USA: Striving for religious tolerance | Letters

The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Imam Shamshad of the Ahmadiyya mosque in Silver Spring reached out to the Rev. Liz Lerner, ... [and] presented the Rev. Lerner with a Koran. They became friends, and in the years since, members of our congregations have joined one another at services. 

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Washington Post | Letters
By Bob Hirshon | September 17, 2010

In his Sept. 12 Outlook essay, "Even now, Muslims must have faith in America," Tariq Ramadan wrote: "American society, including Muslims, faces a choice: It can be driven by mistrust, fundamentalism and populism, or it can rely on constructive religious and civic organizations working for a better common future."

The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Imam Shamshad of the Ahmadiyya mosque in Silver Spring reached out to the Rev. Liz Lerner, our minister at Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring. In the spirit of healing, Imam Shamshad presented the Rev. Lerner with a Koran. They became friends, and in the years since, members of our congregations have joined one another at services.

Imam Shamshad Nasir - File Photo

On Sept. 12, 2010, the Rev. Lerner -- in an effort to stand up to the religious intolerance of Florida pastor Terry Jones -- presented the Koran to our church as the first volume in a new scripture library, dedicated to religious understanding and tolerance. In her dedication, she asked: "What better way to start this library, what better way on this day, than by starting with this Koran, given as a token of esteem by a Muslim friend?"

I suspect that others responded similarly in affirming their belief in the importance of religious tolerance. And I wonder whether the Rev. Jones's efforts to inflame hatred of Islam served instead to galvanize the forces for love and inclusion.

Maybe God does indeed move in mysterious ways.

Bob Hirshon, Takoma Park


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