Finding Common Ground

Nancy K. Splain is the Interfaith Outreach Ambassador at Beatitudes Campus

On Sunday, April 24th, Paul Carpenter, Una Thomas and I carpooled to the Islamic Center of North Phoenix (ICNP) to join a special tour planned and conducted by Azra Hussain, founder of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona (ISBA). Upon arrival, we were each given an attractive carry-all bag inscribed “ISBA faith Tour – Finding Common Ground” and invited into the mosque, built by the Bosniak community, to meet with Imam Sabahudin Ceman, his wife Alma and several members of their congregation. Imam Ceman noted that while we Jews, Christians and Muslims have some differences, we share much in common. Central to our three Abrahamic faiths is the “Golden Rule.” Therefore, he continued, we are called to respect one another, learn about our differences, and come together to build on what we have in common, noting that the Koran states, “We have created you male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”

After our dialogue time, Imam Ceman invited us to a room across the courtyard for some “‘snacks.” The snacks turned out to be a full lunch with sandwiches, salad, dessert and a tasty Bosniak pastry filled with honey!

Then it was time to board our top-of-the-line tour bus (54 of us in all, including folks from the LDS community, Ascension Lutheran Church, The Fountains UMC, Temple Solel including their Rabbi John Linder, and Shepherd of the Hills UCC) to travel to our second mosque, Masjid Jauharatul-Islam in South Phoenix. Enroute, Azra shared that this mosque, founded by African-Americans, under the leadership of Imam Abdur-Raheem Shamsid-Deen, holds a special memory for her as it was the first mosque in which she worshiped upon moving to Phoenix years ago. Again we were warmly welcomed, given a short history of the mosque by Brother Farid, shared a Q&A time together, and served sandwiches, chips and other refreshments.

Then on to the third mosque, the Islamic Center of the East Valley (ICEV) in Chandler. Arriving during the afternoon prayer time, we removed our shoes and were invited to observe the prayers, after which Imam Sheikh Ahmed Moharram, originally from Egypt, and lay leader Ahmed Hashim, an engineer with Texas Instruments, met with us to share information about the mosque, conduct a Q&A time and offer us a bountiful table of food and refreshments.

On our bus trip back to the first mosque several of us urged Azra to plan another mosque tour later this year so that we can share this experience with other friends and family.
Back on our Campus, Paul Carpenter put it well: “When we arrived at each of the mosques, we were greeted with smiles of joy and one of the most heartfelt welcomes I have ever experienced. One could feel our people responding to our hosts' enthusiasm with our own. Kudos to beatitudes campus and its Spiritual Life Department in reaching out to faith traditions outside of our Progressive Christian roots. On this tour, I spent one of the most pleasant and informative afternoons of my life.”

Our friend Azra Hussain had called her ISBA Faith Tour “Finding Common Ground.” And we had. *

Author Info: Beatitudes Campus

At the foundation of Beatitudes Campus is the vision of Church of the Beatitudes pastors and congregation members to create a better alternative for older adults than the nursing homes of the early 1960s. The type of community they imagined was the first of its kind in Arizona. Beatitudes Campus is proud to continue the legacy of our founders, by being a leader in the field of aging services for over 50 years.