This weekend, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer reciprocated the great hospitality of the Islamic Community Center of Potomac MD by hosting another interfaith meeting. Just as they did at their center, this Islamic congregation created an electric atmosphere of love and understanding. Their Imam, Br. Tarif Shraim, explained Sufism and the Sunni/Shiite divide with great clarity during one of many side conversations over food and fellowship after the formal meeting. Women partner in the governance of the center and our clergy were presented with a new translation of the Quran. Since my blog theme continues to be about texts and the codex, we learned more detail that had frankly eluded me when I prepared for presentations on religious law and the schools of Islamic law, about which I still know very little. However, the notion of People of the Book was clarified. The Jewish Torah/Christian Old Testament is not one of their books per se even though the prophets and Jesus are all accepted as sources of the divine. The closest tie regarding texts are that versions of Abraham's binding of his son for sacrifice and the Joseph story both appear in the Quran.
Mary, Jesus, and the Virgin Birth are in the Quran and she is the most frequently-mentioned woman, but Jesus is of course not divine in their system of beliefs. How many are willing to learn and understand the faith of others? Our Islamic guests were curious about the Trinity, and they had heard quite a bit about it! Our western knowledge of the Five Pillars of Islam is perhaps much less, and the Trinity is, let's face it, not something that is understood well within Christianity (and again, explanations and versions about outside of the Nicene tradition).
We look forward to more such meetings. Both congregations are seekers, not fundamentalists. And seekers are needed to counteract a sad reappearance of ignorance, demagoguery, and hatred.
Mary, Jesus, and the Virgin Birth are in the Quran and she is the most frequently-mentioned woman, but Jesus is of course not divine in their system of beliefs. How many are willing to learn and understand the faith of others? Our Islamic guests were curious about the Trinity, and they had heard quite a bit about it! Our western knowledge of the Five Pillars of Islam is perhaps much less, and the Trinity is, let's face it, not something that is understood well within Christianity (and again, explanations and versions about outside of the Nicene tradition).
We look forward to more such meetings. Both congregations are seekers, not fundamentalists. And seekers are needed to counteract a sad reappearance of ignorance, demagoguery, and hatred.
