Pluralism in Islam, a conversation at Capitol Hill

Dr. Mike Ghouse   November 7, 2017   Comments Off on Pluralism in Islam, a conversation at Capitol Hill

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Pluralism in Islam: A conversation about respecting the otherness of others

The religion of Islam started out setting the new standards in creating harmony and coexistence among people of different traditions and religions. It acknowledges that each one of us is created to be unique with our own thumb print, eye print, DNA and even taste buds. The best ones among us, God says, are those who take the time to learn about each other. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

A majority of Muslims (like people of any faith) follow that tradition and those who did not get the religion right took the exclusive route and claimed ownership of Quran, God, Prophet and the religion and denied the same to others who differed.

Fortunately, Quran clearly acknowledges the presence of other faiths and traditions respectfully, and accepts them as legitimate path ways to earn God’s grace. The message and guidance was for all humanity and not exclusive to any group. Quran never claimed monopoly on God’s grace and offers teaching on how to conduct civil dialogue while respecting the otherness of others. No human is more privileged than the other except when he or she cares for fellow humans.

Islam is all about inclusion and this discovery is not new; it has always been there but has re-surfaced in the last two decades. The unstated purpose of religion, any religion for that matter is to create cohesive societies.

Please join us for a conversation about Pluralism as advocated by Quran, practiced by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and lived by Muslims. There is a gap in teaching and the practice and we will talk about how we can effectively translate the guidance in rebuilding a cohesive America, where no American has to live in apprehension of fear of the other.

EVENT:

Speakers: 

  • Dr. Farooq Hasan, a Fulbright scholar and did his post doctoral research in Islamic Pluralism
  • Dr. Mike Ghouse, a thinker, writer and an activist of Pluralism in religion, politics and society
  • Q&A Panelists: Iftekhar Hai, Robert Marro

We are all in this together, please come prepared with questions about Pluralism in Islam.

Organized by the Center for Pluralism
www.CenterforPluralism.com

Supported by:

Farooq Hassan is Associate Professor (Islamic Studies & Ethical Behavior) at NED University of Engineering & Technology Karachi, Pakistan. He completed Fulbright Post doc. from Georgetown University, Washington DC and diploma in advanced Arabic/Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University, Egypt. The teaching and research interests of Farooq cover interreligious Studies, peace, reconciliation, Islamic pluralistic values, Sufi teachings and especially sustainable relations with people of Abrahamic Traditions. He has authored 3 books and contributed to 25 research papers including American Muslim Minorities: Victims of Islamophobia of a Pluralistic Society in the 21st Century (2015), “Tools of Successful Muslim-Christian Dialogue in the Kingdom of Abyssinia in 616 AD” (2012), “A Comparative Approach to Common Ground between Buddhism and Islam”(2012), and “Pluralism in Islam: A Comparative Study with Western Pluralism”(2012).

Dr. Mike Ghouse has dedicated his life to the mission of building a cohesive America. He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist, speaker (Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics and foreign policy), interfaith wedding officiant and a news maker. He has published over 3500 articles on Pluralism, Islam, politics, Foreign Policy. He has appeared in over 300 TV talk shows and 200 National Radio shows. He offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about his work at www.CenterforPluralism.com www.MuslimSpeaker.com and www.interfaithspeaker.com