The Camel and the Deer

A couple of weeks ago on 18th March, something happened that has not happened for a good while: the holy seasons of Lent and Ramadan began on the same day. Both are seasons of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and self-examination in their respective religions of Christianity and Islam, both commemorate times of prayer in out-of-the-way places by revered religious figures, and both culminate in an important feast (Easter and Eid al-Fitr). This week, I made use of a public "comtemplation room" in my hometown of Bradford to pray silently alongside Muslims, each according to our own tradition.

But as a member of the Community of Aidan and Hilda, I feel another form of connection with my Muslim neighbours. Both Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne (d.651 AD) and Saint Hilda of Whitby (614-680 AD) lived in the same century as the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (c.570-632 AD). They inhabited the same world, with many of the same cultural norms, even though the first two were in the British Isles and the thrid was on the Arabian Peninsula.

I thought about this a lot during the last Bradford Literature Festival. In the Festival Hub, there was an exhibition for the duration of the festival called "Al-Qaswa: Witness to Sacred History", which was all about the life and travels of the Prophet Muhammad's beloved she-camel. This devoted animal carried the Prophet from the Hijrah (the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina because of persecution in 622 AD, which is counted as year 1 of the Islamic calendar) to his Farewell Hajj (pilgrimage) before his death.

What really struck me, reading the tales of Al-Qaswa, was something that sounded familiar to me from reading lives of the Celtic saints. The Prophet allowed his camel to choose the route he took on several occasions, saying, "Leave the camel alone, for indeed it is guided by Allah." (Sirah Ibn Hisham) This happened when two different people or groups both wanted him to take their route. And the Prophet let Al-Qaswa choose the site for buiding the Nawabi Masjid (Mosque) in Medina.

I had read of something extremely similar, when retelling the story of St Muirgen, the mermaid saint, for Legends from Lindisfarne. Two abbots - Comgall and Beoan - were arguing about which of their churches should be the one to baptise her. To avoid argument, she was carried in a chariot pulled by stags, who chose a third site for her baptism, at Lough Derg.

Other Celtic saints had similar relationships with animals. When Welsh saints Cadoc, Dunwyd and Tathan needed a site for a new church, they loaded their building materials onto an ox cart, and let the oxen lead them. Saints Dyfig and Arbogast both followed swine to find their holy sites. And Saint Gobnait found her Place of Resurrection when she finally saw nine white deer.

Reading more deeply into the matter this Lent, I've discovered other potential areas of similarity between the Prophet Muhamamd and the Celtic saints. Muhammad retreated to a cave near Mecca each Ramadan to pray. In this, he was not dissimilar to the Desert Elders (also called the Desert Fathers and Mothers) who withdrew to the Wadi El Natrun in Egpyt around the 3rd century AD, and who were hugely influential on the Celtic saints. 

The sweating, trance and loss of consciousness that the Prophet Muhammad often experienced when reciting the Qur'an put me in mind of Saint Fursey's out-of-body experience during his vision of the Four Fires, and the sweating he experienced in preaching after that time. 

I don't think any of these similarities should be too surprising. The people involved were linked by the same trade routes in Asia and Europe. They inhibited the same world of battles, raids, assassinations and succession, as well as tension between pagan and monotheistic peoples and ideas.

I hope these thoughts will be more than interesting. I hope they will be touching points for genuine interfaith conversations. It would be great if both Christians and Muslims could read and leave a respectful comment. I have tried to be as respectful as I can.

Some Book Sources

• Max Adams, The First Kingdom. London: Head of Zeus, 2011.
• Karen Armstrong, A History of God. London: Vintage Books, 1999.
• Nigel Pennick, The Celtic Saints. New York: Sterling Publishing, 1997.
• Ray Simpson, Great Celtic Christians. Stowmarket: Kevin Mayhew, 2004.