Northwest Suburban Muslims and Christians Come Together in Friendship and Peace

What would it be like if Muslims and Christians could spend time together for an extended period of time to learn about each other's faiths and become friends? The Islamic Society of the Northwest Suburbs (ISNS) of Rolling Meadows and Southminster Presbyterian Church (SPC) of Arlington Heights, have launched a yearlong journey to do just that. The group meets twice a month, once at ISNS and once at SPC.

The group begins each meeting with prayer, asking God to be with all the participants and thanking God for their time together. At the first meeting, everyone introduced themselves and shared their expectations for the process. One man was looking to make deep friendships. Another wanted to build trust and be respectful of each other's differences. One man wanted to do more things together like programs or charitable events. One woman said she joined to be in a deeper long-term relationship with group members. She saw that being willing to commit to a year of meetings was an important way to get to know people of a different faith.

The group is following a plan created by another Presbyterian pastor and his local masjid (mosque). Once participants have learned more about each other's backgrounds, they will bring their Holy Book and share a favorite verse. As time goes on, the group will be discussing more sensitive topics such as what the Muslim and Christian communities think about each other.

Group member Linda Waycie from SPC said, "What I have noticed are the eager faces of the Muslim men. They are so glad to be a part of this group to learn about the Christian Faith and share theirs. In our first hour together, I became aware of the smiles, the laughter, the hugs women gave each other and the friendly handshakes of the Muslim men. I could feel the energy in the room as we told each other things about ourselves."

Abdul Javid, outreach director from ISNS, said, "This interfaith program is unique in nature where it allows the participants to know each other and creates opportunity to build relationships upon whose strength further collaboration & activities can be built upon. ISNS community participants are extremely excited in this journey of knowing each other and building on common strengths !"

For more information on using interfaith small groups to facilitate understanding, friendship, peace and reconciliation, contact: SPC members Dennis Rich, dennis.rich007@att.net or Linda Waycie, lwaycie@wowway.com; or ISNS, javid@isns.org.