Feb 1995 Dear Editor

A suggestion for Iftar

Asalaam alaikum,
With Ramadan rabidly approaching, I would like to make a few comments about breaking our fasts at the masjid. We should try to make it a positive experience shared by everyone in the community. An effort to alleviate some of the problems of having a large gathering of women in such a small area would be to set up tables. Having tables in the women's meeting room and the food in the smaller room would accommodate more sisters, increase mobility and thereby eliminate some of the spills on the carpet from sisters and children stepping over plates and each other.

Also, in the past I have seen sisters put too much food on plates for themselves or their children. They take a large portion of one certain food item specifically. the child ends up taking a bite or two and is off to play with friends. The food is wasted and a chance for sisters to taste a new food is lost. A better solution would be to feed small children before coming for iftar, and then let them sample small amounts.

Ramadan is a time for acts of kindness to others, so remember there are also fasting sisters in line behind you.

Thank you, Um-Sufyan

Interfaith Dialogue

by way of introduction, I am a professional who had the honor and privilege of visiting and working in various countries in the Arab World. I was particularly elated to have visited Lebanon in 1981, the country of my grandparents and my nationality.

Although raised in the Roman rite of the Catholic Church, I did attend the Maronite rite while in Washington, D.C. and have attended the services of the Melkite Church, the Byzantine Orthodox Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church.

When opposing the 1982 invasion of Lebanon through political channels while living in Washington, D.C., I was compelled to relay to Capitol Hill and others who had some influence on international events certain facts and principles regarding Islam that I learned through my friends and colleagues in Washington, D.C. and in my travels.

First, almost one-third of the population of this earth professes Islam as their religion. This fact would urge a normal person of intelligence to inquire on what are the tenents of Islam and to question whetehr he or she is following the same or similar religious principles or otherwise should convert. Second, the common tenents between Islam and Christianity, generally not known, would, when made known, provide a means of identification between the two peoples. For example, it is written in the Catholic Apostolic Creed, cited at Mass, and which I learned Moslems believe as well, is that Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin as had been announced to her by the Angel Gabriel. To say to a Christian that the Moslems believe in Jesus Christ is not only a profession of faith common to both religions, but also an identification with each other.

While it was explained to me that in Islam, it is not believed that Jesus Christ was the "Son of God" for how can the One God have a "son" or there be "two" Gods, perhaps there is a problem with semantics.

By all means, I hope that those who follow Islam in this hemisphere will reach out to the Catholic and to all of the Christian communities, and emphasize the common religious beliefs particularly in light of the pervasive ignorance on and mischaracterization of Islam and what Moslems do believe. Some people, despite education in the sciences or arts, do not know what Islam is or what Moslems believe. Some of the people who do influence politics believe that Moslems are some political faction or party from a country which they cannot find on the map.

If I may suggest with all due respect to send your leaders to the Christian Churches for interfaith conferences on the similarities between Christianity and Islam. In many ways, the similarities and identification may hopefully prevent or stop wars and the proliferation of destructive weapons.

Perhaps one of you could encompass some or all of these thoughts and suggestions in an article for IQRA! and advance the request and necessity for interfaith conferences on a local, national, and international level.

Sincerely, Marcell Rose Anthony (Sarkis)

Editorial response:

Dear Marcell,
Thank you for your thoughtful letter and your suggestions for more interfaith dialogue. Actually, we believe numerous meetings on interfaith understanding are ongoing, particularly with the Catholic church. The new Catholic catechism, for instance, has recognized officially that Muslims "are included in God's plan of salvation" (Columbus Dispatch, 5/28/94). It is unfortunate that religion in general is so under-reported by the media and information about such meetings is not wide spread.

Eid Prayer

Assalaam alaikum. As fasting comes to an end, we surely are thinking of Eid-ul-Fitr prayer, the gifts to share with our children, persons to invite at home, etc. However, I would like to call three problems that have been occurring during the prayer year after year:

1. The ladies at the back of the prayer hall could hardly hear the speaker.
2. To accentuate problem, babies cry and little children enjoy themselves by making noise and running around. Mothers and/or ladies do not control their offspring effectively.
3. To make matters worse, the mothers/ladies start socializing among themselves.

These problems seriously affect others who come to attend the Eid prayer and want to consentrate listening to the kutba. I would like to suggest ways to correct the problems:

1. Install adequate loudspeaker system at the back of the hall.
2. Prepare an adjacent room with a loud speaker system where mothers could participate in Eid prayer while taking care of their babies/children.
3. Socializing could be eliminated by adopting items 1 and 2.
4. In addition, an announcement should be made requesting that socializing should be conducted only after the Eid prayer has ended.
5. Another suggestion, volunteers with obvious ID tags should coordinate efforts to establish harmony during this great day.

It is about time for all of us to figure out how to effectively deal with the situation.

Sincerely, Jeannette R. Mohammed