Epigraph:
Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you — that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to God.’ (Al Quran 3:65)
Washington Cathedral
This Friday, the Washington National Cathedral will be filled with the sounds of Muslim prayers.
Muslims and people of other religious traditions have participated in Christian or Interfaith services at the Cathedral in the past. However, the November 14 event marks the first time American Muslims have been invited to lead their own traditional Jummah prayer inside the same sacred space that has hosted presidential funerals and other national religious services.
South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool helped to organize the event and will deliver the khutbah, or sermon, the Washington Post reports.
“This is a dramatic moment in the world and in Muslim-Christian relations,” Rasool said in a statement. “This needs to be a world in which all are free to believe and practice and in which we avoid bigotry, Islamaphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Christianity and to embrace our humanity and to embrace faith.”
The idea for the service emerged from a conversation between Rasool and the Cathedral’s director of liturgy, Rev. Canon Gina Gilland Campbell. The two friends met while planning a memorial service for the late Nelson Mandela.
While Rasool was standing in the Cathedral’s nave, he reportedly told Campbell that the building’s ornate carvings, arches, and long central aisle reminded him of ancient mosques.
“What struck me was how he could look at our building and see his mosque. That was a powerful moment,” Campbell told HuffPost. “To realize we could be standing in the same spot in the same building and see our own prayer traditions.”
Categories: interfaith, interfaith, Interfaith America
Al’hamdoulilah
Let’s hope that idea works out and inter faith harmony increases in US or in the world.
MAY ALLAH BE WITH YOU AAMEEN.IT IS INFACT VERY PLEASANT TO THINK EVEN THE EQUALITY OF THE SACRED PLACES AND WORSHIP PLACES .
great historic moment. May this understanding grows leaps and bounds and finish the hate attitude between the two great religeions of the world and may lead to Love for all Hatred for none.