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[Back to index of February articles] Seminary class fosters Muslim/Christian ties By Paul Donnelly Bismallahir Rachmanahir Raheem is not an ordinary call to worship at the Virginia Theological Seminary, the venerable institution in Alexandria that once educated the likes of Confederate General Leonidas Polk. Yet on Jan. 13, that is how Richard J. Jones, professor of mission and world religions, began a presentation on "How to talk with your Muslim neighbor," for clergy and lay leaders in the Washington area. The group of 60 or so participants had come from as far as York and Williamsport, Pa., illuminating the significance of the theme. "These are the words of the fatihah," Jones explained, "the words that are said into the ear of a newborn Muslim baby, and which every good Muslim hopes to hear as their last words on earth: 'In the name of God, the most gracious, the most compassionate…'" Jones began by describing many American adults' first encounter with Islam-"Perhaps your child's new friend is named Ayesha?" he said.-before discussing the contentious question of how many Muslims there are in the U.S. He pointed out that even the numbers provided by mosques are not comprehensive: "Most Muslims in the U.S. don't participate in the religious life of their community. They're like the rest of us," he said. Jones, who has studied Islam for many years and has taught everywhere from Vietnam to the Sudan, sketched the history of Muslim immigration and conversion in this country: from small numbers of North Africans, South Asians, Syrians and Lebanese a century ago, to a substantial population of perhaps 6 million today. He noted that successive waves of immigration can cause tension within American Islam as new immigrants "import an ideal of what Islam should be … and seek to impose it on existing Muslim communities that are somewhat more relaxed in their practices." So how does one talk with a Muslim neighbor? Jones's advice-offered to a gathering that included a retired Marine colonel, a number of pastors, a former Navy chaplain, a national security consultant, a retired network newsman and even a local teenager who was knitting when she wasn't taking notes-was to become familiar with the basics of Islam itself: the Qur'an, "the Recitation," and the hadith, the sayings and doings of the life of Muhammad, "the clear channel of the Prophet." The Islamic witness that there is no God but God, Jones declared, "is as radical as Isaiah…. But the confession is not complete," he added, "without the Prophet." The day's instruction included excerpts from three documentaries, one of which chronicled a search for Sufism in Cairo; another on religious tension in Canada (A Tale of Two Mosques) and a third--Three Faiths, One God-in which Bishop John Chane identifies the "common understanding" underlying Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Before the noon break, Jones provocatively cited Psalm 119 in prayer as expressing an essentially Islamic view of God's instruction: "Your decrees are my inheritance forever; truly, they are the joy of my heart. I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes for ever and to the end." (Psalms 119, verses 111-112.) Fittingly, the session closed with a few words from a Muslim neighbor: Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. Aminrazavi, who was born in Iran and immigrated to the U.S. before the Shah was overthrown, made light of how his family exemplifies the United States' religious pluralism. Asked if he would describe himself as a Muslim in America, an Iranian-American, or some other term, Aminrazavi replied that he is a Shiite, "But my life wasn't complicated enough, so I married a lapsed Catholic and our daughters were raised with the help of babysitters who are Jewish." Relationships between different branches of Islam are more common than those outside the Muslim community realize, Aminrazavi said, citing the example of many Iraqi couples who have Sunni and Shiite in-laws. "If anybody has failed, it's Muslim scholars," in allowing Islam to be identified with hate, he said. "We should have had a stronger voice," in shaping Americans' perceptions of their Muslim neighbors. [Back to index of February articles]
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