MARCH 25, 2003 - 'Muslims - Dialogues - Beliefs'
"The Oneness of Allah"
CSBSJU and SCSU Ongoing Collaboration in St. Cloud Muslim Dialogues
For Catholics it was the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
on Tuesday, 3/25/03, exactly nine months in the Christian calendar before the
birth of Jesus Christ. This Christian celebration commemorates the angel
Gabriels visit to Mary announcing that she would become the mother of Jesus.
All these three persons -- an angel, a Jewish mother and her son -- play vital
roles in the Sacred Quran. The Annunciation feast coincided with the second
session of Muslims-Dialogues-Beliefs which was sponsored by CIE/UNIITE
(Center for Interfaith Encounter/Understanding the Need for Interfaith /
Intercultural Togetherness and Education), FCBRH (Faith Communities: Building
Racial Harmony), and Brothers United.
This dialogue session was conducted at the First Presbyterian Church of St.
Cloud which is located at 373 4th Ave South. The host was Pastor Stacey Steck.
Several members of his congregation participated actively to make this event
memorable for all.
The topic of this session was The Oneness of Allah. As on the opening day,
the main presenter was a St. Cloud State University (SCSU) graduate student
from Bangladesh, Mr. Ahmad Ramadani. Once again, the respondent/discussant was
Dr. Noreen Herzfeld, faculty of St. Johns University and the College of St.
Benedict. Ramadani and Herzfeld will continue in these roles during the next
two sessions in April.
This time, too, Ms. Melissa MacDonnell took charge of the Muslim artifacts
table and Co-Founder of CIE, Ms. Mariani Nazareth attended to the Guest Log
Book. At 6.00 p.m., Dr. Malcolm Nazareth of CIE/UNIITE, and member of FCBRH,
for a second and last time, screened the video Abraham and His Children:
An Interfaith Dialogue.
The seating arrangements were exactly as in the previous dialogue session.
This time, on a table in front of the lecturn were placed three scriptures in
their original languages. On the flanks, were the Hebrew Bible and the Koine
Greek New Testament, and, in the center, the Arabic Quran including a Bengali
translation.
In the short period of time between the last dialogue session and the present
one under discussion, the United States of America has initiated military
action against Iraq. During the week gone by, ferocious animosity and mindless
violence have been unfolding on our TV screens from hour to hour. In stark
contrast to this wider context stands our little attempt in St. Cloud, MN, to
symbolically undo violence born of greed, hatred, and chronic failure to
dialogue globally across ethnic, racial, religious, and national divides.
Bridge-building, then, is what our dialogue series, in general, and the three
textual symbols of the Abrahamic religions in the very center of the 3/25/03
interfaith encounter, in particular, would like to portray.
Pastor Steck extended a warm welcome to those who had assembled for the
dialogue. Dr. Dan McKanan then introduced the dialogue, its purpose and
procedures, and invited the presenters to speak.
Availing himself of a lapel mike, Mr. Ramadani spoke about tawheed
and shirk, two Arabic terms central to understanding the days topic:
The Oneness of Allah. The presenter particularly highlighted the following
Quranic texts: sura Al-Ikhlaas: 112: 1-4, Al-Aaraf: 7:172-173, Al-Aanbia:
21:25-28, Aan-Nahal : 36, Az-Zumar: 65, 66, and Al-Aanam: 88. A handout carried
actual verses from some of these texts.
Dr. Herzfeld then responded. Drawing connections between Muslim and Christian
scriptural beliefs in one God, she pointed to common ground between Islam and
Christianity. She dwelt on the fact that Christian belief in Trinity in no way
means that Christians are not staunch monotheists. She also touched upon how
idolatry is seen in the Christian context as compared with Islamic understanding
of shirk.
The moderator then invited all present to enter into the dialogue. It soon
became clear that Muslims and Christians, for example, believe in the same
Ultimate Reality called God (English) or Allah (Arabic), and that Allah isnt
the designation of a tribal God specific to Muslims alone, apart from the God
of Jews (YHWH in Hebrew), Christians, and others.
