DOI: 10.1111/erev.12392
© (2019) World Council of Churches. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 661
Christian–Muslim Cooperation
Demonstrating God’s Image/Caliph
in Ecotheology
Sayed Hassan Akhlaq
An imam, professor, and human rights activist, Sayed Hassan Akhlaq is religious and cultural
advisor for the Global Watch Group, Washington, D.C.
Abstract
This paper seeks to elaborate how a constructive dialogue between Christianity and Islam
provides the faithful with a chance to promote ecotheology and earth-honouring ideas. It
focuses on Orthodox Christianity, particularly St. Gregory and the Buffalo Statement
(2015), alongside many verses of the Quran to develop the subject. It reshapes both Christian
and Islamic modules of the relationship between God and humans as the Creator and the
Creature. Thus, the notions of the “image of God” in Christianity and of “caliph of God”
in Islam are elaborated to suggest a new theology which honours the earth and worldly life as
well as enriches people’s lives with faith and divinity. The new theology uses faith concepts to
serve humanity with regards to new demands and challenges rather than keeping humanity
at its service.
Keywords
Bible, Quran, Buffalo Statement, St. Gregory, image of God, caliph of God, ecotheolog y
To start with a confession, I was born in Bamyan, a city in Afghanistan surrounded
by Sunni people, but I grew up in Mashhad, a city in Iran that was mostly Shia. Still,
we were all Muslims. There were very few opportunities to meet non-Muslim people.
Out of curiosity, I have tried to learn about other faiths as well as philosophies, mainly
through reading. When I moved to the USA, I got a chance to meet people from dif-
ferent faiths or unbelievers. I have visited many places of worship, and engaged schol-
ars from various backgrounds and religious beliefs. I lived closely with other faiths,
including four years in the Catholic Josephite seminary. I learned that living daily life