By Muslim Link Staff
In the posh, upscale Georgetown setting called Evermay Estate Gardens, over a dinner of Moroccan Chicken Tagine with olives and preserved lemons, an Iraqi from Mosul was making his opinion on the war very clear to the gentleman across the dinner table.
“I totally disagree [with the notion] that [post-invasion Iraq] is an Iraqi problem,” stressed Nabil Zaki to Steve Hayes.
Both men were among about 250 Muslim and non-Muslim guests assembled by the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) for its “Faith in Action” award dinner.
Zaki explained to Hayes that the United States dismantled the government, and it was their responsibility to put it back together. “Iraqis have experience in running a government, but [they don’t have experience in] managing chaos,” he said.
“That is a very interesting perspective,” said Hayes, an ICRD board member.
The conversation introduced new ways of looking at the Iraq conflict, and increased appreciation for other points of view. ICRD exists to promote conflict resolution around the globe using common threads in religion.
Focussing on shared ideals between religions like forgiveness, tolerance, compassion, and the supremacy of God, ICRD tries to refocus conflicting groups on common ideas.
The 7-year old organization has on-going projects in the Sudan, Kashmir, Pakistan, and Iran; they have no projects in Iraq.
This Thursday evening, June 7 dinner was an event to recognize those “exceptional individuals who increase religious understanding in a way that enables others to see the ‘spark of the divine’ in their fellow human beings.”
This year’s exceptional individual and recipient of ICRD’s 2007 Faith in Action award was Dr. Jamal Barzinji from Herndon, Virginia’s International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
Barzinji, a long time and well known member of the Muslim American landscape, helped found the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and IIIT. He also served as Dean and Director of Islamic Revealed Knowledge at the International Islamic University in Malaysia.
ICRD chose Dr. Barzinji for the award for “his work in enhancing Islamic thought around the world to accommodate the challenges of modernity.”
Muslim attending the event included officials from major area Islamic centers, Imams, staff, family, and guests of major sponsoring organizations like IIIT, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Sterling Management Group, Mar-Jac Poultry Inc, and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Other sponsors included the All Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS), the Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation, and Saturna/Amana Funds. The majority of sponsors were non-Muslim families and organizations who support the ICRD. Tickets were $250 each.
ICRD founder and president Douglas Johnston served as Master of Ceremonies. After a brief introduction to ICRD, he invited Dr. Anwar Ibrahim -- the former Malaysian deputy Prime Minister and close friend of Dr. Barzinji -- to the podium.
“[Jamal Barzinji] has a PhD in engineering, but all his life he did everything but engineering,” he said to laughter. Ibrahim recounted his personal interaction with Barzinji while in Malaysia and the United States. He lauded his efforts to bring a “new educational paradigm” to Muslim academia at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Barzinji participated in introducing scholarly works authored by non-Muslims to the curriculum, and supported allowing non-Muslim students to study at the university. “We were severely criticized by many of our colleagues in [academia in] the Muslim world,” recalled Ibrahim. “I am blessed to call [Barzinji] a friend,” he said.
Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore spoke for about five minutes, congratulating Barzinji and telling the audience the Muslim-American community is “America’s bridge to the Muslim world.”
Dr. Barzinji -- who lives in Northern Virginia and serves as the Vice-President of IIIT -- accepted the award from the ICRD president on behalf of IIIT, then turned and presented the glass sculpture to his wife for her “enduring support”.
“ICRD is recruiting people of faith to put their faith into action … at a time when there are many people putting their faith into the wrong actins, or the wrong faith into action,” Barzinji said during his acceptance speech. He thanked several close friends and supporters by name.
A keynote address by first Muslim congressman Keith Ellison (D-MI) highlighted the evening.
“Peace and dialogue are not for the faint of heart and the timid,” said Ellison. Speaking on the many Muslim contributions to modern civilization, he said the Muslim-American community has much to offer the nation towards solutions to immigration, health care, and national security.
But, he stressed, America must return to its foundational principals of “the rule of law, due process, equal protection, a fair trial, and no unrestricted search and seizure.” Muslims do not have the “luxury” of not being politically involved, and Muslim should engage in a “righteous pursuit” to call America back to her ideals, he said.
“Come be what you are really about,” he said, echoing ICRD’s call to all people of faith.
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The following are excerpts from Dr. Jamal Barzinji’s acceptance speech.
Allow me to tell you how greatly and deeply honored I am to accept this award as a trustee of IIIT, and on behalf of IIIT, its Board of Trustees, my colleagues here in the US, and those spread across the globe, without whom none of our work would have been possible.
IIIT works for a mission of reform of Thought and Education, aspiring to use the power of faith and ideas to generate social transformation in a culture of moderation, tolerance and understanding.
Prophet Muhammed teaches us: faith is “that which is established in the heart and verified through action.”
Among the men who put their faith in action and gave up their lives for it are Malcom X who said “A man who stands for nothing, will fall for any thing”.
A man who stood for his faith was the reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who once referred to “a creative battle to end the long night of injustice.”
Faith in Action is this creative battle; that gives us the hope that “something extraordinary can always happen in our lives.”
And it appears to be extraordinary to end extremism and terrorism, to root out intolerance, to bring balance to our foreign policy, to abolish bigotry, and to restore respect and honor for our civil and Constitutional rights.
We must put our faith into action for peace, peace at home and around the world.
It is with this resolve, that I accept this award. (Source: IIIT.org)
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