he refused to fight against the Turks. Other examples of Anabaptists did not use weapons against the Turks are the Mohac Square Battle (1526) and the 1st Siege of Vienna (1529). Upon the arrival of the Ottomans to the Moravian region that remained within the boundaries of Austria (now the Czech Republic), Hutterites, an Anabaptist group living in that region, had stated that they would not fight against the Turks even if they had the power. In our opinion, the main reason oppression against the Anabaptists by their co-religionists is that they did not fight against the Turks. Because opposing infant baptism points to a theological separation, while opposing the idea of uniting against Turks supported by even a reformer like Luther is a political revolt against the church. Therefore, Anabaptists were considered by others as traitors who opposed the defence policies of their own countries. Anabaptist migrated to regions such as Ukraine, Central Asia and Russia as a result of the pressures by their co-religionist. It is known that Anabaptists migrated to Russia and Central Asia after the 1880s. The information in the Ottoman archives that some Anabaptists passed from the Danube region to Russia confirms this immigration. Remarkably, the Mennonites today living in the Hive region (Uzbekistan) organize various exhibitions and organizations to keep these memories alive. Anabaptists claim that do not adopt policies based on violence and prejudices unlike Evangelists and believe that it is necessary to interact with Muslims for the solution of problems. For example, it is emphasized that anti-Islamic rhetoric that started after the 9/11 attacks prevented communication between the two religions and that American hegemony and strict national policies do not represent Christianity in the Anabaptist-Muslim Symposium book (2005). Although Anabaptists criticize Evangelical policies and have an indulgence towards Muslims, this does not mean that Anabaptists have abandoned their missionary goals. Because it draws attention to Anabaptists’ activities in different Islamic countries. For example, it is known that they work with Muslims in different parts of Indonesia and Africa on education, agricultural research and technology. It can be said that the dialogue efforts between Anabaptists and Muslims are mostly from America, Canada and Iran. The activities of Anabaptists in Turkey carried out by Rosedale Mennonite Missions. The two groups that outstanding with inter-institutional studies in contacts between anabaptists and Muslims are Iranian Shiites and American and Canadian Mennonites. These relations started after the visits of four Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) members who came to the region after the earthquake occurred in Manjil-Rudbar city of Iran in 1990. These relations have continued with Imam Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute going to Toronto and North American Mennonite students came to Kum city. Relations between Iranian Shiites and Canadian Mennonites have continued thanks to symposiums until today. Although Anabaptists aim to establish positive relations with Muslims, we think that these contacts have some problems similar to interfaith dialogue. It is a fact that there are similarities between Christian teachings and Islam but it is problematic to express that both traditions are fed from the same source and that a dialogue can be established on Jesus, which is the common point of both religions. It is also standing out that Anabaptists distort some information and deflect the meaning of Islamic terms with the idea of establishing a dialogue between the two religions. Remarkably, they choose the title “The Kingdom of God in Islam and the Gospel” in the first paper of the Anabaptist-Muslim Conference book in 2005 and this affirms our thoughts. It is also another problem to emphasize that the belief of sunnah in Islam and the lifestyle stated in the Bible are similar. Undoubtedly, this attempt to establish similarity carries the danger of the disappearance of meaning and terminology that the religions belong to. Although it is admirable that Anabaptists keep in touch with Muslims, stand against Islamophobia, distance from Evangelism, and help Syrian immigrants, there are some hesitations that if they have pure intentions, because Anabaptists give importance missionary activities and adopt inter-religious dialogue that means to reconcile Islam with Christianity