Egyptian Islamist Calls for Tolerance of Coptic Christians...
May 11, 2011 Elizabeth Arrott | Cairo Violence between Egypt’s Coptic Christians and conservative Muslims has led to calls for tolerance from some unlikely sources. The allegiance of the men gathered outside a mosque in central Assyut is clear. But the man addressing the rally implores them to embrace those of other religions. Aboud el-Zomour warns against interfaith violence that just days before in Cairo left 12 people dead. An ex-army officer, former leader of Islamic Jihad, and prisoner for nearly 30 years for his role in killing the perceived infidel President Anwar Sadat, al-Zomour now presents himself as a messenger of peace. He tells the crowd his group has “turned the page of violence, forever and with...
US Mosque Hosts Passover Seder
April 25, 2011 Dora Mekouar | Sterling, Virginia Andrea Barron is performing an annual ritual: lighting two candles for a Passover Seder, the ceremonial retelling of the ancient Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. The traditional elements are all in place – including the Seder plate which holds unleavened bread, green vegetables, bitter herbs and a shank bone. However, what is unusual about the evening’s Seder is that it is taking place in the basement of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), a mosque outside of Washington, D.C. Rizwan Jaka, board member and chair of the interfaith committee at ADAMS, sees it as a natural fit. “There’s commonality. We all believe in the freedom that’s...
Innovative Program Trains Pastors, Imams, Rabbis Together...
February 25, 2011 Monaliza Noormohammadi | Claremont, California There’s an ambitious effort under way, to change the way religious leaders in the United States are educated. It’s a new theological program which plans to train Muslim, Jewish, and Christian clergy together. In one southern California classroom, scholars and students from the three major Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism – are examining sacred texts, focusing on their spiritual commonalities. This course on interreligious leadership is part of a new graduate program taking form at the Claremont School of Theology — an initiative that would train future pastors, rabbis and imams side-by-side, as they work toward their theological degrees. “We think it’s the world’s first shared curriculum in...
US Muslim Leaders Call for Week of Dialogue With Other Faiths...
September 20, 2010 Carolyn Weaver | New York U.S. Muslim groups are calling for a nationwide week of “dialogue” in response to the controversy over the proposed Islamic cultural center near the former World Trade Center site, known as Ground Zero. Speaking outside the proposed Islamic Center building site near Ground Zero, Muslim leaders said freedom of religion is for everyone in America. They called for a “National Week of Dialogue” to combat ignorance and bigotry that they said motivates opposition to mosques and Muslim schools in several other places in the United States. Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it is unfair to associate the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero with the...
Muslim Chaplain Delivers Prayer for US House of Representatives...
March 03, 2010 A Muslim chaplain has delivered the opening prayer for the U.S. House of Representatives, an honor few Muslim clergy get. Abdullah Antepli of Duke University in North Carolina served as a guest chaplain Wednesday, at the invitation of Representative David Price, a North Carolina Democrat. He prayed for God to guide members of Congress and enable them to serve citizens of the country and all humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion. Duke University says Antepli, who was born in Turkey, is only one of a few full-time Muslim chaplains at U.S. colleges and universities. It says his work focuses on religious leadership for Duke’s Muslim community, pastoral care and counseling for people of any...
NY Rabbi Brings Style to Interfaith Activism...
December 10, 2009 Adam Phillips | New York Influential New York rabbi hosts a weekly talk show on an American Muslim TV network to encourage religious inclusiveness, tolerance Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is president of CLAL, a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Jewish knowledge and religious tolerance around the world. Hirschfield is also author of You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to be Right and the host of a popular interfaith program on a leading Muslim television network. From the modern art on his walls to the traditional Talmudic texts stacked on the shelves, the décor of CLAL’s midtown offices reflects Rabbi Brad Hirschfield’s eclectic style and his unique mission. Dressed in a dark, conservative suit,...
Quick Links
