̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - inter-faith

Inter-faith summer schools train future leaders in art of “intelligent disagreement”

bjb42 — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:38:06 +0000

Each summer, the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme, which is based at the ̽��ֱ��’s Faculty of Divinity, brings together an international group of students from Islamic, Christian and Jewish backgrounds, for a three-week programme of immersion in inter-faith education.

̽��ֱ��aim is to lay the ground for mutual understanding and friendship between them, while nevertheless acknowledging that the three “Abrahamic” religions, as they are known, are far from the same.

̽��ֱ��programme therefore tries to scrutinise what coexistence means in practice, by looking at what models each of the three religions offers the other for peaceful and serious engagement. Ultimately, the hope is that the participants will learn to turn their differences into fruitful faith leadership in a much wider sense as their careers progress.

“ ̽��ֱ��aim is to learn to live well with disagreement, or to disagree intelligently,” Dr Mike Higton, academic co-director with the programme, said. “Coming to an agreement on theology, politics or any other subject is not our aim, nor is the creation of some sort of neutral middle ground.”

“What we can do is explore each tradition, and look for the forms of coexistence and friendship that are possible between traditions that remain distinct and different.”

Over the course of the three weeks, the participants undertake an academic programme based at Madingley Hall, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. They not only study, but also live and dine together, according to the traditional Cambridge college model.

̽��ֱ��programme itself features lectures from academics and a range of guest speakers, including Professor David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge; the renowned Muslim scholar, Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad, and Middle East peacemaker Yehezkel Landau.

There are also sessions devoted to the practice of scriptural reasoning, in which the participants meet to read passages of their respective sacred texts, discuss the content, and explain how their various traditions have been shaped by them. Through this, they gain a deeper understanding of both their own sacred texts and those of others, as well as their possible interpretations.

̽��ֱ��programme also involves visits to religious communities around the UK including a weekend in Birmingham, and time in London’s East End.

This year’s cohort involves representatives from Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Tanzania, the UAE, Oman, Israel, the USA, France, Italy, Germany and the UK.

Emerging religious leaders from around the world have arrived in Cambridge for a programme which aims to build understanding between faiths and teach them to “live well with disagreement”.

We aim to explore each tradition, and look for the forms of coexistence and friendship that are possible between traditions that remain distinct and different.

Mike Higton

Cambridge Inter-faith Programme.

Summer school participants during a tour of the ̽��ֱ��.

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Yes

A shared future based on a shared past

bjb42 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:03:08 +0000

Starting this afternoon (Wednesday, 28 March) the three-day event will deliberately address some of the major issues that have inhibited understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Among the topics under discussion will be the nature of Shariah Law, the wearing of the hijab, Islam’s compatibility with democracy, and allegations that Muslims are trying to “Islamize” non-Muslim countries.

̽��ֱ��participants, who include some of the leading researchers in the field of Islamic Studies from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the US, will be asked to outline the main findings of their latest research, and consider how they can be accessibly communicated to non-academic audiences.

̽��ֱ��conference will include a media-training workshop for delegates, teaching them how to communicate their ideas through radio, television and the press. In addition a series of E-books, with contributions from everyone taking part, will be published after it has ended.

̽��ֱ��event is being organised by the British Council and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Organisers say that one of their main aims is to reduce a perceived gulf between academics and the public at large regarding Islam and its integration into non-Muslim societies.

A key concern is that researchers specialising in Islam have an in-depth knowledge of such issues that is not being communicated properly to society as a whole. Many people’s knowledge of Islam comes from what they read, see or hear in the media. And in many cases, the dominant media narrative is a divisive one – stressing the views and activities of a fundamentalist minority.

Professor Yasir Suleiman, Director of the CIS at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said: “Our main aim is to bridge the gap between academic work and public perception, which is not something that academics have always given their full attention. ̽��ֱ��more we can work with the media and other organisations to draw on the specialist knowledge that the academic world has, the more public opinion will be rooted in reliable facts.”

“Sometimes this sort of activity is seen as an apology for Islam, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our main hope is to produce information for public consumption that informs people accurately about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims and the nature of their co-existence, so that they can make their own judgements and decisions.”

One conference highlight will be a pre-launch discussion of the second phase of “Contextualising Islam in Britain”; a report which represents the collective thinking of a group of British Muslims who sought to answer the question: “What does it mean to live faithfully as a Muslim in Britain today?” ̽��ֱ��final report will be formally launched later this year.

