Silicon Valley: Bay Area religious leaders call for unity in aftermath of Quran burning threat

The event, a "Day of Unity and Healing," was held by the Bay Point-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Silicon Valley Mercury News
By Janis Mara, Staff Writer | September 11, 2010

WALNUT CREEK -- The imam of Concord's Dar-Ul-Islam mosque stood at the front of Grace Presbyterian Church here Saturday, chanting from a Quran lying atop an opened Bible, filling the room with sonorous rhythms and a call for peace in the aftermath of a Florida pastor's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book.

The event, a "Day of Unity and Healing," was held by the Bay Point-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County. More than 100 people came to listen, worship and build bridges in the aftermath of the threatened Quran burning by the Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.

Similar events took place all over the country Saturday, though Jones called off his threat to burn the holy book. Spiritual leaders across the U.S., also worried about an upswing in anti-Muslim sentiment over plans for a mosque near ground zero in New York City, planned the interfaith events to promote tolerance and respect for all religions.


"Allah is all-powerful and forgiving," Amer Araim of the Dar-Ul-Islam mosque in Concord chanted in Arabic, then in English, to the hushed crowd. A row of Qurans bound in vivid red, green and black leather stood on a table in the back. Muslim women in white, black, olive and multicolored head scarves and Muslim men in suits and caps attended the event along with members of other faiths.

"Fanaticism breeds a culture of mistrust and violence devoid of common goals," said Atif Mian, president of the Oakland chapter of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Oakland. "As a Muslim-American, I see the Sept. 11 terrorist attack as a direct attack on my faith."

The imam, who also teaches at UC Berkeley, said, "The Quran says that Islam, being a religion of peace, does not attack other religions."

Members of other religions, including the Baha'i Faith and Christian Science, spoke, and at one point Brian Stein-Webber, an organizer of the event and a member of the Interfaith Council, led the group in a yoga Salute to the Sun.

"We, sisters and brothers, are to love the Lord and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves," said the Rev. Fred Weidman, senior minister at Hillcrest Congregational Church of Pleasant Hill.

Beverly Terlep, a Catholic, said she learned a lot at the event.

"We all came together in the spirit of love," the Rossmoor resident said.

"I thought it was wonderful," said Mansoora Syeda of Oakland, who was wearing an olive head scarf that matched her knee-length burqa. "I'm a proponent of spreading peace and finding similarities. I don't believe in any per se religion, but in the religion of humanity. If we focus on that, we're good."



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