Feb. 11 interfaith dinner commemorates “Abrahamic Traditions”

The Bosphorous Dialogue Association, a student organization currently registered with the University of Minnesota, and the Niagara Foundation of Minnesota, a Minnesota state/Twin Cities-based interfaith dialogue group — invite interested members of the public to be their guests at the 2nd Annual Dinner of Abrahamic Traditions at 6:30 pm on the 11th of February, 2010.  This is a unique opportunity for members of the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish faiths to celebrate their shared roots and traditions derived from their common ancestor, the Prophet Abraham (Peace Be Upon Him).

Our guests are going to be composed of friends from diverse backgrounds such as leaders of churches, mosques, and synagogues as well as community and businesses.

We sincerely hope that you will be our honored guests and join us.

Kindest regards,

Murat Ergen                                                 Askar Yussupov
President                                                      President

P.S.: Northern Lights Society (NLS) has organized many interfaith and intercultural events in Minnesota since 2001. To expand our friendship beyond any boundaries, NLS decided to merge with its sister organization, Niagara Foundation-a leading presence in Midwest at the end of 2009. NLS will continue to serve the community as Niagara Foundation of Minnesota.

Jan. 14/Feb. 4 interreligious workshops will look at getting engaged in solving civic problems

By Gail Anderson, Minnesota Council of Churches

Gail Anderson, unity and relationships organizer with the Minnesota Council of Churches, organizes the interfaith project “Taking Heart,” which brings Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors together over good meals and good conversation. This is Ms. Anderson’s recent letter announcing the next Taking Heart events January 14 and February 4, 2010.

Taking Heart participants,

I hope you are all coping well with our miserable weather, and are staring the New Year with joy.  I want to remind you of the upcoming Taking Heart workshops.  Please let me know if you will be able to attend.  As with our regular Taking Heart gatherings, there will be a meal.  Here’s the information:

We have contracted with Brian Rusche Executive Director of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) to run two training sessions on civic engagement in early 2010.  We will still have food and conversation, but the conversation will be directed toward learning about advocacy.  JRLC is the largest and most inclusive interfaith public interest group in Minnesota—people of diverse faiths bringing vision and wisdom to the public realm for the well-being of Minnesotans. JRLC is authorized and governed by four sponsoring members: the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the Minnesota Council of Churches, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, and the Islamic Center of Minnesota.

Brian will help participants identify an issue of concern in their own community.  Training modules include:

–Introduction to the concepts of civic life and civic leadership

–Life-work exercise to clarify one’s aspirations in civic life

–Power analysis exercise; to bring democratic standards to problem-solving

–Value-driven calendar; to help leaders prioritize their work for the good of the community

–Civic goals and standards for community work

Participants will help each other develop work products and also receive one-on-one mentoring from the trainer.

The workshops will be held on Thursday, January 14, and Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 6:00 – 7:45 p.m.  We will meet at the Minnesota Church Center, 122 Franklin Avenue West in Minneapolis.  There is free parking in the lot at the Church Center.  A meal will be served.  There is no charge for the workshop but we do require pre-registration and recommend that you be able to attend both sessions to get the full value.

Please respond via e-mail or phone to Gail Anderson, Director of Unity and Relationships at the Minnesota Council of Churches,  Gail.anderson@mnchurches.org, or 612-230-3210.  Please include your religious affiliation so that we can make this a true interfaith experience.   I am excited about this new phase of the program.  I hope to see many of you there.

–Gail Anderson,

Director of Unity and Relationships

Minnesota Council of Churches

Learn more:

• Taking Heart: Visit a Mosque, Share a Meal
• Information about the Taking Heart project from the Minnesota Council of Churches.
• A list of Minnesota interfaith resources.

Aviation security overreaction is counterproductive

By Tamim Saidi, Engage Minnesota

Originally published in the Saint Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press, January 6, 2010

I fully sympathize with those who are sincerely concerned about terrorist attacks. As I heard of the attempted terrorist attack on the Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, I had flashbacks of my recent flight home to the United States from Amsterdam. I could only imagine how worried and frightened our family would have been in that plane.

But as I hear the calls for profiling people like me, an American Muslim with darker skin and an unfamiliar-sounding name, to prevent terrorist attacks, a few names and faces of terrorists come to mind: Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Richard Reid, Jose Padilla, Paul Hill and Adam Gadahn.

