NORTH AMERICA
• Muslim/Christian Dialogue, Naperville, Illinois- April 2009a>
• A Day of Dignity, Atlanta, Georgia- September 2009
• A Common Word Conference, Georgetown University- October 2009
• Yale Signatories of A Common Word, Mail Campaign- November 2009
• National Prayer Breakfast, Washington DC- February 2010
Muslim/Christian Dialogue, Naperville, Illinois- April 2009
Islamic Center of Naperville: Invites You to a Community Event and Seminar
A DEADLY Misunderstanding
A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge The Muslim-Christian Divide
with Congressman (Ret.) Mark D. Siljander, Ph.D & Dr. Abdel Azim M. Elsiddig
SUNDAY April 19, 2009, 2:30 PM TO 4:00 PM
Seating starts at 2:00 PM, Refreshments will be served
Waubonsie Valley High School (Auditorium)
2590 Ogden Avenue -Aurora, Illinois 60504
Congressman (Ret.) Mark D. Siljander, Ph.D.
Represented Michigan for 15 years, which includes three terms as a member of the
United States Congress, where he served on the International Relations Middle East Subcommittee
and was ranking member of the Africa Subcommittee. He was the primary sponsor of the
African Famine Relief Act. President Reagan later appointed him as a
US Ambassador (Alternate Delegate) to the United Nations in New York; here he served as
a member of the Middle East and Africa Strategy Group.
Dr. Abdel Azim M. Elsiddig
Was born in the Sudan. He studied law and Sharia (Islamic law) at the Faculty of Law,
University of Khartoum where he graduated with Honors-Upper Division. He received his
Masters of Law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He then obtained
his doctorate degree in Islamic Legal Theory from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He has served as a postdoctoral Research Associate (Law, Religion & Society), at
Temple University and as a Professor of Islamic Law at the Islamic American University.
Islamic Center of Naperville
The Islamic Center of Naperville (ICN) was founded in 1991 as a not-for-profit organization.
ICN serves Muslim families in the Naperville area and the surrounding suburbs. It currently
manages two facilities at 450 Olesen Drive and 2844 West Ogden Avenue. ICN’s vision is to be a
Masjid-centric community with complete submission to Allah, following the Traditions of
Prophet Mohammed and to live up to every aspect of our name; “Islamic Center of Naperville.”
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A Common Word Conference, Georgetown University- October 2009
Common Path Alliance was represented among the delegates from around the world
who came to Georgetown University to unite around the vision of “A Common Word
Between Us and You.” This is the fourth conference of the Common Word
initiative. Other Common Word conferences have been held at Yale University,
the University of Cambridge, and the Vatican. The focus of the gathering at
Georgetown was to take the Common Word initiative to the next level by recognizing
global issues related to Muslims and Christians and moving forward with real
projects for change.
“The Common Word initiative is a direct outcome of “A Common
Word Between Us and You,” issued in October 2007. The letter, prepared
by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, and signed bymore than 138 Muslim
leaders and scholars, was sent to leaders of Christian churches and communities
through the world. It addressed the need for Muslims and Christians to
reach a better level of peace and understanding with one another—a peace and
understanding based on two common theological commitments issuing from our
respective revelations: to love God and to love one’s neighbor.”
“A Common Word, the largest Muslim interfaith initiative towards Christians
to date, has provided Muslim and Christians with a frameword toaddress religious,
historical, social and practical issues between two world communities.
Muslim and Christians make up roughly 55% of the world’s population; world peace
depends to a great extent on establishing peace between these goups.
Globalization has touched all communities around the world, providing challenges
and opportunities for mutual understanding, trust and respect. Past
successes of the Common Word initiative are described on their website.”
Click here to learn more about A Common Word
Common Word Conference Schedule
Wednesday, October 7
9:30 a.m. Welcome and Opening (Gaston Hall)
10:00 a.m. Global Leaders Forum (Gaston Hall)
Muslim-Christian Relations in a 21st Century World.
Moderator: Riz Khan
Panelists: The Right Honourable Tony Blair
His Excellency Kjell Magne Bondevik
John L. Esposito, Ph.D.
Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim
His Excellency Sheikh Mustafa Efendi Cerić
Thursday, October 8
9:30 a.m. Welcome (Gaston Hall)
10:00 a.m. Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century
What are the sources and limits of pluralism in Islam and Christianity? How do
these mpact Muslim-Christian relations? How do we bring
the two communities together to fight prejudices, to counter Islamophobia and the
demonization of Christians? What are good practices?
Moderator: Sarah Joseph
Panelists: Ingrid Mattson, Ph.D.
The Reverend Joel C. Hunter
Bishop Munib Younan
The Reverend Thomas F. Michel, S.J., Ph.D.
1:30 p.m. Religion, Violence and Peace-Building
If religion has been part of the problem, it stands to reason that it must
be part of the solution. How do we better understand both religion and violence, and
religion and peacebuilding? What are the major issues and best practices in
counteracting religious extremism? How can religious authorities
and community leaders de-legitimize extremism and acts of violence and terrorism?
Moderator: John Voll, Ph.D.
