July 04, Interfaith Program, Castle Hill, Islamic Friendship, Catholic Diocese,

This was our second interfaith event, it was held in Castle Hill, the event was chaired by ABC radio personality and SMH columnist Mr. Richard Glover.

the speakers were:

His Grace, Bishop Kevin Manning, Catholic Diocese of Parramatta

Ms. Wendie Wilkie, Associate General Secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia

Ms. Suzan Meguid, local resident

Keysar Trad, Islamic Friendship Association of Australia Inc.

Keysar Trad speech summary with short references, Sharing Common Values Interfaith Event, Oct 03

Islamic Friendship Association of Australia – and the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, first Muslim Christian Open Public Dialogue
Friday 17th October 2003

Speech by Keysar Trad

Madam chair, fellow speakers, his eminence the Mufty, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman Good evening and peace and blessings to you all.

Being the final speaker, I only have one or two additional points, most of the main points have already been covered.

The bible says:

Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27 To love God with all your heart and all your soul.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The Qur`an, the book that we Muslims believe to contain the final words of God tells us how to follow the commandments and points us to role models of our own human kind such as Abraham, Moses, Christ and Muhammad peace and blessings upon them all. These role models applied all the commandments faithfully in their lives and showed us how to lead a life full of spirituality and love. In this regard, God tells His messenger Muhammad peace and blessings upon him to say:

Qur`an 3:31 If you indeed love God, follow me and God will love you and forgive you your sins.

God also tells us in the Holy Qur`an

24:22 Forgo and forgive if you would like God to forgive you.
2:195, 3:148, 5:13 (and other verses) Do good, God loves those who do good.
2:222 God loves the penitent and those who purify themselves.
3:76 God loves those who are pious
3:134 Those who overcome their grudge and those who forgive people, Allah loves those who do good.
3:146 God loves those who patiently persevere
3:159 God loves those who rely on Him
5:43, 49:9 God loves those who are just
23:96 and 41:34: repel evil with goodness.

One of the names of Allah is the Loving, another is the forgiving, another is the Most Compassionate and another is the Most Merciful.

Quoting Christ, John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

The prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) said: None of you is a true believer until you love for your brother (in humanity) what you love for yourself.

He also said: You will not truly believe until you love one another … in order to love one another you must promote peace.

God also tells us never to despair of receiving His grace and Compassion saying at 39:53: “Say to My devotees who have wronged themselves, do not despair of the Mercy of Allah, Allah forgives all sins, He indeed is the Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

The Qur`an tells us at 19:21 referring to Christ (peace and blessings upon him): “We will make him a sign to people and a mercy from Us.” And tells us at 21:107 that the prophet Muhammad was sent to this world to bring compassion and mercy: “We only sent you as a mercy to the worlds.”

The prophet Muhammad himself described his mission as one to complete the teachings of the most noble mannerisms and character traits.

He also said: "My example and the example of the prophets before me is the same as that of a man who built a house, then beautified it and decorated it, except for the position of one brick in one of its corners, the people would go around this house, and marvel at it, and say: If only this brick was put in place? I am that brick, I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets."

As for the Qur`an itself, it states at 16:89: “We sent down to you the book to clarify all things and as a guidance, a grace (and compassion) and good news for those who submit to God.”

17:9 “Indeed this Qur`an guides to that which is straighter and gives glad tidings to the believers who do good, that they have a great reward.”

27:1-3 “Tah Seen, these are the verses of the Qur`an, a book of clarity, a guidance and glad tidings to the believers, those who establish prayer, give pure charity and believe with certainty in the final life.”

And at 46:12 “Before it was the book of Moses, a leader and a mercy, this is a book confirming, in the Arabic language, to caution those who do wrong and give good news to those with beautiful conduct.”

Now for the name Islam, a word that sums up two meanings, one of peace and the other of surrender to God, two principals that are just as central to Christianity as they are to Islam.

What all this indicates is that the message of prophet Muhammad peace and blessings upon him is a continuation of the divine revelations. It continues the message of love and peace and submission to God that was brought by Noah, Abraham, Moses and Christ. What we heard from the previous speakers proves beyond doubt our common origin and purpose and the respect that we share for each other and the respect we enjoy as a society. The case presented about our ability to live together has been proved. I wish to take us to something else, why it is so crucial for us as faith communities to work together.