These calls for profiling Muslims based on their names and ethnicities are as ridiculous as calls for checking IDs on all Hispanics and stopping all black motorists. If the true reason for profiling is increased security and not harassing American Muslims, racial and religious profiling is counterproductive for two reasons:

First, the law enforcement agencies need the cooperation of American Muslims to prevent attacks. Profiling causes resentment and mistrust. Second, terrorists like those above will be overlooked going through security lines.

I am sure al-Qaida would be delighted to hear that only those with darker skin and Muslim-sounding names are scrutinized and harassed so they can send other operatives who do not match those characteristics, jeopardizing my family’s security and yours.

If al-Qaida could force the United States to discriminate against its own citizens and violate all the principles that make America a great nation, it has already achieved half of its objectives.

Tamim Saidi is an American Muslim and an active member of the Muslim community in Minnesota.

Understanding about God, from an Islamic Perspective

By Tamim Saidi, Engage Minnesota

Tamim Saidi

Immediately after the teacher introduced me and before I had finished my first sentence, I noticed a hand raised high from a young man who asked, “Why is your God better than my God?”

I was rather surprised by this question so early in the presentation, as I had planned to talk about the Islamic understanding of God around the middle of my presentation.  I tried to explain that Muslims believe in the One and the only God, the Creator of the universe–the same God that Jews and Christians believe in.  I further explained that Muslims believe in the same God that the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him (p) believed in.  We worship the same God that spoke to Moses (p) and we pray and prostrate to the very same God that Jesus (p) prayed to and prostrated to; the same God that created Adam and Eve and the same God that saved Noah (p) from the flood.

So my God is your God and your Creator is my Creator, even though we might explain God in different terms.  Understanding this could have saved thousands of lives, and could have helped people of different faiths grow closer together.

“Not angoor, not aynab, I want grapes!”

While in college, a classmate and I were walking to the library after taking a test.  As the topic turned from the class material to the teacher, I realized that my friend and I had opposite ideas of our teacher.  In my opinion, the teacher was fair, nice and easy going, but my friend thought completely the opposite and he used some vulgar terms to describe the very same woman.

I realized that if each of us had described the same teacher, without mentioning her name, to a third person, the person would have thought that we were talking about two very different people.  I think, quite often, different people explain God in very different ways, which may cause many to think they are talking about different gods.

This reminds me of a Persian poem I had read in middle school.  The poem discussed three individuals, speaking three different languages, who had collectively found a pot of money.  Each person wanted to buy something to eat with that money.  So the first person, speaking in English, argued that he wanted to buy grapes. The second person, speaking Persian, said “No, I don’t want grapes; I want ‘angoor.’”  The third person, speaking Arabic, said “I neither want grapes nor angoor, I want aynab.”

As the argument turned louder, a fourth person, who could speak all three languages, came to the rescue.  He realized that all three wanted grapes but were using different words for the same thing.   I think many times we can argue angoor or grapes even in speaking the same language.

“But don’t you guys worship Allah?”

Yes, we do.

Just like when Spanish-speaking people say “Dios,” or Germans say “Goth” when referring to God, Arabs say “Allah.”   Twenty million Christian Arabs pray to Allah everyday. The Arabic Bible says “Allah” when talking about God.  In Hebrew, one of the words used for God is “Eloh” from which “Elohem” comes. And Jesus (p) speaking Aramaic said “Alaha” when referring to God.  So understanding a bit about Semitic languages might help demystify a foreign-sounding name.

Allah is an Arabic term for God, and Muslims believe Allah is the personal name of the One God, the Creator of the universe.  Some have said that Allah is taken from “Al illaha,” which means “The God.”  So unlike one perception revealed in a recent poll, when Muslims say Allah they are not referring to a “moon god” or some other Arab idol; they are talking about the God.   The Qur’an urges people to not worship the moon, but the God who created the moon and everything in existence.

According to the Muslims’ last holy book (Muslims also believe in Torah and Gospel are revelations from God), the Qur’an, God says tell the “People of the Book,” a respectful term used for Jews and Christians, that “Our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we [all] surrender ourselves.” Qur’an 29:46.

The Qur’an urges all believers to affirm that they will not worship anyone but the one God.

In His address to young Muslims in Morocco in August 1985, Pope John Paul II said

“Christians and Muslims, we have many things in common, as believers and as human beings…  We believe in the same God, the one God, the Living God, the God who created the world and brings his creatures to their perfection.”

