Muslims, Christians explore religion

Despite their differences, Islam and Christianity share a fundamental similarity -- a hope for peace. At yesterday's panel discussion on "Islam & Christianity from Within," Yahya Hendi of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Rev. Beverly Dale, executive director of the Christian Association, shared their respective religions as part of Islam Awareness Week. Hendi described the purpose of the event as "not to preach to you, not to lecture you, but to sit, talk and know each other." He described Islam as one of the world's least understood religions. While many believe most Islamic people are Arabs, 1.1 billion Muslims are not Arabs, and eight million reside in the United States. Islam teaches the establishment of peace on different levels through devotion to God, and the word "Islam" means "peace." Hendi negated another misconception by explaining that Muhammad is not the center of the Islamic religion. "Muhammad was just a messenger who carried the message of the divine to the people," he said. "[The] message of Islam is God and only God? and God is the one and only one who deserves to be worshiped, devoted to and loved." Dale, a self-described liberal-left feminist, said the intent of Christianity is "to look to the life of Jesus and the meaning of death and resurrection to teach us what life is about." The crucial difference between Islam and Christianity is the perception of Jesus. While Hendi described Jesus as "one of the best human beings ever to represent humanity," he made the distinction that Jesus was only a messenger sent to revise the teachings of Moses. Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus is the son of God and the world's sole savior. The texts of each religion reveal other similarities, as both the Koran and the Bible serve to teach and guide followers. Hendi,who began his study of the Koran at age 3, relies on its words to guide his life. Dale approaches the Bible as a "dialogue in process," interpreting the ancient words in today's context, in an attempt to "walk the planet in Philadelphia in 1996 as Jesus walked the planet in his lifetime." In her concluding remarks, Dale expressed her hope that the audience would "look into the eyes of other humans and see the imminence of God." Similarly, Hendi said a devotion to God would achieve justice for all people. They both expressed optimism that the conflicts between Islam and Christianity will soon be resolved. "Soon we may sit down at the table of Eastern and Western religion and ask what we can learn from each other," Dale said. Bilal Shafi, an Engineering graduate student, was one of about 30 mostly Muslim students in attendance at yesterday's event. "It was informational and cleared up many misconceptions of Islam," he said.