Here we have two faiths based on love and goodwill, based on friendship and compassion, with such commonality in goals, the message of the Qur`an to us as believers in God, is to work together on the basis of our mutual agreement in the belief in God, refer 3:64 “Say O people of the book (Christians and Jews are referred to in the Qur`an as people of the book), come to a term that is mutually agreeable to us and to you, that we worship none other than God and that we not associate any partner in Him and that we not take each other as lords beside God. As for those who turn away, say (to them): bear witness that we have submitted to the will of God.”

It is in our interest to heed this call from God and to work together, many amongst us would know and have battled against a number of social challenges that seem to be growing day by day.

There is the challenge of keeping families together in the face of increasing separations and break-downs, there is the challenge of teaching young people to respect their elders, and teaching the elders to have compassion and mercy for the young, there is the challenge of teaching youth to work towards constructive long term goals in the face of great distractions, there is the challenge of helping one another realise that happiness is not elusive but is reachable and enjoyable regardless of material conditions and without artificial stimulants. There is the challenge of putting out the fire of violence and war that keep getting ignited every now and again. There is the challenge of promoting friendship and goodwill amongst each other. Respecting the role that each of us must fulfil for our respective communities will help us in offering constructive solutions to these and other challenges.

To begin addressing these challenges, we must emulate the mission of love and compassion portrayed by the two great teachers Christ and Muhammad peace be upon them both. We have to nurture our souls and help others to rediscover and nurture their’s. We have to remind each other of the values of faith, perseverance and compassion as God tells us in the Qur`an at 90:17.

After this, can anyone look at us, sitting here together and say that we are two groups? Yes, we are Muslims and Christians, two very close but distinct faiths and we are together as one group, united in our love for God and for each other.

Our love for God is the cause, it is our motive, this meeting is the effect of this great love, the rest, the impact, what you take from here tonight, is entirely up to you.

I invite everyone here to read about each other’s faith with an open mind, to objectively consider each other’s way of life and to praise God for everything we have in common.

Peace and love to all.

Speech by Ms. Wendie Wilkie, Associate General Secretary, Uniting Church in Australia

Speech to Islamic Christian meeting

It is my great pleasure to be here tonight. That we can meet like this I as members of two different faiths is a reminder that living together in harmony and mutual respect is possible.

Our two faiths traditions have within them many exhortations to live with one another in peace. Both of our traditions acknowledge God as the creator of this world and our creator. Our common humanity puts us together on this small blue planet, we cannot pretend any longer - if we ever could, that we can live as though the other did not exist or that only one group has rights and needs. It is more than tolerance that will bring true peace and harmony between us. It will take leadership, it needs intentional and ongoing meetings between us to build relationships at all levels, it needs us to learn about each other’s faith to some extent so we can understand and appreciate one another better, to support one another in the celebration and patterns of our faith. It need us to respect each other as people of faith - we have that in common that we are people of faith. It will require us to take risks for the sake of those relationships, to stoep outised our comfort zone and to perhaps challenge our own communities at times for the sake of those relatiomships in order to build peace. It will require openness and empathy for one another..

Let me tell you some modern stories to illustrate what I think is required.

Within a few days of the twin towers being shattered in USA on September 11, a large group of Christians and Muslims met for dinner here in Sydney. It had been planned many months earlier but the irony of its timing did not escape the 80 people who gathered. Affirmations of the commitment to build the yet young and fragile relationship were made and a common statement condemning the horror bombing was read. In the days that followed , as reactions against Muslims, and abuse of Muslims occurred, Christian leaders visited mosques and supported their Muslim brothers and sisters publicly. Many local leaders in my own church phoned me, expressing concern for Muslims in their area and the reactions they were suffering, asking how could they do something,, how could they help . Many congregations ran public meetings about Islam and began to relate to their Muslim neighbours in the area. Later when Christian churches were attacked in Sydney, Muslim leaders visited, to express concern and affirm their horror at this supposed retaliation. Last year when Muslim communities were going through a rough time and on the front pages of the news, they held a press conference. At the press conference was a Christian leader of the National council of churches, Rev John Henderson, – sitting there as a friend of the Muslims running the press conference and a symbol of support and concern for the Muslim community. It wasn’t mentioned in the press reports, but he was there, intentionally. Such actions give credence to our talk about support and care.