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1985/august/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19850819_giovani-stadio-casablanca_en.html

In his book, A DEADLY Misunderstanding, former congressman Mark Siljander, a self-proclaimed “Conservative Republican congressman and Evangelical Christian” (p. xi) and someone who was dubbed “one of the biggest Jesus freaks ever elected to Congress” (p. 13) focuses on the very same issue, that Allah is the Arabic name for the God who created the entire universe.

So Who Is Allah?

In Islam, theology is straightforward, such that a four-versed chapter was revealed to explain this question.  Chapter 112 of the Qur’an states:

In the Name of the God, the Infinitely Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful (an opening prayer in all but one of 114 chapters of Qur’an)

Say, He is God, the One and Only. God is Eternal and Needless of everything, He was not born and he does not give birth, and there is nothing like unto Him.

In Chapter 2 verse 255, God explains about Himself:

Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, the Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permits? He knows what (appears to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He wills. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

In Chapter 59, verses 23-25, God says:

Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god;- the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to Allah. (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him.

He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colors). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Not a Male God

Even though the Quranic verses use the pronoun “He” for God, Muslims do not believe that God is a male god, or a man.  Muslims believe God is the Creator of men and women, but God is beyond genders and transcends all other human characteristics as well.  Actually, one of the reasons why many Muslims insist on using the name Allah is because it is a singular name which does not have plurals, and it is a genderless name.

Muslim scholars have agreed that it is not possible for us to understand the Infinitely Great God.  Despite our amazing intellects, it is not possible for us to fully comprehend God. God is Infinitely Great, but our intellects are finite.  No finite container can hold the Infinite.

As Smart As a Computer?

Sometimes I see some parallels in how we, as humans and the creation of the Almighty God, understand our Creator, Fashioner, Designer and Programmer and how our computers understand us.  Now of course this is not to say that we are like a computer nor that God is like a human.

God is not like a human, and according to Islamic theology, there is nothing like unto God.  But here is a parallel that I see:  I consider my computer, Shiba (short for Toshiba) extremely smart and amazingly good at calculating, checking, and so on. Despite having a very smart “brain,” Shiba understands about me, its owner and programmer, only as much as I allow her to know.

If I tell Shiba that I am a male and my last name is Saidi, then the next morning she will say “Good Morning, Mr. Saidi.”  She understands that it is morning, I am a male and that my last name is Saidi. But if I decide to tell her my weight and date of birth, she will know how old I am and how much I weigh.  If I allow her and give her the necessary input she will know how I appear and could even draw a three-dimensional figure of me, but only if I allow her to know more about me.

Despite her great thinking and ultra-smart brain, she needs input to know and recognize me.  I believe there is a strong parallel between this analogy and our brains’ understanding of our Designer.  We need divine inspiration and revelation to know about our Creator.  Shiba’s brain is not like my brain, neither is my computer’s eye (camera) like my eyes. But still there is a parallel. So to understand our Creator, we need more than our super-smart brains, we need revelation.

Leave the Ass Behind!

There is an ancient and very interesting Muslim understanding, perhaps another analogy or another parallel about understanding God. It is said that, when visiting a King, a peasant will have to ride his ass or horse (or, in our times, his Avalanche or his Honda) to the door of the castle, then leave his ass behind (or park his Avalanche), and meet the King on his own.  Even though our super-smart brains are designed to get us pretty far in understanding our Lord; at a certain point, it cannot get us any closer to understanding the King of kings. So we have to check our brains at the door of the castle. At that point, our heart and our intuition might get us a bit closer, if allowed by the King.

Thus God is beyond our imagination, and better than the best of the best that our super-smart brains can envision.

There is a verse in the Qur’an, the last revelation from God, which says that in the Hereafter there will be certain people who believed in God and obeyed God, and submitted their will to His. Their faces will be bright and joyous for being able to see God.  I hope you and I will be among those people.

In Chapter17, verse 110, The Almighty God says:

Say (to people): “Call upon Allah, or call upon the Most Gracious: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.

But as long as you believe in the ONE God, the Ultimate Creator of the entire universe, and what we discussed above, regardless of which beautiful name we call upon God, that is the same God that the Muslims believe in and worship.

A Muslim scholar had said that when we comprehend that we cannot comprehend God, that’s when we have comprehended God.   I am sure that at the next stages of our lives, in this world or in the hereafter, we will have a better understanding about God.  Until then, let’s see if we can work on translating “aynab” to “grapes” so that people can live in peace.