More broadly, the event will touch on five key themes. These are:

Citizenship and identity: ̽��ֱ��session will examine the presiding narrative that Muslims cannot be fully integrated into western society and address accusations that some are seeking to “Islamize” the west.
Political participation: Drawing on the recent events of the Arab Spring, this will examine how far the traditional view that Islam is incompatible with democracy has been challenged, and whether it offers a set of values that in fact support democracy.
Islam, knowledge and innovation: Delegates will address the ongoing failure to acknowledge Islam’s contribution to science, culture and intellectual history in the west – and ask whether changing this picture would really make a valuable contribution to present debates.
Religion and the public space: ̽��ֱ��session will tackle the debate about the expression of religious beliefs in the public sphere in secular societies – with topics ranging from the hijab to halal food in schools – and ask how religious belief might best be articulated.
̽��ֱ��power of words and images: A “Clash of Civilizations” narrative has dominated debate about Muslim and non-Muslim communities since 9/11. This discussion will ask whether academics can contribute to a more nuanced view of the dynamics underpinning such cultural encounters.

̽��ֱ��conference is called “Acknowledging a Shared Past to Build a Shared Future; Rethinking Muslim non-Muslim Relations”. Partner organisations contributing to the event include the Woolf Institute; the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (UK); Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, ̽��ֱ�� of Edinburgh; the Carnegie Corporation of New York; the Vodafone Foundation; the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Further information can be found at: http://www.cis.cam.ac.uk

A conference which aims to bridge the gap between academic research on Islam and public opinion regarding Muslims in the West will take place in Cambridge this week.

We hope to inform people accurately about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, so that they can make their own judgements and decisions.

Yasir Suleiman

Martin Pettitt from Flickr.

Cambridge

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Yes

Literature and Religion in Cheltenham

bjb42 — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:12:26 +0000

How do three novelists deal with faith? How do you compare translating the Bible and translating the Qur'an? These were leading questions at two well-attended sessions of ̽��ֱ��Times Cheltenham Literature Festival earlier this week. They were the beginning of Pathways, a series running through the week, which include Rabbi Lionel Blue and Abbot Christopher Jamieson on being contemplative, Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and Jim Al-Khalili on religion and science, Mary Warnock, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Lord Harries on religion and politics, a talk on the Hajj by Venetia Porter, and Simon Sebag Montefiore on Jerusalem.

̽��ֱ��sessions were conceived and sponsored by one of Cambridge ̽��ֱ��'s newest initiatives, the Cambridge Coexist Programme. This is a collaboration between the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme and the Coexist Foundation (www.coexistfoundation.net), with an array of projects on leadership, religious literacy, grassroots inter-faith work, art, film and gardens. It is directed by Michael Wakelin, former head of religious broadcasting at the BBC.

"Pathways" is the first of its projects to launch, and it began with Pamela Armstrong chairing a discussion with the novelists Anne Rice, Natasha Solomons and Tahmima Anam. Rice, who has sold over 100 million books, gave a graphic account of her Roman Catholic upbringing, loss of faith as a teenager, re-entry into Catholicism in 1998 and then, last year, her well-publicized departure from organized religion - though not from faith in Jesus. A fascination with vampires, werewolves and angels (what she called 'speculative, supernatural fiction') has been her way of exploring questions of life and death. 'I'm still in a state of turmoil', she said, 'But yes, I trust we are in the hands of a loving God.'

By contrast, Natasha Solomons ( ̽��ֱ��Novel in the Viola) is definitely on the outside looking in at those who practice the religious side of her Judaism. But she described her irresistible attraction to the subject: 'In each of my novels I say to myself I will not write about Judaism, yet it happens again and again and when my characters have faith I am baffled by them'. So she 'writes religiously' but without faith in God.

Tahmima Anam's latest novel, ̽��ֱ��Good Muslim, explores the aftermath in one family of the Bangladeshi War of Independence. 'How do you make a Mullah believable?' she asked. She tries to do so through exploring the conflict between a young man, who becomes a charismatic preacher, and his secular, revolutionary sister. 'Spiritual issues are not confined to those who have faith: even the most areligious person can have a spiritual crisis confronting mortality.' Does she herself believe? - 'I still haven't found a vehicle for my belief or lack of belief.' And the future? - 'I am writing a novel about the end of the world brought about by climate change.'

