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MABDA Report 03/8/2011

An encouraging start for Ramadan:

Minneapolis Iftar Breaks Barriers

American Muslims in Minneapolis are opening their doors for people of all faiths to join interfaith iftars during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in a bid to promote unity and break down stereotypes and misconceptions among their bigger community.

“We need to tear down these walls slowly but surely,” Najam Qureshi, a board member of Northwest Islamic Community Center’s mosque in Hamel, which is participating in the series of iftars, told the Star Tribune.

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/453275-minneapolis-iftar-breaks-barriers.html

Holy Land clerics launch interfaith Earth forum

Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in the Holy Land joined forces Monday to launch a multi-faith environmental campaign, citing religious injunctions to protect the Earth across their three faiths.

Among their plans are the convening of an international conference of religious leaders in New York ahead of the 2012 UN General Assembly, a North America public relations campaign and training future clerics on the importance of environmental issues, one of the organizers said.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/stories/holy-land-clerics-launch-interfaith-earth-forum

Time for Norway to face its Islamophobia

It is easy to take pride in being Norwegian this week, when hundreds of thousands of people gather on our public squares without a yell for revenge or death. The Norwegian response to the terror of July 22 has been exceptional: after the initial chaos, calm solidarity. But I fear that it would not have been so if the murders had been committed by a Norwegian-born Muslim with sympathies for al-Qaeda, instead of by a white man. We have in recent decades grown accustomed to reacting and thinking differently about “them” and “us.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/time-for-norway-to-face-its-islamophobia/2011/07/27/gIQATFrsfI_story.html

On the Cutting Edge of Interfaith Work: An Open Thank You Letter to the Sultan of Oman

Your Majesty, The Sultan Qaboos bin Said,

As a participant in the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme (CIP) Summer School, I thank you and the other generous donors for making this program possible. You have done so without fanfare, but I feel it is important for the whole world to know that Oman has chosen to support some of the most cutting edge interfaith work I have ever encountered.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-figueroaray/the-sultante-of-oman-is-o_b_908302.html