Studying Islam for a more peaceful world

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Despite popular averments that faith is at the root of the world's jobs as at no other clip in recent history, closer analyze uncovers that it is not faith per se that is plaguing the human race but the misunderstanding of religion. Positing a watershed between Islamism and the West, or the spiritual and the secular, not only belies Islamism and Muslims, but the nature and missionary post of all faiths. Understanding and studying Islamism is a substance of great urgency - it is, in fact, critical, if world is to have got a peaceful future.

The History recently reported that despite an ambiance of tolerance in the Bay Area and the long history of Muslims in the United States, many of the Bay Area's 200,000 Muslims worry that they are seen by non-Muslims arsenic outsiders.

How is faith so prostrate to being misunderstood? All too often we see faith hijacked and twined in the service of dockets wrought from deeply dissentious issues, fueling fearfulness and hatred, providing fertile land for the political relation of polarization, which functions only to additional divide. Study, argument and unfastened dialogue, on the other hand, offering the promise of apprehension and life peacefully with each other.

Because our work is alumnus instruction in faith centered on interreligious dialogue, engaging one another about difference is a manner of life for us at the Alumnus Theological Union. In our teaching, research and community conferences, as well as in our day-to-day operations as a pool of ecumenical and interfaith alumnus programs, we embrace, rather than avoid, the critical latent hostilities that originate from different perspectives. A starting point for our work is the comparative survey of sacred textual matters - the Torah, Christian Book and Quran. Our end end is the devising of spiritual leadership and pedagogues who will turn to issues of spiritual pluralism and difference in local communities, the state and the world. Why? Because one function of faith is to cultivate civic fictional character and virtuousness so differences in the public foursquare can be peacefully navigated and negotiated. In this way, rather than being a dividing force, faith can be a powerful accelerator for determination declarations to geopolitical, economical and societal problems.

Islam is the fastest growth faith in the world. To analyze and larn Islamism and to learn from Muslims is to understand the human race and its complex and diverse religion traditions. As the Occident unfortunately projects a wary oculus on Islam, it is especially of import to understand Islamism in a broad, interfaith context. Today, the Alumnus Theological Union volition open up a Center for Islamic Studies in Bishop Berkeley that will focusing on Islamism as a life human race faith in a scene that includes the survey of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and other spiritual traditions.

The centre will construct an academic platform to assist people and pupils of many religions understand Islamism as a human race faith with a divinity of pluralism and rich scholarly traditions. It also will patronize conferences to construct Bridges across faiths and cultures, and it will function as a community affair with Bay Area Muslims. In all of these activities, it will offer pupils and the bigger community the chance to confront differences and collaborate so even those who strongly differ on issues might happen adequate common land and a safe space to work together on undertakings for the common good.

One of our pupils recently asked, "Can I respectfully prosecute and welcome 'the other', while at the same clip allowing others to be different?" This is an immensely of import question. If asked by many, it offers a glance of what the Bay Area, the state and the human race could become.

The very good, but under-reported news is that interfaith duologue and action is well afoot in tons of academic, civic and spiritual locations around the world. We back up these efforts. We look forward to contributing in our ain way, through interreligious education, to an apprehension of Islamism that could convey the human race a measure closer to peace. Because whatever name 1 gives to God, it looks impossible to us that God's intent would be to split humanity.

James A. Donahue is the president of the Alumnus Theological Union in Bishop Berkeley and a professor of ethics. Munir Jiwa is a professor of Islamic Studies and manager of the Center for Islamic Studies at the Alumnus Theological Union.