On Thursday 29th Feb, an informal meeting was organised by the Clifton Road Mosque Interfaith at the Al-Abbas Islamic Centre in Birmingham which was very productive.
Among the guests, we were honoured to welcome Father John from Dorridge Solihull, Father Pat who joined us all the way from Dublin, and Mariah who belongs to the Focolare from Birmingham.
The conversation flowed just so naturally and organically flowed, and we felt a sense of peace. We felt very comfortable talking about faith and peaceful coexistence living in a city like Birmingham which offers so much diversity and richness and appreciating our common universal values.
Questions around the Mahdi were the central theme, and it was enlightening to see how eager Father Pat and Father John were having this informal discussion around our Shia beliefs and practices.
Our guests were very pleased to hear about our evolutionary journeys in our Interfaith and how we have fostered commonalities between our Abrahamic faiths and beyond. The recurring theme was that we are all stewards of God and how He has created us with a purpose to evolve fully within our collective humanity. In essence, each of us has this intrinsic desire and deep connection to faith and in God.
Interesting questions were posed by Father John and Father Pat on the Shiite concept on our Awaited Saviour Imam Al Mahdi pbuh and the coming of Prophet Jesus pbuh and it was so enlightening to see how much they were keen to listen and find out more about our promised Messiah.
Our humanity is aching right now and as one body, how important it is in the current times to have peaceful circles whereby we are open to dialogue. During this difficult time, each of us felt this intrinsic need of turning to God and as a collective work towards global peace, social justice, and unity in God.
Interfaith dialogue goes beyond mere conversation; it plays an important role in promoting peace in a world that is plagued with so much suffering.
After Dhuhr prayers at our Al-Abbas Islamic Centre, we all went out to a beautiful syrian restaurant for lunch, and we were so excited to meet up with Violet Owen from the Baha’i community here in Birmingham.
All praises belong to God, we continued to have some more meaningful conversations and may we evolve in our collective journeys.
We earnestly pray to God for inner peace and to be channels of His Love and light to benefit our humanity.
With peace and heartfelt prayers for humanity
Sis Nasim Walji Pirmohamed
Lantern of Light Founder
#peacefulcircles
#interfaith
#dialogue
#ourhumanity
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