What is the Future of Those Inter-Faith Dialogues?

I have reported a lot on those inter-faith dialogue events between Christians, Jews and Muslims since I have attended a few myself. I am very leery of them especially when it comes to places like the Islamic Center of Orange County, the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, and the Islamic Center of Boston in Roxbury. On the surface, these events would seem to be a great idea. Unfortunately, I have seen a few too many gullible Jewish and Christian leaders with their heads in the sand being manipulated by certain Muslim leaders whom I suspect are engaged in taquiyya- a religious-supported concept of deception for the purpose of the good of the religion.

Yet, I am not willing to dismiss every Muslim leader who is engaged in inter-faith activities nor the everyday Muslim who participates. I do think many are sincere in their efforts to live in peace and harmony with other religions here in the US.

This past week, Eboo Patel spoke at UC Irvine. An adviser to the President's advisory Board on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships, Patel is heavily involved in inter-faith activities. To be sure, there is an element of controversy surrounding him as well, which I have pointed out. Yet, as I previously noted, I had the impression that the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union  was not well represented in this week's audience at UCI-if at all. Their website made no mention of Patel's appearance, and I am unaware of any effort on their part to promote attendance. I could, of course, be wrong.

Which leads to the question as to whether the MSU at UCI or other campuses support the idea of inter-faith dialogue. I distinguish inter-faith dialogue from dawah, which is the Islamic effort to promote a positive image of Islam and proselytize as well. The MSU at UCI does, in fact, engage in dawah as evidenced  by their annual Islam Awareness week at UCI.

There is, I believe, a disagreement among Muslims in Orange County, particularly young Muslims, as to the idea of inter-faith dialogue, which also involves giving attention to the feelings and beliefs of other faiths as opposed to merely promoting one's own. It seems some young Muslims support the idea of inter-faith dialogue while others would prefer to stick strictly to dawah. If there is such a division here, it probably exists across the nation.

This is an issue that I think merits attention in the days and years ahead in the US. As always, I invite my Muslim readers to weigh in.