Naari meel qabow ma leh.
–A Somali adage that says there are no cool corners in hell

By Sadia Ali Aden

Approximately nine months ago, the UN-sponsored peace conference in Djibouti produced the current president of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.  President Ahmed’s internationally supported unity government continues to be mired down in internal conflict; a conflict rooted in the 4.5 clan system formula. It is a system that remains the most persistent impediment to peace, justice and equality, because it promotes, legitimizes and generously rewards the warlords (and their militias) who for nearly two decades perpetuated violence and chaos, and tarnished the credibility of the Somali people and the state.

Within this volatile mix are the President’s former colleagues who feel profound contempt and a sense of betrayal towards him and his current allies; allies accused of running with the glory of having defeated Ethiopia’s brutal forces, which occupied Somalia from December 2006 to January 2009 and humiliated the Somali public. They accuse the President’s camp signing agreements without consultation and the consent of all of the Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) stakeholders.

The Asmara-based alliance, composed of exiled parliamentarians, Islamic Courts Union (ICU), and members of the Diaspora is an alliance that, while it lasted, was a beacon of hope.

The agreement, while applauded by the international community, has left other groups within the Alliance feeling alienated – especially the ICU’s military wing (Al-Shabab) who played a crucial role in liberating Somalia—and through their resilience afforded the ARS the credibility to negotiate with the world.

Sadly, the ARS has now broken up into multiple groups; Hisbul Islam, Al-Shabaab, and a third group led by Sheikh Ahmed, president of the current “unity government.” The breakup has dashed the hope for a peaceful and truly stable Somalia, for it has multiplied the chaos.

Compounding the alienation was the Bush Administration’s hasty verdict that dismissed Al-Shabab–embraced by Somalis as home grown fighters resisting a brutal occupation—as a “terrorist” entity; a verdict that proved to be both deadly and counterproductive for all involved.

Angry and defiant, Al-Shabab, has opted to impose a more violent, rigid rule over the devastated areas it now controls, reportedly instituting the practice of cutting off the hands and the legs of starving civilians accused of thievery — a punishment which (under the circumstance) defies Islamic law.

In addition to the Qur’an, Muslims are taught to follow the Prophet’s Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided Rashidite Caliphs (the first four caliphs to succeed Prophet Mohammed after his passing), one of whom was Umar ibn Al-Khattab. During his caliphate, Caliph Umar visited a province within the rapidly growing Muslim society wherein he found a number of individuals scheduled to have their hands cut off for stealing.  Upon inquiry, he discovered their theft resulted from a prolonged famine in the land, and he ordered a commutation of their sentences. He concluded that the failure was not on their part; but rather their society and leadership had failed them.

Disillusioned also are the Diaspora advocacy organizations which launched a peaceful alliance with their brethren in Somalia during one of the most difficult periods in Somali history. They are now caught in a dilemma, victims of the same pitfalls that faltered many before them. It is what some might call the Kool-aid syndrome; intoxicated with the leader instead of being committed to the cause.

Meanwhile, both the number of the internally displaced persons and civilian starvation levels continue to rise, reaching numbers that are reminiscent of 1992. Violence has again increased in Mogadishu, as merciless insurgents take shelter in the epicenter of the civilian population.

African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) with the singular mandate of protecting the government, returns fire with more sophisticated weaponry and far greater devastation—all for the sake of protecting a government that is unable to contain violence beyond a few blocks of Mogadishu; and whose leadership has failed to learn from the mistakes of its predecessor.

Alisha Ryu of Voice of America (VOA) reported “Bakara storekeeper Ali saying that the ‘peacekeepers often respond with indiscriminate fire, causing many civilian casualties.”

Adding to the complexity of the conflict in Somalia are the latest reports linking the TFG to the recruitment of young boys, mostly from refugee camps surrounding Dadaab, such as the Hagadera and Ifo camps in Kenya, to fight for the government against the insurgents.

Ryu reported that a Somali general, Yusuf Dhumal stated that 1,500 young men were recruited from Kenya on behalf of the TFG, and were in a training camp in Kenya to fight along side the government. This statement is denied by the governments of Kenya and Somalia—but later reiterated by the mayor of Gairisa, and one of the leading human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch.

The mayor of Gairisa, Mohammed Gabow, told Aljazeera, “It’s very sad for the Kenyan government to take advantage of the joblessness of our youth and recruit them to fight in a conflict in another country.”

Additionally, Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Permitting recruitment of fighters in refugee camps undermines the very purpose of the camps – to be a place of refuge from the conflict.  Kenyan authorities need to immediately put a stop to this recruitment drive targeting Somali refugees.”

