On Sunday April 23, 2017, the children of Cordoba House Sunday School commemorated the Isra and Mi'raj (or the night journey of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mecca to Jerusalem) through a production demonstrating the deep mystical significance of the occasion. The children narrated and enacted the angels in various levels of the heavens standing, bowing, and prostrating to God. These movements came to be known as Salah, or the five times daily prayers, that Muslims perform today. The students ...
Aiming for Religious Pluralism
In this op-ed in Rice University's Rice Thresher publication, a group of interfaith students expresses why the university—and all institutions and communities—must aim not for religious tolerance, but for religious pluralism. As they say: "We have all heard we should be religiously tolerant of others, but tolerance only scrapes the surface... Religious pluralism goes beyond tolerance and facilitates, facilitating the implementation of a critical approach. It allows us to see past the ...
The Power of Interfaith Encounters
Read this thoughtful reflection on the Sojourners blog about how interfaith encounters can help us change our perceptions and become better advocates for one another. As the author states, it was not until she attended a Muslim prayer service at her university that she realized how needed a Muslim prayer room was, saying: "It wasn't until I went to jumah that I even considered how easy it had been for me to be a Christian student all these years. I realized how much public space my Christianity ...
Message from Imam Feisal: “Let Our Image of God Unite Us”
What is a "sacred space"? What makes a place "sacred"? How does religion exist within spaces, such as mosques, churches, and synagogues? These questions prompted Imam Feisal to consider how we—as individuals, members of communities, and people of faith—locate ourselves in the world, and how we can let our common love for—and the love of—God unite us beyond barriers. Imam Feisal explored these ideas in depth in an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. At ...
Op-Ed by Imam Feisal: Let Our Image of God Unite Us
In this op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Imam Feisal encourages us to expand our faithfulness in God beyond the "local"—to see the connections that exist between ourselves and other people of different communities, beliefs, and cultures and let our common love of God unite us. We are caught now on a divide between self-affirmation and affirmation of those different from us. Is my ultimate address Philadelphia or the mind of God? Are my neighbors only other Muslims or all created in ...
