University Campaign to Counter Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

December 10, 2015 by Guest User in Health & Human Rights, Peacemaking & Reconciliation

It has been brought to our attention that the editors of Sojourners have posted a signature campaign for students -- College Students of Faith Say 'No' to Falwell's Anti-Muslim Rhetoric. The post begins:

An alarming wave of Islamophobia is sweeping our nation, and we are troubled by the participation of Christians. Just last week, the president of Liberty University called for Christian students to carry guns to "end those Muslims before they walked in" and "teach them a lesson."

The campaign asks students to pledge the following:

We pledge to challenge Islamophobia whenever and wherever it occurs, including on our own campuses — to foster relationships with Muslims based on friendship and not fear, and to serve the common good by maintaining a firm commitment to racial and religious diversity.

To read the complete campaign description, click here. Adventist students are invited to sign the pledge if they support the campaign.

Adventists and Muslims Resolve Land Dispute in Ghana

February 27, 2015 by Guest User in Peacemaking & Reconciliation

A Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Ghana has had an on-going land dispute with neighboring Muslims, reports Adventist Today (link). The conflict became violent in mid-February when 12 Muslim youth apparently incited a group of more than 1,000 Muslims to destroy the Adventist property. Excerpt from Adventist Today:

The initial investigation revealed that twelve Muslim youth “spearheaded the misunderstanding between the two religious groups,” reported GNA. The Daily Guide described the destruction of property on February 13, reporting that a crowd of more than 1,000 Muslim young people “stormed the SDA church premises near the Atebubu Government Hospital on Friday afternoon after the mid-day prayers with guns and offensive weapons.” The crowd then “set the newly built mission house ablaze and further brought down the walls around the church and demolished the temple.”

The destroyed mission house “accommodated close to 20 teacher trainees who are doing their teaching practice in the school. They lost valuable items such as laptops, cellular phones, books and certificates, among others,” reported Ghana Nation. (link)

After a regional security council mediation, both sides have signed a peace pact. Adventist leaders forgave the youth and gave the disputed land to the Muslims. In return, the Muslim leaders said they will build a new mission house for the Adventists elsewhere.

SOURCES

Muslims and Christians at Atebubu smoke peace-pipe (Ghana News Agency, 23 Feb 2015)
Security Council orders arrest of 12 suspects at Atebubu (Ghana News Agency, 23 Feb 2015)
Muslim Youth Burn Church At Atebubu (Daily Guide, 14 Feb 2015)
SDA abandons church after Muslim youth attack (Ghana Nation, 16 Feb 2015)

Featured blog image credit: "Flag of Ghana". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg#mediaviewer/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg.

Islamic Professor Addresses Peace at Oakwood University

October 30, 2014 by Guest User in Peacemaking & Reconciliation

"Dr. Mahmoud M. Ayoub, professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut and emeritus professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative Religions at Temple University," recently spoke at Oakwood University, a historically black Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama. Ayoub's presentation ("Islamic Visions of Peace") was for the 2014 'Ahl al-Kitab Lectureship, which was sponsored by Oakwood's Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations and the Huntsville Islamic Center, according to Kay Campbell of AL.com.

Ayoub shared that "'Salaam' as the Qu'ran describes it, is more than the absence of war." Rather, it "is doing something positive--building up the Earth to make it a holy, safe place to make it the abode of God."

Ayoub also spoke about jihad and helping people.

The only armed struggle, or "jihad," authorized by the Qu'ran, said Ayoub...is an armed struggle on behalf of the oppressed.

"This is the ethics of war, according to the Qu'ran," said Ayoub, who is blind and speaks in a still, quiet voice. "War is always a last choice - and if the enemy inclines toward peace, then you should, too."

"Muhammad taught the middle way," Ayoub said. "The goal is to help people who are in need. The world will never be perfect, but it can be a great deal better than it is today. What is the problem? Human greed, and people making idols of a nation or of wealth or even a religion."

This report is based on two articles by Kay Campbell at AL.com: