USA: Interfaith program turns to scripture for understanding

The program "How Do We Understand Our Scriptures" is sponsored by the Canal Winchester-Lithopolis Ministerial Association, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Columbus Jewish Federation.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Tara Stubbs-Figurski | February 16, 2011

Local representatives of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths are hoping to promote understanding through an examination of holy texts.

The program "How Do We Understand Our Scriptures" is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at St. John Lutheran Church, 133 W. South St., Lithopolis. It is sponsored by the Canal Winchester-Lithopolis Ministerial Association, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Columbus Jewish Federation.

"The purpose of the meeting is that we should know each other," said Mirza Ahmad, communications secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

The program will look at scripture in the Koran, the Bible and the Tanakh, a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The word is an acronym based on the letters T (for "Torah"), N (for "Nevi'im," the prophets) and K (for "Ketuvim," the sacred writings.)


Rabbi Idit Jacques of the Columbus Jewish Federation will address the importance of scripture for the Jewish community. She said the federation was approached by the ministerial association about speaking at the event.

"They have been working with Mirza, who has approached me to have speakers come speak at his mosque," she said. "Other rabbis in the synagogue have gone to speak in his mosque. We were very interested when they approached me about having this."

The scripture program provides a platform to discuss different texts in the Muslim, Jewish and Christian beliefs and is a great way to build understanding of each other and generate some vocabulary to communicate with one another, Jacques said.

Jacques said she was asked to make her presentation based on texts she considers to be sacred or have some significance in her religion. The program allows her an opportunity to explain Jewish scripture, what she considers sacred about Jewish scripture and the role scripture plays in life, she said.

Ahmad said he hopes to dispel misconceptions about Muslims and to explain that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community "does not believe in violence, terrorism and killing of the non-Muslims."

St. John Lutheran Church Pastor Joe Wolf said Ahmad visited his church last fall, shortly before Florida pastor Terry Jones had planned to burn a copy of the Koran as a protest against plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Jones later called off his protest.

"Mirza found his way into our church," Wolf said. "When we were ending worship, he started a conversation and asked what I thought about (Jones' plan). I thought it was despicable."

Ahmad said he reached out to some of the churches in the Lithopolis area when Jones' plans were made public.

"The Holy Koran is going to burn and we don't like it," he told people. "If a Muslim does the same thing, that is not good. We are a peaceful, peaceful community. We want your support in this area. We are all from God."

Ahmad suggested an interfaith dialogue and Wolf agreed. On Sept. 11, there was a joint program with the Muslim community and the ministerial association.

"We had a public event honoring each other's sacred scriptures in anticipation of what he might do in Florida," Wolf said.

The Feb. 21 event is a continuation of that dialogue, he said, adding the program is being held to promote understanding of three great world religions.


tstubbs@thisweeknews.com | www.ThisWeekNEWS.com


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