̽��ֱ��second session in "Pathways", on 'Translating Holy Texts', was a conversation about the Qur'an and the King James Version of the Bible. ̽��ֱ��KJV was represented by Professor Stephen Prickett and the playright David Edgar (whose play on the KJV, 'Written on the Heart' has its premiere with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford at the end of this month), the Qur'an by Leila Aboulela, author of ̽��ֱ��Translator (and more recently of Lyrics Alley). ̽��ֱ��contrast was profound.

̽��ֱ��Christian Bible is a series of translations - first, Hebrew scriptures and Jesus' Aramaic into Greek, and thereafter continually translated, with no sacred language. ̽��ֱ��Bible Society was quoted: 'Not until the Bible is translated into every language on earth will it be fully understood.'

̽��ֱ��Arabic of the Qur'an is inseparable from its revelatory character: it is taken as the wording of God. 'If you move into human translation, it loses its power and strength, it is a faint reflection, more like a commentary', said Aboulela. Pickthall even calls his version ' ̽��ֱ��Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an', not a 'translation'. Yet the richness of meaning is not in doubt - some Sufis speak of twenty-four thousand meanings for every verse.

̽��ֱ��KJV and the Qur'an did come together to some extent under the heading of beauty. Even though the notes of the KJV translators show that 'beauty' was not a criterion they used - they were mainly after accuracy - in fact they wrote wonderfully well, and Edgar and Prickett poured out examples. Aboulela revelled in the rhythms and richness of the Qur'an's language. But the two books converged even more in their oral quality: the KJV process of translation by committee meant that every verse was read aloud for approval, making the auditory dimension intrinsic; and the very word 'Qur'an' means 'recitation', which is how most of the world's Muslims inhabit this text.

̽��ֱ��long drive back to Cambridge gave plenty of time for reflection. Here are three of my thoughts.

First, I found it impossible to place labels on the participants - each escaped the usual categories, though in different ways. Both the religious and the secular appeared in many forms, and the complexity of their interweavings cried out for the rich, nuanced description of a social anthropologist - or a novelist. Second, there was a vigorous combination of open-eyed (often penetrating) critique of the religions together with deep empathy and a recognition of the continuing generativity of the faiths and their classic texts. Third, and following on from the first two, I wondered what contribution such discussions might make to people who pray, study and practice in any of the traditions that had been under consideration. ̽��ֱ��hallmark of the sessions was a combination of acute observation (I particularly liked Natasha Solomon's description of her first Shabbat meal with fellow-Jews at university, and Anne Rice's evocation of an oyster-eating scene in Anna Karenina), imaginative perspective, and question after question. Faith that has engaged with such conversations has been given the chance not only to hold up a mirror to itself but also to be questioned and stretched by very different people and worlds of meaning - this is something that in our pluralist, complexly religious and secular society, we would be wise to encourage. I wonder how the other "Pathways" events will contribute to the debate....

Professor David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity and Director of the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme, reflects on the first project in an exciting new venture, the Cambridge Coexist Programme.

Faith that has engaged with such conversations has been given the chance not only to hold up a mirror to itself but also to be questioned and stretched by different worlds of meaning.

David Ford

Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme

David Ford

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Yes

You hymn it, we’ll play it

bjb42 — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:53 +0000

̽��ֱ��centrepiece of the music marathon will be a sound installation, called ̽��ֱ��Hours, which will be broadcast in the College's main court throughout the 24-hour period.

Interspersed with this there will be live performances, celebrating the sacred music of different world faiths, and culminating in a "Come and Sing" session on Thursday afternoon, followed by the performance of a piece by the Tudor composer, John Taverner.

̽��ֱ��entire event will be open to the public for free. Visitors can either wander into the College to experience the sound installation, or attend one of the live performances, which are listed on the College website here. ̽��ֱ��final concert will be ticketed and places should be booked by writing to music@caths.cam.ac.uk

Musical members of the public are also welcome to join in with the Come and Sing session, either by writing to music@caths.cam.ac.uk or just by turning up on the day.

̽��ֱ��event is intended to be a celebration and grand expression of the music and art produced by different religions around the world. ̽��ֱ��monastic hours - the daily order of seven gatherings for prayer - will provide a thread running through the 24 hour period, but the music used will have an inter-faith flavour.

Dr. Edward Wickham, Director of Music at St Catharine's College, who devised the event, said: "We want to express something of the way in which world religions sit side-by-side, without diluting the intensity of people's individual faiths."

