The Seattle Times ran this piece recently, and many pieces like it appear in papers all across America. All too often such articles speak in vague terms, fail to define much, and leave the reader with a giddy, gleeful impression that Islam is an ever so tolerant, peaceful religion that seeks ‘interfaith dialogue’. Of course the perpetrators of violence against non-Muslims is done by Muslims so what exactly can interfaith dialogue accomplish that ‘intra-faith’ dialogue can not?
Interfaith dialogue may usher in new era
Mr. Aziz Junejo
This spring, both Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and the Vatican’s Pope Benedict XVI called for international, interfaith dialogue — and isn’t it about time?
Isn’t it about time for what? About time Bibles, churches, synagogues were allowed in all Muslim countries for example?
In a modern world where great advancements in education, science and technology are commonplace, centuries-old religious conflicts still smolder and ignite.
This is true in the modern Western world (isn’t that why Muslims hate us?) but are there any examples of great advancements in education, science or technology coming from the Islamic world?
Sadly, this religious intolerance is also commonplace. Just in the past few weeks, we’ve seen the release of a Dutch lawmaker’s film “Fitna,” which denigrates the Holy Quran, and the suppression of peaceful Tibetan monks by the Chinese. We need, desperately, to learn how to live together peacefully.
Centuries old religious conflicts and intolerance – such as the Sunni and the Shia Muslim conflict? The Ahmadiyahs? Or just non-believers in general? Was it the movie Fitna that denigrated the Quran or was it the Muslims who were shown killing non-Muslims in the name of allah and boasting that Islam would conquer the world that denigrated Islam?
Muslims, Christians and Jews in America already share a commitment to interfaith work characterized over the years as friendly and respectful with tangible results.
CAIR, check. Muslim Student Assosiation (MSA), check. ISNA, check.
For me, this was best demonstrated during the first few days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Two nights after the tragedy, a lone gunman fired at worshippers leaving the Idriss Mosque near Northgate. Mercifully, nobody was hurt.
The next morning, the shooting was a top national news story — ours was one of the first mosques attacked after Sept. 11.
While most of us know what happened on Sept. 11, Junejo doesn’t feel the need to describe the acts of 19 Islamic terrorists (and an untold number of Muslims who planned and provided logistics for the attacks) against innocent people of all faiths, but mostly non-Muslim Americans. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 were killed by those Muslims and millions others affected.
I arrived at the mosque around 6:30 a.m. to speak to the media. Shortly after 7 a.m., the first of many neighbors and citizens began to arrive with flowers, cards and offers to help secure our place of prayer.
Many of these volunteers were from the local interfaith community. They showed up in force offering to guard the mosque. People from the Church Council of Seattle and the interfaith community wound up standing guard day and night. They camped on our doorstep for the next three weeks to protect the city’s largest mosque.
We had, over the years, shared coffee and discussions on religion with many of these faith-loving people. But those three weeks in 2001 ushered in a new chapter for our communities.
In the months that followed, we began to feel special trust in our brethren based on action, not just on words. We discovered that risking one’s life for another’s safety was a shared belief among faiths.
What were Muslims doing on the days after 9-11? Some were celebrating, dancing in the streets. None were protesting in America. What have they done since to protect America? CAIR, the largest, most vocal and influential Islamic civil rights group in the U.S., advises Muslims that they have “no obligation” to speak to the FBI and “you do not have to permit them to enter your home”. They protest against wiretapping of suspected foreign terrorist phone calls, and are currently on a mission to free an admitted, convicted terrorist.
In early Islamic history, Prophet Muhammad drew up a pluralistic constitution that spelled out the duties of Muslims and people of other faiths in the city of Madinah (near Mecca). The people were to protect each other from threats to their security, uphold moral conduct and deal with each other fairly.
Thereafter, tolerance became the rule for non-Muslims living in Islamic lands. Churches and synagogues were protected by Muslims; non-Muslims were free to practice their own faiths.
It would be great if Mr. Junejo could clarify tolerance in light of something called jizya – a tax levied on non-Muslims for the aforementioned protection by Muslims and “freedom” to practice their own faiths.
I am proud the Seattle area interfaith community came together in those uncertain times; nearly seven years later we are a stronger, more trusting and more peaceful community.
Today, our local mosques are recognized religious institutions, and they’ve become venues for dialogue among all faiths.
Recognized as what? By whom? What did Seattle resident Naveed Afzal Haq, a Muslim, recognize about the Jewish Center where he randomly shot and killed innocent people because he hates Israel? Did he learn it from his father, a Muslim who founded the Islamic Center in Richmond?
By engaging in interfaith dialogue, world religious leaders have the power to usher in a new era of religious cooperation and understanding. Protecting the right of religious freedom and understanding our differences is precious, because our most universal quality is diversity.
Flying hijacked planes into buildings is not dialogue, nor is ignoring aspects of Islam such as jihad, jizya, sharia. Nor is protesting and boycotting over a film that addresses the very concerns interfaith dialogue must address.
Over time, such interfaith efforts carry us toward the day of peaceful brotherhood and sisterhood among all God’s children.
Aziz Junejo is host of “Focus on Islam,” a weekly cable-television show, and a frequent speaker on Islam. Readers may send feedback to faithcolumns@seattletimes.com
Based on current actions, the peaceful brotherhood and sisterhood that seems to be emerging is very similar to the one in Madinah (near Mecca). Muslims that advocate interfaith dialogue rather than admitting and resolving the intra-faith issues that justify jihad are disingenuous at best and doing nothing more than advancing their own, often sharia-based, agendas.
May 8, 2008 at 9:51 PM
sharia law must die