Author: Michael Batinski
The light that illumines our lives sometimes comes upon us by surprise. I have felt such moments while sitting with my Muslim neighbors in an Islam Study Group. After discussing the prophets including Mohammed and Jesus, we seemed led to an essential concern. What, we asked, is prayer? The question quickly moved us from a description of Muslim practice to a discussion of its significance in the believer’s life.
As I listened and as we shared our thoughts—Muslim and non-Muslim alike–I could not but think of Friends practice that seemed at first so different. And as I listened I wondered at what seemed to be shared experiential groundings. I could hear echoes of Thomas Kelly’s Testament of Devotion, especially his discussion of “The Light Within.” I inquired cautiously by offering these observations in the hope that my thoughts would lead to thoughts on the significance of prescribed times for prayer in one’s daily life. The answers, in turn, led me to return to Quaker practice, this time with a quickened awareness of the universalist voice among Friends.
Each Wednesday, we have been gathering—Muslim and non-Muslim together. With each week’s passing I became aware that good work was being done in this circle. The work hinged in part on raising understanding of the message of Islam. Certainly, I came to this circle aware of my ignorance. Christians like myself acquired an education that ignored and still does ignore the Muslim world, its historical experiences and its religious traditions. Perhaps most of us knew in one way or another that Muslims, Christians, and Jews share a common tradition under the tent of Abraham that Karen Armstrong explores so well. The study group provides opportunity to stand on that common ground. With each week that understanding has been growing in different ways among us. I sensed that deeper understanding grows for Christians like myself not simply from acquiring more information. Understanding becomes deeper sometimes with a smile of recognition, sometimes with a humorous comment.
As I reflect on the past year, I am encouraged by the continuous good work undertaken by my neighbors. This study group emerged out of the twenty-four hour Quran reading held last fall at the Carbondale Interfaith Center. That experience had led neighbors from both the Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic faith traditions to seek for ways to move from a single event to continuous programs for developing interfaith understandings. Among the several interfaith activities that have been emerging—communal dinners, for example—were discussion groups such as the one led by teachers from the local mosque. Christian and Muslim, African, Middle Eastern, and American Muslims, a Christian preparing to convert to Islam, students from the campus Reserve Officer Training program were listening, probing, and pondering.
With each meeting, the group has explored new territory. One day while we were talking about the Quran as foundation text, I wondered about mysticism in Islam. The African teacher beamed at once and began to talk about the great Muslim mystics. While he talked, I felt the circle gather closer. The closeness emerges from the simple joyful excitement that the Muslim teachers shared with their Christian friends. At the end of each meeting I walk away confirmed that Quaker traditions of universalism have been revealed in quiet practice.
I am encouraged.
