ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

25 ches and convents, as well as the com- munities are not allowed to celebrate their religious practice in public with the sound of bells. The marriage of a Christian with a Muslim is practically impossible if the man does not first convert to the slam. Even today, in many Arab countries, non-Muslims are forbidden from exerci- sing certain trades, opening certain com- mercial activities, teaching the Arabic lan- guage and accessing many levels of the public function. Finally, even those who do not profess Islam must in any case submit to the Koranic law for all that concerns in- terpersonal relations with a Muslim. Tolerated but not equal In the Muslim legal-religious system, Jews and Christians have the right to live in freedom and, except in some cases, to practice their religious worship; however, they cannot hold socially or politically relevant positions. The Muslim denies this legal reality, or considers it normal. Everyday life with this situation stops. It must be admitted that when the Muslim political-religious systemwas formed in the seventh century, the Christian West was institutionally backward. This situation will last until the Middle Ages. Non-Christians, who were mostly Jews, could only enjoy the recognition the authorities wanted to grant them; in the East, however, non-Mu- slims, even if discriminated against and sometimes persecuted, enjoyed a form of official recognition. Over the centuries, the western system has progressed to become today that of the welfare state; the Islamic system, on the other hand, has remained rigid, and has not evolved. Mixed marriages In Arab countries, there are growing num- bers of Christian women married to Mu- slims who live in a context dominated by