Last Sunday, one of the groups that I co-lead- Interfaith Women’s Initiative of Bergen County- held a public educational event titled “Welcoming the Stranger”. Our Education Sub-team, including Shaheen Ahmed, Amra Mahmood, Kim Regan, Fran Regan, Lynne Weber, Zakawat Jan, Susan Breznick, etc. pulled the whole event together splendidly, and our whole membership advocated and influenced people to come from all over so that we had a very diverse audience of over 200 people or so. Our hosts- the Darul Islah mosque in Teaneck- was generous, organized and hospitable as is our tradition, which added so much grace and beauty to the event. It was covered by the Bergen Record as well as Jewish Broadcasting Services, and will be broadcast on several channels. We had lined up amazing speakers from each faith, a rabbi, a revered – Revered Beate Storck- and a doctor- Dr. Heba Elkhateeb from Rutgers Unversity! The Rabbi fell ill that morning and amazingly one of our members’ daughters- Cantor Laura Bresnick- agreed to drive down from Connecticut and deliver the Rabbi’s talk. It was a lucky break for all, and what a magnificent job Laura did! Each of them talked from their own frame of reference.
The Cantor talked about how Jews as a people have been strangers throughout history and therefore are commanded to welcome, protect and love the stranger. In fact, the Hebrew term “gher” means stranger and also connotes fear. So, strangeness and fear are linked in their meanings.
The Reverend spoke from the frame of how Jesus lived his life, being a stranger himself also to his own people, i.e. born Jewish but also a refugee. She talked about Jesus’s life of serving others and going with the need without asking who is being served- loved her line “Jesus doesn’t do background checks!”; why they are being served – all in need are worthy of help. She also referred to certain officials misquoting the Bible and using quotes out of context, which go against the spirit of the Gospels. This is a trend we are all familiar with no matter which faith!
And finally, Dr. ElKhateeb talked about the essential and eternal message of the Quran, that Islam is not a new religion, but the completion of the messages of previous prophets; that we are one family of humans and that our relationship to God- Allah- is in our hearts; and that Insaniyet is righteousness of the heart which has compassion towards others and acts out of that compassion and love. Her analysis of the language of the Quran and its deeper meanings was fascinating and is something we Muslims should study and learn more about.
Each faith group may use a different frame – Jews as a people; Christians emulating Jesus’s life; Muslims personal relationship to God, etc. What matters is that we had a conversation with learned people, who had not only had researched their faiths but were living it to the best way possible. And of course, the most inspiring aspect of the event was the universal common message in all faiths! Every faith, whether Abrahamic or not, tries to guide human beings to be noble beings who care for others, for nature and our planet.
Every time I go to an interfaith event, I notice that people make time for such educational events, they bring their curiosity and love of learning, and usually an open mind that is willing to re-examine long-held negative beliefs about the other. New relationships and collaborations are formed. We also realize our own and others’ ignorance and bias about each other which is why such conversations need to go on. One woman asked me if Muslims believe in heaven and hell, as Christians do? Another Muslim woman asked Jews if they really did not believe in life after death? The power of faith is visible, yet the invisible mysteries continue to confound our rational minds- how to make sense of all of this? And unfortunately, very few of us go to the trouble of learning about other faiths, and so remain vulnerable to myth and media manipulation even in this day of instant communications across the globe. It is time for the conversations with real people to take over the media dominated era, where all our knowledge and beliefs come from media with their own interests, selective and biased coverage. It is also time to end the common belief that religion is the root of all problems. In the end, each human being can act and do good, even if it seems as a drop in the ocean, and try to educate others so there is greater understanding- which restores respect, dignity and in the long-term justice for all- and appreciation of the magical human life, magical nature and our magical planet.
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