The September 11 attacks revealed Americans’ ignorance about Islam, and suddenly churned up an awareness of the world’s second largest religion that had lain undisturbed like sediment at the bottom of a river. According to Dr. Amir Hussain, associate professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Americans are no better informed now than six years ago. Too many Americans have learned the little they know about Islam from talk-radio hosts, tabloid newspapers and commercial TV, believing, for example, that the Qur’an is a book of violence and that Muslims are engaged in a bloody battle to kill non-Muslims. ‘Antagonism against Muslims, like anti-Semitism, is a result of ignorance,’ Hussain says. ‘And when you don’t know, you assume, and it becomes very easy to stereotype.’ Hussain, who is a Muslim, will give an introduction to Islam as part of the Corpus Christi Distinguished Speakers series on Thursday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the church, at 890 Toyopa Dr. The public is invited. Hussain was 4 when he immigrated with his parents to Canada from Pakistan. The son of a working-class father, he completed all his academic work at the University of Toronto, which included, ironically, learning about his own religion. ‘Only about 4 percent of Muslims come from religious schools because most attend public school, so what I knew about Islam was mostly cultural,’ he says. Hussain understood the importance of studying the three great religions in order to understand what they have in common and how bridges can be built. ‘In many ways, Muslims, Christians, and Jews hold much in common,’ he writes in his book ‘Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God.’ ‘All three religions are monotheistic, involving the worship of one God. The three religions are also prophetic traditions. The Qur’an mentions a number of prophets by name, many from the Hebrew Bible, and three from the New Testament: Zechariah, John the Baptist and Jesus.’ Hussain also writes in his book, ‘Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet, born of the Virgin Mary who is mentioned more by name in the Qur’an than she is in the New Testament.’ In 1997, Hussain came to the United States to join the faculty at Cal State Northridge. He was excited about the prospect of teaching in an institution where many of the students, like him, were the first in their family to attend college. He also looked forward to living in Los Angeles, home to some 600,000 Muslims. ‘Discouragingly, the university suffered from a lack of funding for the humanities, which was so ironic,’ he says, ‘because the humanities help us to know who we are. This is important!’ In 2005, a position opened at Loyola Marymount, which was exciting for Hussain. ‘Here I am in a Catholic university, in the largest archdiocese in the United States, and in a city with the largest diversity of religions in the world.’ His curriculum load this year spans the academic ladder, from teaching a course in world religions to freshmen and a graduate course on Islam and interfaith dialogue. To achieve interfaith dialogue, Hussain says that one must have not only a deep understanding of one’s own faith, but also an understanding and appreciation of the other’s faith. He facilitates the dialogue by offering lessons that Muslims can learn from Christians and that Christians can learn from Muslims. In the first instance, he calls upon Muslims to worship God instead of Islam. Muslims can begin to understand the Qur’an as more metaphorically true than literally true, as more and more Christians see the Bible. ‘Muslims can also learn a great deal from Christians about developing their religious communities in North America,’ Hussain says. ‘Muslims have been here just 40 years. They have been concerned with establishing places of worship, and during the last two decades a few Muslim social-service organizations have also sprung up. Now, they must establish community centers, senior centers and educational institutions, as have Christians and Jews.’ Christians have much to learn from Muslims, which Hussain says can be as simple as finding a Muslim friend to talk to. ‘This may be a neighbor, a doctor at the local hospital, a teacher, a restaurant owner or the manager of the ethnic grocery store.’ The next step, he says, is to listen and learn. ‘You don’t start out by asking questions such as ‘Why do Muslims hate us?” He also cautions Christians to be careful to get their information on Islam from reliable sources, not from people who have no first-hand information about Islam or Muslims. It’s also important not to blame your Muslim friend for evils that some other Muslims may have committed.’ Before September 11, Hussain would give a presentation about Islam every two months or so. In the months afterwards, he was giving one about every three days. His mission, he says, is to emphasize the commonality between the two faith traditions. ‘We share a common history and a common civilization.’ In addition to Hussain’s lecture next Thursday, audience members will be able to see an episode of ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie,’ a Canadian TV show. A $5 donation is suggested. Contact: (310) 454-1328.
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