Twin Cities land of opportunity for dialogue between Muslims and Christians

On the third Sunday in September I went to the Islamic Center of Minnesota in Fridley for the monthly Muslim/Christian dialogue that's been going on for at least 17 years. The Islamic Center is also an Islamic grade school, so we were sitting in a circle of school desks in a classroom. The elderly woman next to me said she came because she had read about the Muslim/Christian dialogue in a newspaper. It was a really nice article she said, maybe in The Star Tribune or maybe The Sun, she didn't remember. She wanted to learn about Islam because "We have three strong religions in this country and Islam is one of them."

On the other side of me was Bruce who had identified himself as a humanistic Jew the week before at a meeting at a North Minneapolis library on "How Muslims Perceive Jesus."

Both events were enriching and fascinating. A famous theologian, I think it was Karl Barth, said, "God hates religion." I guess that would make God an atheist? While I have often found religion to be an obstacle to a wise and happy life, I am nevertheless fascinated with it. I guess the main things I want to understand about religion is where and how it intersects with culture and what it has to do with ethics and morality. Overall I'd say that the points where the two religions in the discussion groups found commonality were in their concordance that God exists, God is basically good, humans can connect with God through prayer, and who we think God is affects the way we behave. I don't know if Bruce would concur with any of those. He appeared to be a person of faith, but in a different way.

In each group, in my humble opinion, there were a few people who tried to push their own ideas too much, and there were those who got carried away just hearing themselves talk. But, by and large, participants in both meetings were open and interested in listening to other people.

The majority of the people at the library meeting were Muslim. I think only four of us were non-Muslim. Three of us wanted to know how Muslims perceive Jesus, and another guy, it seemed, wanted to express his disagreement. The panelists—two of them were Arabs, born and raised in the faith, and the other two were American converts from divergent backgrounds—were extremely gracious.

Finally Bruce said, "Hey, we want to know how THEY perceive Jesus. Let them talk." So the "disagree-er" got up and left.

Of course I had been sitting there the whole time trying to figure out where the "disagree-er" was coming from and what he was actually trying to accomplish, what his mental framework was and why he would come to such a meeting if he didn't want to know. Well, the "disagree-er" pointed out that on the flyer the event was called a "Public Discussion Forum." The "disagree-er" perhaps was focused on the "discussion forum" part—he couldn't imagine coming to a discussion forum in which he couldn't share his truth. I could understand that. Also, he probably didn't know that the word Dawah, as in The Dawah Center, who put on the event, means something like witnessing, evangelism, making the invitation to follow God's way. He wasn't expecting to be somewhat evangelized and wasn't prepared to listen, I guess. Whatever was going on with him, I must admit I learned more (about the topic) after he left.

The mixture of experiences and perceptions embodied in the room was mind-boggling, with Muslims from many parts of the world and converts of various races. To contemplate the richness of it was a kind of mystical experience. Less mystical was contemplating the hostile exchange that had occured between the Christian "disagree-er" and an American Muslim woman convert. Usually when people argue like that, I've noticed, they have completely different sets of presuppositions and/or are trying to answer completely different questions. The issue was unclear. I think they were talking about how the Bible came into existence. But I couldn't tell why they were so harsh.

In one of the best moments of that meeting, various people explained where the Qur'an came from. Their holy book, they said, consists of revelations of Allah given through Muhammad. Since Muhammad couldn't read or write, many different people wrote down the revelations. When God spoke through him, someone would grab a writing tool and write what he said. Later in his life, Muhammad compiled all the revelations into subject categories.

Another striking moment was when the panelist from Jordan summed up the reason for rules in a religious life. He said, "God doesn't need anything from us. It is simple: do what's good for you, avoid what's bad for you."

The Muslim/Christian dialogue was a different kind of event. It is a longstanding group, and many of the people have known each other for years. It was organized by the Minnesota Council of Churches and the Christian representatives are mostly pastors and people in church leadership. Many of the Muslims are affiliated with the Islamic Center. Most were born and raised in the faith outside the United States.

The format for September was to go around the circle—which took almost two hours—with Christians saying what they admired about Islam and vice versa. I can see how one could admire Jesus or Mohammed or Buddha, but to admire a whole religion with all its glaring flaws seemed like a big stretch. Nevertheless, it was very interesting and good to hear some positive things about Christianity. Muslims from India, Pakistan and Turkey spoke fondly of experiences with Christians, mostly missionaries. They said Christians were free thinkers, broad minded in welcoming others, soft hearted, open, inclusive and helpful. They admired their spirit of volunteerism and service. One woman from Pakistan said she sees Christians, Jews and Muslims as all one faith, and appreciates anyone who is honest in following the basic truth of any religion.

The Christians were all American. They ranged in their knowledge of Islam from those who only knew basic words such as Muhammad, Muslim, Islam and Qur'an to those who had spent years living among Muslims. Christians admired Islam's tolerance for other religions (one of the panelists at the library said he had converted because Muslims believe God will not condemn a good person of another faith); the steadfast character of Muslims; the discipline of practicing the five pillars of Islam (declaration of faith, formal prayer, charity, fasting in month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca); the humility of submission to Allah; the beautiful sound of the call to prayer; the beauty of Islamic design and architecture; and hospitality.

The focus for October 19 will be "Being Muslim in America." The theme on November 16 will be "The Christian Experience in Islamic Countries." Proposed for December is something much more detailed: the difference between the Meccan and the Medinan suras of the Qur'an, the suras (chapters) revealed at Mecca and Medina.

Someone suggested that if a person really wants to delve into the faith, there are free classes at the Islamic center on Sunday mornings. At 10:30 the class is on Islam and at 11:30 it's Arabic language.

And you can check out the Qur'an, or the Bible or Torah for that matter, from the public library. Not that you could read one of them in three weeks. You might have to renew it.

If you want a short, helpful summary of Islam go to www.bethanyinseward.org and click on Our Muslim Neighbors. This was prepared by the pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Seward, Steve Benson, who has a master's degree in Islamic studies, taught for four years in an interfaith study center in India and is a regular participant in the Muslim/Christian dialogue.

I'd encourage anyone who's at all interested in religions to attend the Muslim/Christian dialogue or the Muslim/Christian/Jewish dialogue which they organize once a year. There are also ongoing regular Jewish/Christian dialogue groups such as the ones at St. Thomas and St. John's in Collegeville. There might be Jewish/Muslim dialogue groups in the Twin Cities, too, I don't know.

For more information contact the Islamic Center of Minnesota at 763-571-8989 or Bethany Lutheran in Seward at 612-332-2397 or the Minnesota Council of Churches at 612-870-3600.