Australian TV
It was a pleasure to be on Australia’ TV at the Parliament event. I share the greetings from various traditions. Insha Allah, one of the radio stations is interviewing me on Saturday.
Quraan in light of Peace
Due to heavy security for Dalai Lama, Dr. Tariq Ramadan was late by 10 minutes and I carried the presentation, when he joined, he asked me to continue… however, I came to listen to him and yeilded after summarizing. It was a thrilling moment in my life when Dr. Ramadan, one of my favorite thinkers in Islam wanted me to be on the panel with him on the topic of Quraan and the perspective of peace. It was the highlight of my day.
A New Conscience
It must be my day! My presentation on ” the new conscience” received tremendous reception from the gagthering including a few clergy. As I traced the development of conscience from pre-historic times to the present and predicted what it would be in the near future. I spent hours developing the program and thank God, it was meaningful to the congregation.
The indigenous people of Australia
The indigenous people of Australia have the same issues as the indigenous people of Americas, they have taken advantage of so many times that they have difficulty in trusting any one. I met with three elders and 2 medicine men and hope to be visiting them this Sunday – a 150 KM drive from Melbourne. Thank God, we connected in spirits and communicated well.
Dalai Lama Plenary
Dalai Lama was the highlight of the closing plenary today. His speech was short and succint and he urged the audience to follow up with the work on peace. I was blessed to be seated along with the trustees and the board members of the Parliament of the World’s religions, Thanks to Phyllis, Angie and Prabhu for making me part of the PWR team.
Indeed, it is a blessing that the board members and the trustees appreciate my writings on Pluralism and Islam.
Wisdom of Muslim Prayers
Dr. Suhair Quraishi, an educator from Saudi Arabia shared the wisdom of Muslim prayers and I joined her in sharing the knowledge with the public. She and I spoke the same language, the lanugage of inclusiveness and respect for every faith. It is so good to see a Saudi is also teaching respect for other traditions
Islam and the West
The Plenary session was about “Islam and the west” explored by 4 giants of Islamic pluralist thought – Dr. Tariq Ramadan, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Imam Feisal Rauf and Ali Karizimi, moderated by the Dean of BYU, Utah. One of the most attended programs. Quite a powerful talk and I hope to write it up the key points asap.
Jews, who do we want to be?
A powerful panel discussion by the Jewish community on ” What do we want to be ” – by Rabbi Rosen and four other prominent Rabbis from US, Australia, Israel and UK. I have made the notes well debated one. They have gone through what we are going through now. It indeed helps me write a chapter on Muslim Agenda. and when I get the chance, I will write the report. It was an englightening conversation and
Scriptures and their intended use
Scriptures and its intended use was shared by Christian, Sikh and Islamic tradtions. My presentation on Islam was effective and I am very pleased with the outcome and feedback. One of the members in the audience was a Christian Minister from Jerusalem and knew Arabic, I asked him to read the verse on the screen and ……he acknowledged to some 20 raised hands that the translation dished out to them for years was wrong. It was a packed house.
I recall it was like this when I presented the program “Muhammad the peacemaker” in January this year.