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| File photo: Maulana Naseem Mahdi speaking to media |
Source/Credit: Fredrick News-Post
By Blair Ames | May 15, 2011
For people of faith, the concept of loyalty is complicated, according to the Rev. Tom Momberg of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Frederick.
“We, as people of faith, are loyal first and foremost to the God of our understanding,” he said. “God and then country.”
The problem that then arises is how to balance loyalty to God and loyalty to your country when they’re in conflict. Solutions to the dilemma were discussed Sunday at an interfaith dialogue at All Saints’ co-sponsored by the church and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the first such dialogue coordinated by All Saints’ and Ahmadiyya.
About 60 people of different faiths attended the dialogue held at the church. The panel included Momberg and the Rev. Toni Fish of Unity in Frederick representing Christianity; Rabbi Dan Sikowitz of Congregation Kol Ami, representing Judaism; Konchog Ngedon, a monk from the Tibetan Meditation Center, offering a Buddhist perspective; and Imam Naseem Mahdi of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, representing Islam.
Momberg suggested that when tensions arise between loyalties for Americans of faith decisions should be made from the heart, not just by the mind and thinking.
“Where your treasure is, Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, there will your heart be also,” he said.
For Sikowitz loyalty means being fully a part of this country. From 70 C.E. until the United States was founded Jews were not allowed to be citizens of any country in the world, he said.
“We did not have a place to call home,” he said.
Despite that, the Talmud teaches Jews to be loyal to the country in which they live. They were just never given the chance before. Sikowitz said Judaism teaches Jews that it is their responsibility to fight for the rights of the poor, immigrants, and anyone who doesn’t have a voice, not just for Jews.
“The truth is that loyalty means what our Constitution stands for,” he said. “What our Constitution stands for is that everyone is equal, and we’re supposed to fight not just for the rights of ourselves, but for each and every person.”
During her presentation, Fish said religion is being used as a divisive option, not a uniting option, in today’s society. To combat that you have to get to know the people who hold those different beliefs, without judgment.
“I don’t have to change my mind, but I do have to listen,” she said. Imam Naseem Mahdi of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community started his presentation discussing how Sept. 11 changed the perception of Muslims and how Osama bin Laden hijacked the faith.
Although he became the symbol of Islamic terrorism and gave the impression that he was one of the most important Muslim leaders, Mahdi said that wasn’t true.
That bin Laden had been brought to justice was a sigh of relief for moderate Muslims, Mahdi said.
Mahdi read a verse from the Quran which he thinks is typically misinterpreted.
Chapter 4: Verse 60 of the Quran reads: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you.”
Mahdi said some interpretations believe that the authority among you must be a Muslim comrade. He rejects that interpretation because it is impossible to live in a homeland where everyone is given the freedom of religion and the authority will always be a Muslim comrade.
“Islam is a religion which teaches us loyalty to homeland,” Mahdi said. “This is our religious responsibility and no terrorist will be able to exploit this anymore.”
As for how to move forward and combat religious discrimination in all faiths, SIkowitz said that in his infinite wisdom God offered all of these different faiths so everyone could find their own way back to God.
“The importance for us is to accept that there are no truths,” he said. “Once we accept that, then the other walls will begin to fall away.”
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