Interfaith Forum Discusses Difficult Issues
By Aslam Abdullah
The nation's premier Muslim interfaith group, the World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations, took a giant step when it organized the first of its kind interfaith forum in Chicago, IL, on November 10, 2024, on issues the people of faith are worried about but reluctant to talk of. In the presence of more than 100 faith leaders, the forum resolved to work together to develop a moral force that promotes a suitable environment for all.
More than 100 people from different faiths, including Bahai, Various Christian denominations, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Muslim men and women, were in attendance. Ten young visiting Indonesian men and women scholars were also present.
Leaders from all faiths and denominations actively participated in discussions to learn from each other. Interfaith forums are like rituals where leaders usually meet to praise each other, share food, and promise to host future events to serve more food.
It is challenging to have a discussion on thorny and difficult issues when each religious community lives in its bubble of religious supremacy, always trying to prove its righteousness and ownership of God.
The WCMIR accepted the challenge and took the initiative to discuss some critical issues openly.
The issues discussed were:
- The Gender Dysphoria and Faith Communities
- LGBTQ and Faith Communities
- Justice and Fairness in Interfaith and Interfaith Contexts
- Religious Extremism and Response of Interfaith Communities
- How Religious Groups Can Tackle Hate and Violence?
- How does my Religious Tradition Understand the Presence of Other's Claim to Truth?
- Squeezing of Faith Communities Space in Civil Societies
- Can We Develop a Methodology to Handle Our Religious and Theological Differences?
- How to Develop Faith-Based Guidelines for the US Foreign Policy to Promote Human Dignity?
- Ethics of Dealing with Others
Here are the brief bios of some of the lead discussants
Rev Bruce Duffield is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served in many leadership roles, including President of the Chicago Illinois Temple, Counselor in the Naperville Illinois Stake Presidency, and Bishop of the Naperville First Ward. He currently oversees interfaith relations for the church in Chicagoland. Professionally, Bruce has practiced as a trial attorney in Chicago for 48 years with the international law firms of Lord, Bissell & Brook and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. He and his wife Denise celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2023.
Professor Inam Haq's area of expertise is Islamic Theology and Muslim World Studies. He has been in various religious seminaries in Pakistan, including Shah Wali Ullah Oriental College, and the principal of two Muslim day schools in the Chicago area for 13 years. He is a Professor of Religion and a Muslim Advisor at Elmhurst University. Professor Haq serves on the WCMIR Board and is an honorary Imam in various local mosques. He has studied at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. In addition, he holds Traditional Ijaza in Tafseer, Hadith, Fiqh & Tasawwuf. He holds a Masters in sharia from International Islamic University and a Master’s in Humanities from Drew University in New Jersey.
Dr Marcia Hermansen is a professor of Islamic Studies at Loyola University. A PhD from the University of Chicago, her areas of interest and expertise include Sufism, Islam in South Asia, Islamic thought, and Gender Studies. She has published many books, including Varieties of American Sufism; Islam, Religions and Pluralism in Europe; and Muslim Theology: The Voices of Muslim Women Theologians, and the translation of works of Shah Waliullah Dehlavi.
Imam Arif Huskic is a Founder and President of the Common World Alliance and MASCH, both Interfaith organizations working nationally and internationally with people from all faiths in promoting peace, love, respect, unity, mutual understanding, including religious/spiritual, cultural, and American values through Interfaith Dialogues, maintaining clean environment and community safety, educating and supporting people in poverty and through feeding homeless population providing them with sustainable future in collaboration with other NGO and Governmental institutions. We speak out and up for enhancing civil and human rights everywhere. We invite all people to join us as one family under the umbrella of one Creator-God Almighty in doing good as all for one and one for all.
Rev Stuart Barnes Jamieson is Pastor of Carter-Westminster United Presbyterian Church in Skokie, IL. He is also Co-chair of the Niles Township clergy forum, which is in the midst of an interfaith conversation amongst community religious leaders about the conflict in the Middle East. On November 26, the Clergy Forum will host an interfaith community Thanksgiving service highlighting what we have learned and affirmations from this process.
Dr Michael Kooy is pastor emeritus in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, having most recently served as Pastor of Grace Community Church in Oak Lawn, IL. He has a ThM from Calvin Theological Seminary in Moral and Philosophical Theology and a D Min from Fuller Theological Seminary. Michael received a Friendship Award from the Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview, IL for interfaith activities he helped lead as President of the Oak Lawn Clergy and Religious Workers Association. He has played a leading role in many community activities that blend Muslims and Christians on joint projects. Michael also is an Affiliated Faculty member in Philosophy at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL.
Cheikh Ahmed Mbarek is the Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, CIOGC. He began in Mauritania, pursuing his early education in traditional Qur’anic schools (Mahdharah). He earned a Bachelor's degree in Arabic sciences and literature from the University of Nouakchott in 1993, followed by two master's degrees in Egypt—one in linguistics and the other in political science. His academic pursuits continued in Libya, where he taught linguistics for two years, before moving to the USA and earned a master's in public administration from Northeastern University and is currently a PhD candidate in public policy and administration at Walden University. He has over a decade of experience in Muslim community development, engagement, and advocacy.
Dr Babacar Mbengue teaches Islamic studies and history at DePaul University's Islamic World Studies Program/Religious Studies Department and History Department. Dr Mbengue received his PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. He has also received degrees from Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris and Cambridge University. Dr Mbengue was a Fulbright scholar with a residence at Loyola University Chicago. His research fields include Islam, Islam in Africa, Islamic banking and finance, Islamic law of contract, Islam and politics, world history, and international relations. He is the author of many articles that compare American and Islamic laws of contract, Islam, Islam in Africa, and Islamic finance.
Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is the founding President of Sound Vision and Justice for All. He is an award-winning author and producer of Muslim Network TV, and Radio Islam shows. He has been active in community leadership since his student days. He has served as the Chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, CIOGC, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the World's Religions. Malik is also a civic leader and has served on many national and international committees and foundations. He founded many task forces, including the Bosnia and Burma Task Force. He regularly provides thinking and talking points to Imams and community leaders on various social, political, national, and international issues.
Rev. Hyewon "Sophia" Hyon is an ordained pastor with the United Methodist Church, currently appointed to First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. She is passionate about social justice and pastoral care and has a heart for supporting marginalized communities, including young Asian LGBTQIA individuals seeking belonging within faith spaces. Sophia strongly advocates bridging cultural and theological divides, fostering inclusion and spiritual growth. She has been with the Chicago Temple since 2019, contributing to both its ministry outreach and community life with a vision for deepened connection and compassion in faith.