In my congregation two families suffered in the Bali bombing. A much loved grandson suffered horrible burns and died after a long and harrowing week. A young woman mourned the death of close friend. Many congregations in my church grieved with families and others over this senseless death and destruction. Some were angry but most were deeply saddened. People in my church were moved again, not to retaliate, but to once again be concerned for what reactions might be happening to Muslims. There is a renewed interest in learning about Islam, renewed interest in meeting and learning about the Muslim communities, a strong interest in reaching out. An as those relationships are built so new patterns of friendship and relationship gradually emerge with understanding and appreciation. Not everyone wants to do this but many do.

At a meeting of 1500 young Christina in January this year I ran a session on interfaith dialogue. It was the first time such a session had been part of this bi-ennial conference fro young Christians. I took with me a rabbi and an imam to meet the se young people rather than me speak about their faiths. They spoke of growing up in Australia as a minority faith, about being an immigrant in Australia. Because these were not speeches defending a faith but stories about being faithful, the young people felt able to ask all the questions they had, even the tough and difficult ones.. It is this kind of meeting and interaction that is also important, much like what we are doing tonight.

I visited Ambon earlier this year at the invitation of a unique group of women. A group of Muslim and Christina women who had come together to commit themselves to work for peace in a very troubled and divided community. As women they were deeply concerned that they were tiered of the killing and the violence, were grieved and deeply saddened by the loss of some nay ovoid ones. They talked about the four years of conflict and told stories of what it had been like for their families and their communities. As one Muslim woman said – we have all suffered. This remarkable group of women committed themselves to work on joint community projects and to continue to demonstrate by their commitment to each other that peace was possible and to encourage other women young and old and their men folk to see such possibility for the sake of the whole community. It was a remarkable gathering of remarkable women. It reminded me that real peace and real relationships involves risk and courage – risk to go beyond what we know, what we feel secure in, to be open to learn new things about ourselves and our communities as well as about others. It may also lead us to challenge our own communities and some of their attitudes and practices. What these women did challenged their communities. .For these women to meet they had to have police on duty in the compound to ensure their safety, safety we take for granted here in Ausrtalia..

We are at a point in our history where we have enormous opportunities to lead our communities in finding common ground and living together in peace and harmony. There are real differences in our faiths which we have to face but our relationships will not be strong if we don’t face them. But we can only face them because of the strength of our relationships. Let us continue to seek each other out, to be open and caring, delighting in each other and what we learn, able to face common difficulties and common threats. Let there be peace and let it begin with us.

Wendie Wilkie
17 October 2003

Speeches from the Oct 03 event, Bishop Kevin Manning

Introduction
It is with great pleasure that I join you this evening to discuss some values which Muslims and Christians hold in common. Thanks to my fellow organisers who have so ably demonstrated that Muslims and Christians can work together.

Basis for Dialogue
Common Humanity
The primary basis for our dialogue is our common humanity: we are brothers and sisters on this planet. As human beings we share certain values about life, family, education, peace. After all, according to the Book of Genesis, we are all made in God’s image, sons and daughters of God and we have Abraham as a common (spiritual) Father.

Earlier this month, the Pope, the Leader of the Catholic Church, said in his message to a UNESCO Conference in Paris “ all considerations must put human beings at the centre, as well as the dignity of their biological and spiritual being, the sacred character of their life,” and the value of the marriage and family bond”.[1]

Culture and Religion determine our way of being
We all recognise that human beings belong to specific cultures so that, frequently, inter-religious dialogue is also an inter-cultural dialogue. To understand another culture can be difficult especially when we want to go beyond the external expressions of culture such as food and music which we have enjoyed this evening. These are representations of a much deeper phenomenon: a way of thinking and a way of being in the world. For us, Muslims and Christians, this way of being is derived from our respective religious beliefs and commitment.

Basis of Respect
These two elements – our common humanity and the acknowledgment of one another’s religious beliefs– provide the basis for the mutual respect, which must, and does, characterise our dialogue.

