DICID Officials Visit America

17 Apr DICID Officials Visit America

The DICID team visited America between April 2-11, 2011 to promote the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue and its activities to national interfaith organizations in the United States. The visit was made in collaboration with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to the cities of Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California and Washington. Another goal of the trip was to get a comprehensive understanding of methods to collaborate with interfaith partners for the common good, in order to build peace at home and abroad and to provide much-needed services to the communities in which they live.

The visit began with a discussion with Dr. Scott Alexander, Director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies Program, and other faculty, about the Roman Catholic Church’s interfaith dialogue efforts in the United States. Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is the largest Roman Catholic graduate school of theology and ministry in the United States.

DICID officials visited the Inner-City Muslim Action Network’s projects and facilities, and met with Dr. Rami Nashashibi. The Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) is a community-based nonprofit that works for social justice. Next, they met with Members of the SouthWest InterFaith Team (SWIFT) and Rabbi Ellen Dreyfus, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). The SouthWest InterFaith Team (SWIFT) provides a forum for Christian, Muslim and Jewish people in the area to educate, interact with and learn from each other. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is an international organization that is considered the organized rabbinate of Reform Judaism. There was a discussion about how and why interreligious, grassroots efforts do and do not work. This was followed by a visit to a Reform Jewish synagogue where they learnt about the Reform Jewish movement, and discussed the Jewish community’s involvement in interfaith work.

Next, the DICID officials attended a Roundtable with Bishop Mark Hanson, Bishop Donald McCoid and Dr. Michael Trice from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and with Faculty at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago which is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This was followed by a meeting with the Executive Members of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metro Chicago (CRLMC) and with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC). Next, they met with Dr. Eboo Patel and Staff from the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) which creates relationships based on mutual respect and religious pluralism across the world by inspiring, networking, and resourcing young people, who are the leaders of this movement.

DICID officials had a roundtable with Faculty at Claremont School of Theology followed by Lunch with its President, Jerry Campbell. They discussed with the faculty about Claremont’s new “University Project”. Claremont School of Theology is an ecumenical and interreligious institution founded in the United Methodist tradition that will become the first institution of its kind to train not only Christian, but also Muslim and Jewish clergy. They had a roundtable with Leaders of the South Coast Interfaith Council where they discussed about regional interfaith projects with a focus on SCIC’s programs in Southern California.

This was followed by a tour of the UMMA Community Clinic and a meeting with Dr. Yasser Aman, president of the Clinic, which is the most recognized Muslim free clinic in the country. Under the leadership of the Muslim community in Southern California, UMMA seeks to improve access to health care and the health status of a multi-ethnic, economically disadvantaged community.

The DICID team prayed Jummah at the Islamic Center of Southern California followed by lunch with the Islamic Center leadership and students visiting from Loyola Marymount University, a local Catholic liberal arts institution. This was followed by reception with the Leaders of Muslim organizations in Southern California. Discussion was hosted by Dr. Maher Hathout of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, and Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi of The Fiqh Council of North America.

There was a roundtable with Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord and Other Leaders of the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California (CMCG) where their local interreligious collaborations and experiences were discussed, especially their “Standing Together” project which develops mutual study guides on Christianity and Islam. This was followed by a visit to Saddleback community who have been on a “PEACE team” to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Native American communities.

DICID team attended a Sunday Morning Service at Saddleback Church and met with Pastor Rick Warren to discuss about his interreligious service to those in need, particularly in Rwanda, Burundi, and other countries in Africa. This was followed by a roundtable at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) where they discussed with Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam, and other faculty about Muslim-Jewish relations in academic settings.

The DICID team finally participated in the U.S.-Islamic World Forum at the Brookings Institution on the topic of “Inside the Middle East: Security, Political and Social Dynamics”.