Sadly, recruitment of the youth is no stranger to the Somalis—Somali Diaspora youth are today chastised for this sort of response to the call to enlist in the long and arduous struggle against the Ethiopian occupation.  Such recruitment will produce an atmosphere that will ultimately result in new groups that can be branded as “terrorists” by the powers that be—just like those before them.

To keep the fading hope from dying, President Ahmed and his government must find a lasting solution to the persistent violence, never ending insurgency, and the imbalanced mandate of AMISOM.  After all, good leadership is not measured by empty words, endless travel and taking shelter behind heavily guarded buildings, but by the positive and sustainable initiatives implemented in the interest of a leader’s nation and people.

Sadia Ali Aden is a writer and peace activist. Many of her articles on Somalia and Islam have been published by media groups around the world; namely Middle East On-Line, Islam Online, Global Politician, Aljazeera Magazine, Foreign Policy Forum, Media Monitor Network, Scoop, and Worldpress. She is also an active member of the Somali community of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

By Tamim Saidi

EID MUBARAK (BLESSED EID)

Muslims’ Pilgrimage and Eid are celebrations of Abraham’s life and his struggles. Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice), which is the second of Muslims’ major annual celebrations, will be celebrated around the world, including Minnesota, around November 27, 2009 (and about 10 days earlier each year thereafter).

The two eids, Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of Ramadan, are joyous celebrations for the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, and are as significant to the Muslims as Christmas is to Christians.

The Eid of Sacrifice and the pilgrimage (Hajj) are both celebrations and commemorations of the incredible sacrifices made by Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, as his way of submitting to God, including his willingness to sacrifice his young son for the sake of God. Both of Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac, are considered prophets of God, and Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad is a descendant of Prophet Abraham through his son, Ishmael. Muslims also revere Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) and Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) as prophets and messengers of God, and descendants of Prophet Abraham through his son Isaac (peace be upon him).

Abraham, who is widely known as the “father” of the three major monotheisms – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – has a lofty position for the Muslims. Five times a day, Muslims around the world send blessings and salutations on Abraham and his family, in their prayers.

The Qur’an, Muslims’ holy book, calls Abraham “a man of Truth, a Prophet” (19:41), “a model, devoutly obedient to God (a Muslim) and true in Faith” (16:120), “forbearing, compassionate” (11:75), and “the most tender-hearted” (9:114). Muslims believe it was Abraham who gave the name of “Submission” (Islam, in Arabic) to this religion. Muslims consider Abraham (peace be upon him) and his family “Muslims,” a Muslim literally meaning someone who is a monotheist and willingly submits his or her will to the will of God. Muslims also consider all of the prophets, including Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) and Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), and those who truly followed them, as “Muslims.”

Although not identical, the story of Abraham in the Qur’an has a lot in common with the story of Abraham in the Bible.

The descendants of Abraham – Jews, Christians and Muslims – make up more than two-thirds of the world population. With so much in common, in this season of remembrance of Abraham, it serves humanity well for all of us to focus on our similarities rather than on our differences.

Tamim Saidi is an American Muslim and an active member of the Muslim community in Minnesota.

Chimamanda Adichie gave a wonderful talk about how we humans stereotype each other and see the other through our negative single stories or negative personal experiences which not only rob people of their dignity, but also create walls that separate us from each other.

Some excerpts of the talk to reflect on:

“I wrote exactly the kind of stories I was reading.  All my characters were white and blue eyed.”

“I realized that people like me, girls with chocolate skin and kinky hair that could not be formed into a pony tail could exist in literature.”

“Their poverty was my single story of them[Nigerian family].”

“She felt sorry for me even before She saw me.”

“No possibly of a connection as human equals.”

“[Africans]…waiting to be saved by a kind white foreigner.”

“My professor told me that my novel was not authentically African…I did not know what African authenticity is… My characters were like him and drove cars.”

“Show a people as one thing and as only one thing and that is what they become.”

“Stories are defined by who tells them. “

“If you want to depossess a people the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and tell it secondly.  Start the story with arrows of the Native Americans and not the arrival of the British and you have an entirely different story…”

“But to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten my experiences…it is not that they are untrue but they are incomplete…There are other stories that are not about catastrophies…[The single story]It robs people of dignity.”

What Adichie shared about the stereotypes that she faced as an African are true for Muslims, Arabs and Muslim women in particular who are constantly perceived as in need of being liberated by kind white foreigners.