Faith Content of our Dialogue
When I examine the Five Pillars of Islam, I can see immediately that elements of these Five Pillars are present in Christianity.

First Pillar: Confession of Faith
Christians also believe in one God. The profession of faith, which is recited on Sundays in Catholic Church services, begins, “ I believe in One God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth”. The prayer which Jesus taught us begins “ Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name … thy will be done”.


Second Pillar: Prayer
Prayer to the all- powerful God is at the heart of the Christian life. Private prayer daily and community prayer in the Eucharist each week is a basic action for the Christian.


Third Pillar: Almsgiving
This is a very ancient tradition in the Christian Church. Catholic social justice teaching is very strong on this point. We must give, not from our abundance, but from our necessity. In fact, one of our leaders, Pope Paul VI taught that the poor have a right to take what they need for basic sustenance.

Fourth Pillar: Fasting
Again fasting has a long tradition in Christianity, dating back to its Founder. Today periods of fasting throughout the year are more visible in Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches than in western Christian churches and I regard this as a loss.

It is interesting to note that in the Irish language, the word for
Friday is the “day of the Fast”
Wednesday means the first day of the fast
Thursday means the day between the fasts

Fifth Pillar: Pilgrimage
Some of you may be surprised to hear that pilgrimage is very deeply rooted in Christianity. It was very much practised by holy men and women in medieval times and is still a very large part of the practice of the Catholic Church.
There is another sense in which pilgrimage is foundational to Christianity. We believe that ‘we have not here a lasting city” that our whole life is a pilgrimage. A very old prayer in which we ask Mary, the mother of Jesus, to help us refers to this world as the ‘vale of tears”. That does not mean that we have a gloomy view of the world but it is simply reminding ourselves of the reality that we are a pilgrim people.

We see death as the end of the pilgrimage, the gate through which we must pass. It is interesting that one of the Latin words for dying was “migravit”: he migrated!!

In this brief review of the Five Pillars of Islam and Christianity, it can be seen that there is much we have in common.


Social Justice
I would like to return to one point and introduce another before moving to my final comments.

The point to which I wish to return is social justice and specifically the connection between justice and peace which both religions seek. Times without number has the present Pope, John Paul II, spoken about justice as the foundation for peace. On 4th October, through his representative, the same message was heard at UNESCO. Let me quote it for you because I think you will agree that it is a powerful statement:

(the international community) “ must do everything possible so that all peoples have land and autonomy of existence, and so that they may be able to make decisions in internal matters so that inhabitants of a nation may be the first to benefit from their country’s riches.”[2]
This has been the constant teaching of the Catholic Church.

Mary
It was a great joy for me to learn that Muslims honour Mary as the mother of Jesus and, although our respective beliefs about the status of Jesus differ, the honour given in Islam to Mary, as His mother, finds a warm resonance in the hearts of Catholics.
With these, we have a solid foundation to move forward together, in peace, harmony, and mutual respect.

Conclusion
I want to finish by quoting some key teachings of the Catholic Church with regard to inter-faith dialogue. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council agreed:

“Upon the Muslims, the Catholic Church looks with esteem. They adore One God living and enduring, merciful and all-powerful Maker of heaven and earth, and Speaker to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as did Abraham, with whom the Islamic faith is pleased to associate itself. Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a Prophet. They also honour Mary, his virgin mother. At times they call on her, too, with devotion. Further, they await the Day of judgment when God will give each man his due after raising him up. Consequently, they prize the moral life and give worship to God, especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting” (Nostra Aetate, 3).

And so, the Catholic Church encourages its members to dialogue with Muslims, and such dialogues can take place in many ways: living room dialogues in neighbourhoods and communities; dialogues that lead to cooperative efforts, in particular, projects to assist the needy; and dialogues of specialists where religious beliefs are examined and compared; the dialogue of religious experience where we share more deeply of ourselves, our prayers and our understanding of living a life devoted to God, with Whom, one day, we hope live in Peace.


[1] Msgr Francesco Follo, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to UNESCO, speech 4 October.
[2] Msgr Francesco Follo, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to UNESCO, speech 4 October.