Asking the Clergy: What have different faiths taught you about God?

Long Island’s religious diversity often brings people of different faiths together in residential communities, in sanctuaries and in interfaith organizations. This week’s clergy discuss how their own interfaith interactions led to discoveries about shared beliefs, a greater understanding of other faith traditions and, in the long term, a deeper relationship with God.

SULTAN ABDULHAMEED

Muslim Reform Movement Organization, Brookville Multifaith Campus, Glen Head

The multifaith campus in Brookville is home to Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations as well as a community of interfaith families. It is therefore common for people of these faiths to meet and converse with each other. I would like to especially mention the late Rabbi Stuart Paris, who was a spiritual leader at the campus. He and I became friends and exchanged views about Judaism and Islam. In these conversations we discovered that much is common in the fundamental tenets of our two faiths.

Rabbi Paris introduced me to Shema, a prayer that asks people to believe in oneness of God, and I told him about surah ikhlas, a chapter in the Quran, which says the same. I told him also of the honor in which Muslims hold Moses and the several places where the story of Exodus is described in the Quran.

Both traditions emphasize the value of prayer, charity and taking care of the needy. By finding such commonalities, we learned that focusing on what is common between us removes barriers and creates harmony. Removal of distrust and hostility allows us to express goodwill toward people of other faiths, which expands our own faith.

RABBI SUSAN ELKODSI

Malverne Jewish Center

In early 2017 I joined the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an international organization that brings together Muslim and Jewish women, and helped to create a chapter in western Nassau County. Meeting Muslim women in the community has been a blessing in many ways. By getting together to share stories and a snack (eating is very important to both communities!) we’ve been able to break down stereotypes and build bridges between our communities.

We’ve gotten to know each other and our families, and learned that we have more in common than not. While I have never doubted the existence of God, or that God is present in my life, my Muslim sisters have shown me that an unconditional love of God can be a part of our everyday lives. There is an ease and acceptance that I sometimes envy, and that often isn’t present among Jews.

As Yossi Klein Halevi, the American-born Israeli author and journalist, noted in an interview with my teacher, Job Jindo of the Academy for Jewish Religion, Jews have had this connection as well, but perhaps we’ve let science and logic interfere, rather than coexist. My spiritual life has been deepened as a result, and I believe my Judaism is stronger as a result.

THE REV. DAEHYUN DANIEL PARK

Pastor, United Methodist Church of Bay Shore

In mid-May, I finished an eight-month chaplain internship at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. During my chaplaincy, I met a diversity of people from many religious backgrounds. They included not only patients but also co-worker chaplain interns who were Jewish, Buddhist or Muslim. Through this amazing opportunity, one thing that I have learned is that when we listen to each other, God is among us, and God is with us, in ways that transcend one particular religion.

Although I am a United Methodist Church pastor, I provided spiritual care to people of other faiths in collaboration with other chaplain interns. Initially, it was not easy to meet with people who practice different religions because I had not done so before. However, through visiting patients again and again, I learned that God has used me not only for Christians but also for people who follow another religion. When we listen to each other with open hearts, with prayer and good wishes, God touches our hearts and restores our souls and minds. Therefore, I want to listen with ears that hear all people who need me, to deliver the love of God beyond the bounds of one religion.