“Stories can be used to humanize.  Stories can be used to repair the dignity of a people…When we reject the single story…We regain a kind of paradise.”

Please visit  Change the Story

By John Noltner, A Peace of My Mind

John Noltner

“A Peace of My Mind” is a documentary project I have been working on for the past half year. It was born out of a desire to give a voice to people who believe in peace. It is easy to become discouraged and even angry when we listen to the shrill rhetoric that can be found in the mainstream media. Complex issues are boiled down to talking points and black and white answers while the true answers are found in the subtle nuances in between.

The premise of “A Peace of My Mind” is simple. To interview individuals from a wide range of backgrounds about their thoughts on peace and what it means to them in their lives, what they do to work toward it and what obstacles stand in their way. Their peace can be a spiritual peace, political peace, inner peace and it is about what moves them. The idea is that the more we can talk about peace and the more we can keep it in the public dialog, the more likely we can achieve it.

The interviews are edited into downloadable podcasts and placed on a website, http://apeaceofmymind.net, where they are combined with a black and white portrait and a short bio of each person.  The website also includes background on the project and a blog.  The subjects are diverse, including a husband and wife who are Holocaust survivors, a retired police officer who works with incarcerated teens, a Buddhist minister, a Muslim woman who runs a law firm, a CEO of a medical company who has built an AIDS orphanage in Africa, and many others.

The goal of “A Peace of My Mind” is to create a community where people can share their thoughts about peace and to create a body of work that can help us understand one another a little bit better. Interviews and blog entries will be updated regularly, and everyone is invited to participate by submitting essays, poems or other thoughts on the subject, some of which will be included in the blog section.

Please take a moment to visit http://apeaceofmymind.net and help me spread the word by telling your friends and colleagues.

Note:   Below are two interviews of Minnesotan Muslims.

Imani Jaafar-Mohammad is a lawyer and partner in a law firm with her husband. Born in the United States to Lebanese immigrants, she feels she has acted as a peace broker for most of her life, both formally and informally.

Imani speaks often to school, business and church groups in an effort to help people understand what it means to be a Muslim woman in America today. She encourages people to get their information first hand and not accept stereotypes about other cultures and religions.

Zafar Siddiqui is an American Muslim, born in India. He serves on the board of directors for Al-Amal School, the first all Islamic k-12 school in Minnesota. He also leads the Islamic Resource Group, dedicated to educating others about Islam and Muslims.

Zafar talks about the peaceful nature of Islam as a religion, and how fringe elements have misused the religion for their own purposes, just as other groups from other religions have done throughout history.

By Brad Robideau, American Public Media

I’m writing to alert you to a groundbreaking special project from American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith unfolding in and beyond Ramadan.

Several months ago, Speaking of Faith extended an invitation to Muslims to reflect on their lived experience of Islam, of what it means—in a daily, particular way—to be part of what is often referred to in the abstract as “the Muslim world.” Responses continue to flow in from people all over the world. They range in age from their teens to their 70s. They are Iraqi-American Californian, but also Mexican-American and Russian-American converts from other faiths. They’ve come from Indonesia, Turkey, England, and from robust Muslim communities in places like Dallas.

Because of the vividness of the stories nearly everyone had to tell about the holy month of Ramadan—which began this year on August 22 for most people in the United States—Speaking of Faith launched a daily Ramadan podcast, “Revealing Ramadan,” which has hit the iTunes top 50. On September 10, a companion hour-long radio production will be available at speakingoffaith.org and will air on public radio stations nationwide in the week following.

And, in a few weeks, we’ll be releasing a second program on the many expressions of Muslim identity in our time – across geography, cultures, and the intimacies of human life. You can get a preview of the hundreds of voices already gathered, including those featured in the radio program and podcast, by way of an interactive map that blends personal photos, audio, and essays.

Find the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

Please feel free to publicize this series and forward this blog to anyone you think might be interested in knowing about or participating in it.

If you wish to receive news and updates from American Public Media, please contact me at brobideau@americanpublicmedia.org.

Note:  Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett had at least Muslim Minnesotans on the program.

Jennifer Holman, Minneapolis, MN (USA)

Saeed Purcell, longtime resident of  Minnesota, currently residing in Green Valley, AZ (USA)

Also listen to the excellent recounting of Ramadan experience by Br Saeed here.

Nausheena Hussain, Brooklyn Park, MN (USA)

By Engage Minnesota

We need to purify our hearts before we solve the world’s problems.