08531
July 24, 2008
PC(USA) hosts Muslim study tour participants
Middle East visitors are impressed by ‘frank and open’ discussions
Victor Makari (10th from left) and Jay Rock (10th from right) helped welcome Middle Eastern participants in the Religion and Society Exchange Program to the PC(USA) offices in Louisville. The group includes Mahmoud Chalabi (sixth from left), Manal Radwan (front row, fourth from right) and Chokri Ouaari (back row, fifth from right).
Photo by Evan Silverstein
LOUISVILLE — Dr. Mahmoud Chalabi said Wednesday’s (July 23) chapel service at the Presbyterian Center here “was my first time to sit through a full Christian worship service … it made an excellent impression on me.”
Chalabi, a pharmacist and Islamic theologian from Damascus, Syria, is part of a 22-member delegation visiting Islamic, Christian and Jewish groups in the United States as part of the National Peace Foundation/Islamic Society of North America’s (NPF/ISNA) Religion and Society Exchange Program.
The group is being hosted July 23-24 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and includes participants from Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Topics on the agenda include the church, women and minorities; the PC(USA)’s interfaith relations; the church and the Middle East; and the church’s approach to public policy issues and advocacy.
“We have established a great relationship with the PC(USA),” says Manal Radwan, a Saudi Arabian native who now lives and works in Washington, DC, for NPF/ISNA. This is the fourth Religion and Society Exchange Program study tour — two in the U.S. and two in the Middle East. “Jay Rock [the PC(USA)’s coordinator for interfaith relations] has become a trusted colleague and friend and was part of our Middle East tour last November.”
The purpose of the exchange program, Radwan said, “is to introduce Muslim delegates from Arab-speaking countries to people of other faiths in the United States and to understand the role of faith groups in U.S. society and their impact on social issues in the U.S. and abroad. We try our best to get to know each church, their people and their relationships with other faiths, particularly Muslims.”
On this trip, the group will meet with Islamic centers and congregations as well as Christian and Jewish groups. The itinerary, in addition to Washington and Louisville, includes Plainfield, IN (a key U.S. Muslim center) and Chicago.
“We try to make these trips both inter-faith and intra-faith,” said Chokri Ouaari, a native of Algeria who now works for the National Peace Foundation in Milwaukee. “There is so much diversity both within and between all these faith groups.”
Chalabi said he’s amazed by how openly Presbyterians talk about their church and its struggles, internally and with American society. “Every meeting is a new experience,” he told the Presbyterian News Service in a July 23 interview. “The PC(USA) is very frank and open — this is very surprising because we don’t speak out like this in the Middle East.”
Ouaari agreed. “Presbyterians are very insightful about problems,” he said. “It makes me wonder about the separation of church and state,” he added with a smile, “because the PC(USA) could solve many of America’s problems.”
Radwan said the group has learned that “We all share common values and common interests.” Fear and distrust are melting away, she said, “as we discover that we don’t have to be each other to work together for the benefit of all.”
That’s not to say suspicion does not still exist, she added. “We don’t have any problems during the planning, but when we recruit participants in the exchanges we have some questions. Some lack knowledge about how America works. Some institutions on both sides question the value but not many,” she said. “Fear and suspicion still exists in both societies, which is why this program is so important.”
In addition to his pharmacy business, Chalabi is coordinator for the Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro Foundation in Damascus, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and interfaith dialogue. Kuftaro is a regular stop on the Religion and Society Exchange Program’s Middle East tours.
“We try to demonstrate and encourage interfaith dialogue, but I have experienced a completely new experience here of open dialogue,” Chalabi said. “The PC(USA) has given me tools that will really help me back home.”
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