"When you travel around the Middle East, you can often have remarkable musical experiences because of the proximity of one religion to another. In some cities you can hear the sound of Christian bells in one ear and the Muslim call to prayer in the other. We want to celebrate that complimentarity of musical expressions, without trying to put across any sort of glib message."

̽��ֱ��event will kick-off at 7pm on Wednesday with the premiere performance of a new piece, Luminaria, which will be performed by the St Catharine's Girls' Choir with the Egyptian soprano, Merit Ariane Stephanos.

" ̽��ֱ��Hours" itself will run continuously throughout the next 24-hour period. Co-written by Dr Wickham and Jonathan Green, the piece is a collage of sound art and live performance that has been recorded by people of different faiths from around the UK over the past 18 months, and features a tapestry of different voices, music and sounds.

Interspersed with this there will be live performances at the College by Georgian and Muslim choirs, as well as chants from the Jewish and Hindu traditions. ̽��ֱ��traditional monastic services of Compline, Lauds and Matins will all be marked over the course of the night. ̽��ֱ��event will close on Thursday with a performance of Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas by John Taverner, sung by the award-winning vocal ensemble, ̽��ֱ��Clerks.

For further details about any aspect of the event, please visit the College website here.

An epic, 24-hour celebration of religious music will be taking place at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, this week, starting on Wednesday evening (June 22).

We want to express something of the way in which world religions sit side-by-side, without diluting the intensity of individual faiths.

Edward Wickham

St Catharine's College

Detail from the event poster.

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Yes

All in the script

bjb42 — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:34:36 +0000

Professor David Ford, who is also Director of the ̽��ֱ��’s Inter-Faith Programme, will give the Pope John Paul II Honorary Lecture today (Tuesday, 5 April). ̽��ֱ��highly prestigious annual lecture, which takes place at the Pontifical ̽��ֱ�� of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), examines interreligious understanding.

Scriptural reasoning brings together members of different religious traditions in small groups to read and discuss extracts from their sacred texts. Professor Ford will argue that the process can function as a bridge between Abrahamic faiths which, without necessarily leading to consensus, can result in mutual understanding and respect.

His lecture will begin by describing the 21^st century as a “kairos” – a particularly propitious moment – for engagement between faiths. Professor Ford himself was brought up as an Anglican in the Church of Ireland in Dublin (placing him in a 3% religious minority) and spent parts of his early academic career working in an inner city Anglican parish in Birmingham, which was both multi-ethnic and multi-faith.

“Scriptural Reasoning has transformed my understanding of both Judaism and Christianity,” he said.

“This is not about becoming clearer regarding any of the faiths – I was much clearer about Judaism and Islam before getting to know so many Jews and Muslims. To plunge into a sea of Talmud and Hadith while trying to interpret a scriptural text is often more bewildering than clarifying. To hear Jews or Muslims arguing among themselves subverts many textbook generalisations.”

̽��ֱ��presentation will advocate Scriptural Reasoning as one way in which it is possible to achieve “wise faith”; an understanding of faith as something which doesn’t necessarily always involve clear assertions or imperatives, but is instead about asking questions and exploring and seeking a relationship with God. This, Professor Ford suggests, has the potential to lead not just a deeper understanding of one’s own faith, but to a broader commitment between Christians, Muslims and Jews to the wider, common good.

“ ̽��ֱ��global inter-faith challenge we face requires institutional creativity, conversation, collaboration and thorough theological work and education – locally, nationally and internationally,” he concludes. “ ̽��ֱ��thinking required for this has, I think, hardly got going. As a catalyst for this I have not found anything as helpful as Scriptural Reasoning.”

̽��ֱ��lecture is a central event of the John Paul II Centre for Interreligious Dialogue, created through a partnership between the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Pontifical ̽��ֱ�� of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). ̽��ֱ��Centre aims to build bridges between Catholic, Jewish and other religious traditions by providing the next generation of religious leaders with a comprehensive understanding of and dedication to inter-faith issues.

Details of the event can be found at https://jp2center.org/, where a full copy of Professor Ford’s lecture will also be published.

̽��ֱ��power of “scriptural reasoning” to transform the way in which different faiths understand one another is to be the subject of a major lecture in Rome, by Cambridge’s Regius Professor of Divinity.

Scriptural Reasoning has transformed my understanding of both Judaism and Christianity.

Professor David Ford

Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme

Scriptural reasoning.

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Yes