The vast majority of interventions from the floor pertained to the situation of
women in Islam. Despite its seeming irrelevance to the topic of the day, this
topic would seem to be quite appropriate since March is celebrated in the
United States of America as Womens History Month. It seemed deplorable that
not a single Muslim womans voice was heard on the floor while questions were
raised and responses shared from diverse perspectives. One can only hope that
St. Cloud area Muslim men, women, and children will not shy away from attending
and actively participating in the three dialogues that remain.
Of particular interest for women of all faiths and cultures will be the closing
dialogue which will consist of a panel of three women: Ms. Somji (Muslim),
Ms. Perkins (Christian), and Ms. Goodrich (Jew) on the topic: Hagar in the
Wilderness. Our bleak global situation today seems to be overrun by the all
but total absence of fruitful dialogue. At this juncture, there would appear
to be a glimmer of hope stemming from the mutual interchange of inspirational
thoughts and from engagement in concerted action-for-peace across faith boundaries.
This all-womens panel on 4/22/03 will bring the dialogues series to a conclusion.
May this panel, which will engage believers in three Abrahamic faiths, be a
little candle that throws its beams far and long enough to dispel the enveloping darkness.
Thus far in the present dialogue series, participants have not refrained from
asking hard questions. This healthy atmosphere of frankness, respect, and
eagerness to learn from each other in a safe environment was in evidence even
on 3/25.
Some thirty-five people attended this session at First Presbyterian Church.
Among them were a few academics and others who had actually visited mosques in
the eastern Mediterranean region, and/or who had recently visited Iraq, or who
had lived and worked in some southwest Asian Muslim countries. These women and
men shared important viewpoints. A young Muslim woman, who hails from Cyprus,
and is currently an SCSU student, was also in the audience, as we later found out.
In the course of the exchanges, some shared their insights on the relationship
between Islamic belief in tawheed/shirk, on the one hand, and, on the other,
the strict Islamic prohibition against depicting human or animal forms in art;
and the arresting beauty of world famous mosques and Islamic calligraphy.
The radical difference in core Islamic and Christian beliefs is seen in the
Muslim belief in Jesus as a human being -- no more and no less human than all
other prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad. For anybody to claim
divine sonship or any family relationship with God is anathema in Islam. Allah
is utterly transcendent and Islam stands uncompromisingly for pure monotheism.
Christian belief, for its part, is unique in holding that God has revealed
Godself in human form (the Incarnation) to save humankind. The feast of the
Annunciation marks precisely the first moment of the human enfleshment of God
which culminates in the birth of Jesus. This foundational Christian belief of
God in human form flies directly in the face of Quranic verses (for example,
112: 1-4; 7:172-173; 21:25-28) which negate or strongly condemn precisely such a belief.
Some of these diametrical opposites in Christian and Islamic tenets were
cursorily alluded to in the dialogue of 3/25 and will have occasion for further
elucidation and exploration in subsequent dialogues in April.
The main presenters finally made their closing comments. Ramadani thanked the
participants for their great and continuing interest in understanding Islam.
Herzfeld, too, commended everybody for their participation and read an
uplifting poem from Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), the great Islamic mystical
philosopher whose tomb is in Damascus.
QURANIC RECITATION
It was now time to deepen the dialogical reflection through silent and devout
listening to sacred texts. At the invitation of McKanan, Ramadani devoutly
recited Sura Al-Anbya' (19-22) & Al-Ikhlaas in Arabic. The audience followed
this in English translation in their handouts:
To Him belong all creatures in the heavens and on the earth: even those who
are in His very Presence are never too arrogant to worship Him, nor are they
ever weary. They celebrate His praises night and day, without ever tiring.
