Islamic development and interfaith dialog in U.S.

Sukidi, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Interfaith dialog is the term used these days to characterize religious encounters between persons and groups from different religious traditions. Living in an interdependent world today, we often face religious encounters during our daily routines. Religious encounters have radically changed the face of the United States as the most religiously diverse nation in the world. A number of Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians, have encountered and engaged one another in the ever-smaller world, a known as "the global village."

Interfaith dialog is perceived by people of different religions as an instrument of our common responsibility to foster a better understanding and peaceful coexistence in the new religious diversity of America.

Historically, interfaith dialog can be traced to the first World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in September of 1893. This meeting was highly regarded as the most significant interfaith dialog in America, bringing together the widest spectrum of eastern and western religious leaders from the major world religions today. Most of the speakers and participants were American Christians, particularly Protestants.

Only a few Asian participants attended the two-week meeting. Sad to say, there was only one Muslim speaker, the American convert Mohammed Webb from New England. His speech addressed the common prejudices toward negative images of Islam in the West, as he stated: "I do not propose to take a sword in one hand and the Koran in the other and go through the world killing every man who does not say there is no God but one and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

At that time, Webb's plea for Islam illustrated the ongoing prejudices and hostilities against Islam. Similar prejudices may also be found in other religious traditions. The burden of historical legacies, such as historical and religious conflicts, colonialism, imperialism and two world wars in the twentieth century impeded the progress of interfaith dialog in the U.S.

According to Diana Eck (1993), the church's mission in the early part of the twentieth century was not truly for the purpose of interfaith dialog, but rather for the spread of Christianity around the world. In particular, both Christians and Muslims often saw people of other faiths as objects for religious conversion. Interfaith dialog was generally marked by the Christian mission and Islamic propagation.

The shifting paradigm of the Second Vatican Council towards non-Christian religions and its recognition of salvation outside The Church, in line with the rise of activists and scholars in the field of comparative religion, contributed to a new phase of interfaith dialog. The dialog is not seen as a means of converting people of other faiths, but rather, of seeking deeper understanding between them. There are a number of interfaith activists and scholars who develop such approaches for a better understanding between people of other faiths.

Mahmoud Ayoub, is one of them and well-known as a protagonist for the development of inclusive and pluralist approaches on this subject. In his theological inquiry, Ayoub often seeks a common platform among people as the Koran commands Muslims to believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Tribes as well as the books given to Moses, Jesus and other prophets from their Lord (Koran/3:84).

Of the Christian interfaith activists, Diana L. Eck has been involved for around fifteen years in the interfaith dialog program of World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, and actively engages in interfaith dialog in the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge. Eck's religious encounter and dialogs with many Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, as well as Christian and Jews, has encouraged her to develop the pluralism project as a religious model for engaging students and scholars in the development of the new religious diversity of America. In this period, interfaith dialog has entered a new progress toward a better understanding and mutual recognition between people of different religious traditions.

However, the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 disrupted that progress of interfaith dialog. The widespread prejudices of one another, mostly between Muslims and Christians, have been reignited in the United States. In particular, such horrific attacks also intensified the public prejudices and hostilities against Muslims, who are often portrayed as violent and militant people.

Such prejudices and hostilities are often engendered by the Christian right wingers, namely, one Franklin Graham who regularly states that Islam is a religion of intolerance and violence. Then there is TV evangelist Pat Robertson, who calls Islam a violent religion and equates it to devil-worship. As a consequence, Muslims in America are in a serious dilemma. On one side, they have to demystify such prejudices and struggle for their religious identity as "good Muslims" in the new religious diversity.

On the other, they cannot keep silent about their deep sense of interconnectedness with fellow Muslims who have been the victims of the American-led global war on terror and its unjust foreign policy in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and other Middle East regions.

There has been a blessing in disguise, though. Despite its dark side of the impact of terrorism on the image of Islam and Muslims in America, new opportunities have emerged in since Sept. 11. The desire to know more about Islam and Muslims among non- Muslims has increased significantly. Esposito, who has been involved in the interfaith dialog program over the years, has written a short book What Every One Needs to Know about Islam, (2002), designed for the general public. In the academic study of religion, such moderate scholars as Abu Fadl, Omid Safi, Amina Wadud, Leila Ahmed, Muzammil H. Siddiqi and Ali S. Asani, were often invited by institutions to offer open discussions, public lectures and seminars on Islam in the West since Sept. 11.

A new positive image of Islam and Muslims has gradually emerged in America. A number of moderate Muslims have begun to engage in civic life so that their voices of peace and social justice have become more visible, vocal and beneficial to the American public life.

The writer is a Graduate Student of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, America. He can be reached at sukidioslo@yahoo.com.