Interfaith relations in Tacoma took a huge step forward last Sunday (October 23, 2011) when the Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation (TUUC) brought its members and local Muslims together for a talk on the commonalities and differences between Unitarian Universalism and Islam.
The talk took place as part of the congregation's regular Sunday services at 9:30 and 11:15 AM and saw 110 people in total attend.
The service was organized as part of the Building Bridges project which looks to establish better relations between Unitarian Universalists, Muslims and other religious communities. The project is run by members of Universalist Unitarian Churches at Eastshore, Edmond and Seattle as well as the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) based in Redmond and the Council on American-Islamic Relations - Washington State (CAIR-WA).
Members of MAPS contributed to the service with Amira El-Bastawissi reciting the opening chapter of the Quran and Tarek Dawoud offering a Muslim prayer of supplication as part of the closing. 'Alhamdullilah' was even sung as a gathering hymn by the congregation. The main part of the service, however, involved Unitarian Universalist members offering their understanding of different Unitarian Universalist principles followed in turn by members from MAPS and CAIR-WA contributing the Islamic perspective on these principles. (Excerpts from the various speeches can be read below.)
The service was a part of the efforts of the Building Bridges project to reach out to other Unitarian Universalist congregations following a workshop that was held in Bellevue on May 21, 2011. When the invitation was made to other congregations to host something along similar lines, TUUC was one of the first to respond. Says Chris Martin, celebrant at the service and member of TUUC, "We have been doing our adult spirituality development workshops on getting to understand Islam better, we've watched videos, we've had Muslim speakers here working with us, it was already percolating here. So when the call went out, we were just ready!"
At the end of the service, congregation members were drawn towards and expressed their admiration for the beautiful large-print Quran placed next to the pulpit. Standing by the Quran, Wael Bahaa-El-Din of MAPS talked about how things could be taken forward in Tacoma and emphasized the need for laying the groundwork first. Says Bahaa-El-Din, "It will take background and some time to build relations. It will be good to have the leaders in the Tacoma Mosque connect with the Unitarian community first, have a number of meetings and then continue that." Judging from the energy of the participants on both sides and the goodwill between the people involved, there is no doubt that everyone is prepared to put in the hard work.
Snippets from the various speakers
“If I truly seek to honor the humanity of all people around the world, I can never see a person or a culture or a religion or a political persuasion as an other that I can ignore, denigrate or do violence to. I will recognize their right to be heard, right to exist , to have their interests taken into account , will acknowledge and celebrate the connections we all share with each other.”
--Alice Christenson, a volunteer at the local library and member of TUUC
“God developed detailed guidelines to help individuals be happy and productive, while preserving and elevating human dignity. This dignity sets human beings apart from other creatures on earth and is a great source of human pride.”
--Wael Bahaa-el-Din, member of MAPS, Redmond
“By holding firm to a vision of world community with peace, justice and liberty and all, reaching out with open hearts, turning to justice, equity , compassion, recognizing the light of conscience and using the democratic process, we can be the change we want to see.”
-Chris Martin, celebrant at the service and member of TUUC
“In the Quran, it says God created us as tribes so that we may know one another. What this means is that not only should we know of each other’s existence, but that we learn from one another and compete in doing good in our world and for all communities, not just the Muslim community but each community we are a part of.”
--Nuha Elkugia, interfaith volunteer at CAIR-WA
“We respect and honor our differences, this transfers to honoring and respecting different religions and different cultures, our faith is one that illuminates great truths from all religions.”
--Jean Ferguson, member of UUC, Seattle
“God creates human beings in a state of initial purity and there is a tendency towards truth built in….The Muslim search for truth is a search for unchanging reality…..Each person is accountable only for his journey towards the truth, rather than the ultimate truth.”
--Tarek Dawoud, President of CAIR-WA