Panelists: His Excellency Sheikh Mahmood A. Madani
His Beatitude Patriarch Theofilos III
The Reverend J. Bryan Hehir
His Excellency Sheikh Ali Gomaa
His Excellency Sheikh Mustafa Efendi Cerić
Heba Raouf, Ph.D.
The Rt. Rev. & Hon. Richard Chartes, D.D., F.S.A.
3:50 p.m. Award Presentation, Association of Muslim Social Scientists, UKon Hall)
AMSS UK Lifetime Achievement Award and Building Bridges Award
Recipients: John Esposito, Ph.D. and Charles E. Butterworth, Ph.D.
Presenters: Ibrahim Kalin, Ph.D. and Sheikh Amr Khaled
4:00 p.m. The Role of International NGOs in a Pluralistic World (Gaston Hall)
How are traditional theological foundations for love of neighbor interpreted
and applied in response to neighbors in today’s global community? In what ways
has this understanding informed Muslim-Christian relations in the work of major
international NGOs?
Moderator: Abdallah Schleifer
Panelists: Sheikh Amr Khaled
Ken Hackett
Shamil Idriss
David Robinson
6:00 p.m. Open Session 4 - Wrap-Up Discussion: Where Do We Go from Here?
Summary of the key take-aways from the previous five panels, relating to the
purpose of the conference and expected outcomes. What are leaders'
reactions? What will we do to promote and implement the ideas presented or
initiatives discussed?
Moderators: John Esposito, Ph.D. & Ibrahim Kalin, Ph.D.
7:15 p.m. Closing
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Yale Signatories of A Common Word, Mail Campaign- November 2009
A Common Word Between Us and You was launched in October 2007 by the
nation of Jordan and was signed by 138 Muslim leaders and scholars. It was
sent out around the world to all Christians as a way to extend the hand of
friendship and show what we have in common. The point of common connection
was cited as “Love of God and love of the neighbor.” This Muslim delegation
quoted the words of Jesus in the Greatest Commandment and verified that this is
also consistent with the heart of true Islam.
This document is significant for many reasons, among them:
- TAKING THE INITIATIVE: This is the most significant event in recent
history where Muslims have come with a united voice to reach out to all Christians
with the hand of friendship. - FIGHTING AGAINST TERRORISM: It stands as a strong statement that true Islam
is about love of the neighbor, whereas, those who kill in the name of Islam do not
represent true Islam. - VALIDATING THE BIBLE: By looking to and quoting from the Bible they are
validating the true teachings of the Qur’an where it is stated more than 100 times
that Muslims should read, trust, believe and understand what is written in the
“previous revelations of God” (ie: the Bible); rather than standing on the
traditional Islamic teaching that goes against the Qur’an and says that the
Bible has been corrupted. - AFFIRMING PEACE & GOODWILL: The tone of A Common Word is one
of developing peace and understanding between half of the world’s population.
The significance of movement toward peace globally between Muslims and Christians
should not be overlooked.
THE YALE RESPONSE
After this historic document was released in October of 2007 there was an immediate
response from the Christian world. The most notable response was issued from
the Reconciliation Program at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and it was
called “Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to
‘A Common Word Between Us and You.’” This document known as ‘The
Yale Response’ was a concise Christian reply to the extended hand of friendship
and reconciliation from A Common Word. This brief document was not intended
to contain all points of historical Christian doctrine and theology just as the
Muslim counterpart did not expound on all Islamic theology. It was merely
a succinct Christ-honoring reply to the historic outstretched hand from the
Muslim world.
Recognizing the gravity of the Common Word document, the Yale Response was
enthusiastically signed by many Christian leaders and scholars. The Yale
Response along with the approximately 130 prominent Christian signatories was
published as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on
November 13, 2007. This proved to be an appropriate response from the
“Christian” world to the initiative that was launched from the “Muslim” world.
While neither of these documents can speak for all represented by such sweeping terms
as Christian and Muslim, these documents have begun the process of creating a beautiful
space of understanding where the conversation can proceed from.
As a part of the mission of Common Path Alliance we sought to reach out to the
signatories of the Yale Response. We saw a real opportunity to connect with
folks who appear to share the passion that we have for bringing Muslims and Christians
together to dialogue and work together. In reaching out to the Yale signatories
we found some to be very receptive to our purposes. Others were difficult to
track down and get a hold of, while others we learned had withdrawn their name from
the list. This saddened us to learn that some who immediately embraced
‘loving their neighbor’ were pressured by other pastors and their constituency
to remove their name from the list. The only reason for this that we could
determine was that some of these Christian leaders felt like the Yale Response was
some sort of compromise of their faith and beliefs. It seems that they want
all of their theology front and center, and were unwilling to find points of
agreement with Muslims and build relationships from there. This grieves
us and it would have been better if these Christian leaders never signed the
Yale Response to begin with rather than reneging on it. We hope to step
into the gap and show the love of Christ to our Muslim friends since we believe that
Jesus readily embraced those different than him.
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National Prayer Breakfast, Washington DC- February 2010
Common Path Alliance was a part of the National Prayer Breakfast joining with many friends and partners from around the world. Not only do we believe in the importance of prayer for our nation, our leaders, our friends and even our enemies; but we also love the incredible friendships that develop around the shared passions and purpose of this gathering.
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