Have they taken gods from the earth who can raise the dead? If there were, in
the heavens or in the earth, other gods besides God, there would have been
confusion in both! But glory to God, the Lord of the Throne; high is He above
what they attribute to Him!
Say, He is God, the One! God, the eternally Besought of all! He neither begets
nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him.
After that devout recitation, everybody observed a minute of prayerful silence.
VEDIC HINDU PRAYER FOR PEACE
At the very conclusion of the session, Ms. Ruhi Rai of India, a senior at St.
Cloud State University, lit a lamp and placed it on the table of interfaith
symbols. The lamp sat not far from a shining brass upright Aum and a saffron-
colored little statue of Lord Ganesh. Then Rai led the audience in recitation
of a Hindu prayer from the Yajur Veda. She sang it in Sanskrit and read it in
English and Hindi. She then invited the audience to read the Sanskrit prayer
from their handouts in English transliteration and to join her as she chanted
it a second time. The beautiful ancient prayer for peace may been rendered thus:
O Almighty One, may there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on
earth. May the waters be appeasing. May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and
plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May Thy
Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world. May all things be a source of
peace to us. And may Thy peace itself bestow peace on all. And may that peace
come to me also.
The dialogue session ended on schedule at 8 p.m. People availed of refreshment
provided by the host church. A few lingered on until about 9 p.m.
FEEDBACK
Last week, in a phone conversation with me, a Christian faculty member of SCSU,
who had attended the dialogue, commented on the 3/25 session, It was an
interesting experience. I learnt a lot from it.
Referring to the prior two sessions, a Muslim wrote, I believe those who
attended those sessions did learn a little bit about Islam. The inclusion of a
prayer by a non-Christian & a non-Islamic person in these dialogues, to me,
added a lot to the richness of this program.
Regrettably, area Muslims, including especially Somali Muslims, on the one
hand, and, on the other, more conservative Christians have not availed
themselves of the interfaith encounter.
NEXT DIALOGUE SESSION
The next dialogue will be hosted by Pastor Dick Bormes at St. Johns Episcopal
Church at 1111 Cooper Ave South.
Date: Tuesday, 1 April.
Time: 6.30 - 8 p.m. (preceded by video on the Prophet Muhammad at 6 p.m.)
Topic: Introducing Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Ayat:
Al-Fath: 13.
Al-Ahzab: 40.
Muhammad: 2
AN-NAJM : 3,4
Al-Anfal: 20-21
Al-Haaqqa: 44-47
For English transliteration and translation, please visit:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/
Verses to be chanted by Ms. Norhashimah Erpelding: Surahs Al-Nesa (4:163-65) & Al-Ahzab (33:45-46):
Lo! We inspired you [O Muhammad] as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him,
as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes,
and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as we imparted unto David the Psalms;
and messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers We have not
mentioned to you. And God spoke to Moses directly.
Messengers of good cheer and of warning, in order that mankind might have no
argument against God after the messengers.
God was ever Mighty, Wise."
"O Prophet, we have sent you as a witness, and good tidings to bear
and warning, calling unto God by His leave, and as a light-giving lamp.
The presence and participation of other religions in this Muslim dialogues
series will be evident once again on 4/1 with interfaith symbols placed on a
credence table in the center of the dialogue space. At the very conclusion of
the session, there will be a Bahai prayer led by a member of the local Bahai community.
A video on the life of the Prophet Muhammad will be screened in the hall from 6 p.m.
Among the handouts placed for pick up on the Guest Log table is a valuable
sheet prepared by Ms. Becky Van Ness of Cathedral High School. The handout is
titled: Resources on Islam and offers suggestions of titles of books, videos,
and a magazine for further study of Islam and also a short list of resources for teachers.
Thank you for passing the word around. The entire series is free and open to all.
Report by:
Malcolm Nazareth, Co-Founder of CIE (Center for Interfaith Encounter)
Executive Director of UNIITE (Understanding the Need for Interfaith/Intercultural Togetherness and Education)
320/203-9849
|
