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Muslim speaker addresses church
Wednesday, October 03, 2001 By Scott Deacle, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
It's one thing to read that Muslims don't condone the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. It's another thing to hear it directly from a Muslim.
So the Rev. Stephen Perotti, pastor of Brush Creek Christian Church in Cranberry, invited to his church's Sunday service a guest, Farooq Hussaini, a Sunni Muslim born in India, who is a U.S. citizen and director of interfaith relations at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh.
Though U.S. leaders have denounced such actions, some Americans have tried to retaliate against anyone who resembles their idea of a Muslim. Reported hate crimes have included the slaying in Mesa, Ariz., of a Sikh gas-station owner Sept. 15 and numerous incidents of violence and threats against store owners and others of Middle Eastern and Arab descent.
In sometimes forceful tones, Hussaini told the Brush Creek congregation the Sept. 11 attackers were not practicing true Islam.
"We have to come to common terms," he said. "We cannot waste our energy fighting each other."
Hussaini brought to the service information about Islam that may have been surprising to some.
Muslims believe God will favorably judge Christians who do good deeds, Hussaini said in a 30-minute talk. According to one account of his life, the prophet Mohammed invited Christians to worship at a mosque in Medina, today an Islamic holy city, where the Christians had no church building.
"This is the respect Muslims have for Christians," Hussaini said.
Hussaini read from a chapter of the Koran entitled "Mary," which tells the story of the mother of Jesus and asserts that Christ was divinely conceived.
Muslims believe Mohammed was the final prophet, but they must view Jesus as God's messenger, Hussaini said.
"I cannot be a Muslim without believing Jesus was a prophet of God," he said.
The service at Brush Creek included several symbolic gestures of friendship and unity. At the start of the service, Perotti and Hussaini together lit a candle that had been placed on the altar after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Following Islamic custom, Perotti wore no shoes. A children's bell choir played "Let There be Peace on Earth." The congregation gave Steelers baseball caps to Hussaini and his wife, Karen.
Despite Hussaini's statements, some Islamic countries frown on and even prohibit the practice of Christianity within their borders. This can be traced to the Crusades, military missions by European Christians in the Middle Ages that led to widespread killing and persecution of Muslims, Hussaini said.
For that reason, Muslims around the world were disturbed to hear President Bush describe the U.S. response to the attacks as a "crusade." But he added, "Now we have to introduce Muslim countries to what America stands for."
The church also welcomed Farooq and Karen Hussaini to a cookout at a member's home. As they munched on a mixture of traditional American barbecue fare and Middle Eastern foods, several church members said they were glad to have Hussaini visit.
"I learned a little more about Islam, which I wanted to do," Brush Creek member Sue Cabrey-Counts said.
Riley Patton said he has been reading about Islam in magazines. Hussaini's talk reinforced what he's learned -- that most Muslims don't condone violence.
Patton's wife, Lowenne, added, "I think we hadn't really realized [Islam] had been linked to [Christianity]," she said.
A U.S. resident since 1985, Hussaini said he has been speaking to Christian congregations for seven or eight years. Interest in his talks increased after the Sept. 11 attacks. Though they sometimes are uncomfortable, Christians usually relax after spending several hours with him, he said.
"If they have inhibitions in their hearts, that goes away," he said.
Pittsburgh-area Muslim leaders denounced the attacks and encouraged Muslims to help victims and give blood, Hussaini said.
Brush Creek Christian Church, a seven-year-old congregation, meets at the Comtra Theater on Route 19 in Cranberry. It is part of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ denomination, a group whose first congregation formed in 1811 near Washington, Pa. The church encourages personal interpretation of the Bible, takes communion every Sunday and baptizes by immersion, Perotti said. The Disciples of Christ seeks unity among Christians, and Brush Creek has hosted practitioners of other Christian denominations as well as other faiths.
Perotti said attendance Sunday was about average, though several first-time visitors came, drawn by Hussaini, he said.
Perotti said he hoped to take some members of his congregation to visit a mosque in November. He encouraged other churches to contact the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh to organize similar programs.
"It just doesn't end and begin with Brush Creek," he said.
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