Dates of Interest
Mosque-Church Friendship
Published date: 13th November 2010
October saw the long awaited visit to the Newcastle University Mosque by the congregation of St. Thomas the Martyr Church. As you might be aware a strong link between the mosque and church had been established in May, when some of the congregation from the mosque visited St. Thomas’, where people shared their faith and some great food! Our only disappointment was that we couldn’t meet again sooner, so everyone was really looking forward to our second meeting hosted by the mosque.
After Sunday worship on 10 October 2010 at St.Thomas’ around 20 members from the church made their way up to the university mosque where they were greeted by the Newcastle University Islamic Society president and around 15 Muslim students, the number of which seemed to grow as the day continued. Many of the people present had met each other at our previous meeting, and this was a great opportunity to continue the very lively discussion that we had at St.Thomas’ in May and deepen our understanding and respect for each other.
I was happy to chair the meeting, which had already generated some interesting questions around the segregation of men and women in the mosque. It was wonderful to witness the respect and frankness found in the questions and answers, and could see that those involved had already built a strong relationship, where people felt at ease asking what might be deemed awkward questions. The discussion raised many important questions about Islam that were of particular concern to the Christians of St Thomas’ and the wider world.
One gentlemen was interested in how the Muslims at the meeting, some visiting from Islamic countries, understood Shari'ah law, and how or if it applied when living in a non-Muslim country. He was concerned that Muslims might not respect UK laws and wanted to understand how a Muslim in Newcastle lived out their faith, whilst observing the laws. It was a great question and was answered thoroughly by various people at the mosque. All present made it very clear that whilst living in another country they should respect the laws of the land and that Islam in no way hindered them whilst living in a non-Muslim country.
Another question that generated much discussion was, 'How, as people of faith, do we respond to actions that go against our belief?'. It was noted that there is no hierarchy in Islam, or any one person or group that speaks on behalf of the Muslims, as a result It was felt that this affected Muslim involvement in inter faith work. This led to a fascinating discussion about the caliphate in Islam, and proved very interesting when considering how we should be as Muslims and Christians living in the same community.
After much fruitful discussion, it was time for the Zuhr (midday) prayer and we slowly dispersed to pray. Although the meeting was scheduled to end at Zuhr prayer, individuals continued the discussion long after among themselves and all expressed the importance of such meetings and their looking forward to the next gathering. All the people involved expressed the importance of our meetings and how the discussions were deepening to an extent where we could truly benefit from one another.
I look forward to the next meeting and hope more people will take advantage of the Mosque-Church Friendship initiative. Should anyone be interested in taking part in the Mosque Church Friendship, please contact Julian Bond at the Christian Muslim Forum, to discuss how you can go about building strong ties between mosque and church in your area.
Daniel Edge
Former Peaceworker at the Christian Muslim Forum
Note - 'mosque' is a Western word which seeks to reproduce the Muslim (Arabic) term 'masjid', which means 'place of prostration (for prayer)'
Our booklet on Mosque-Church Friendship.
