It is a three hours fast paced workshop to learn about Basic Islam. We are following it up with a course on Advanced Islam in July.
04/18/17 – Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM – Understanding the Essence of Islam
Venue: The Church of Scientology, National Affairs office,
Address: 1701 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Details: https://centerforpluralism.com/understanding-the-essence-of-islam/
RSVP – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/islam-understanding-the-essence-of-islam-tickets-33377341527
Islam remains a myth to many a people who are not Muslims, not because it is complicated, but simply because its purpose and its role vis-à-vis the society was rarely explained.
You’ll learn how Islam is a part of the family of faiths and contributes to the well being of humanity. The dots will be connected to bring a crystal clear picture for you.
Islam has not claimed to be an exclusive religion to earn God’s grace, if you are good to his creation (life and environment), he will be good to you that’s how simple it is. Ultimately it is your peace of mind.
Islam is about freedom. The idea of compelling others to do things your way should not even crawl in a Muslim mind, after all Quran guarantees that no one is responsible for your actions but you.
Islam is about maintaining harmony and balance, justice and fairness, safety and security, and kindness and equality. Prophet Muhammad declared in his last sermon that all men are created equal—a 1000 years before our declaration of independence in 1776.
Quran is a book of guidance to build cohesive societies where all of us can function without fear. Islam is guidance to live in harmony with yourselves and with others around you. It is not about governance and not about Sharia, but it is all about living your life and letting others live theirs.
Cresent is accepted as a symbol of Islam, but Islam is not about symbolism
The idea of compelling others to do things our way should not even crawl in a Muslim mind, after all we are not responsible for others’ actions. Islam is about freedom. Islam has not claimed to be an exclusive religion to earn God’s grace, if you are good to his creation, life and environment, he will be good to you.
You will learn about the role of Islam in creating cohesive societies and you will also get to take part in the live workshop as a bonus for being earlier than 1:00 PM
Program Outline:
1. What is Islam? What is its essence?
2. Two perspectives on how Islam came in to being
3. Primary sources: the Quran and Hadith
4. Secondary sources: Sharia and a whole lot of literature by scholars
5. Islamic Rituals are pathways to finding harmony within
6. Islamic Values bring harmony to the world around one
7. Pluralism, Diversity, Denominations and Schools of thought
8. How Islam contributes to the common goodness of humanity
9. Ten of you will get to read “troublesome” verses from Quran – if you are on time
10. Q&A
We believe that every faith is embedded with full of wisdom to live a good life in harmony with yourself and with others.
Our goal is to prepare a group of people to understand the essence of each faith and be able to bring about a change to the religious landscape of America.
We hope each one of the attendees would walk in with an open mind and an open heart towards understanding other faiths, and walk out feeling connected with fellow beings who believe differently. No matter what faith we believe, we have to live with people of other faiths, and as responsible citizens we have to create an environment for each one of us to live without apprehension.
We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view.
By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together. This is bound to create conflicts.
As peacemakers and faith leaders, it is our duty to prepare fellow humans to deal with those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies.
Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past. If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you. Our goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zone of each group.
You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don’t mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturance, and mind our own business, we all will do well. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
Presented by Mike Ghouse
Mike Ghouse is a Muslim Speaker, thinker, writer, organizer and an activist committed to building cohesive societies with a belief that what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world and vice versa to sustain peace, harmony and prosperity.
He has appeared in over 300 shows on TV and Radio, and about 150 times on Fox News and over 100 times with Sean Hannity. He has published over 3000 articles and about a 1/3rd are on Islam and the rest on Pluralism, Interfaith and a variety of topics. Bulk of the writings are published by Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, Op-ed News and others.
If you Google Search for Muslim Speaker – Mike’s name appears in the first three pages. You are welcome to visit www.MuslimSpeaker.com as well.
God loves his creation and does not exclude anyone from his mercy and kindness and adds that he has sent a peace maker, messenger or a prophet to every tribe and nation, indeed no one is deprived of his love. The Quran lays it out very well in Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware.”
God has intentionally created diversity; each one of us has a unique identity with our own thumb print, eye print, DNA and other uniqueness. If we can learn to respect and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. God in Quran makes it absolutely clear that no one is to judge the other in matters of faith, only HE, the God is the judge, and not for today, but for that elusive Day of Judgment.
Mike’s Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. Speaking about the World Muslim Congress, the organization he manages, he adds, “As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.
All about us at https://centerforpluralism.com
Dr. Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
www.CenterforPluralism.com
Washington, DC
(214) 325-1916
Mike@CenterforPluralism.com