There are some things that really get under my skin. One of those things is religious intolerance, be it from Christians, Muslims, Jews, Agnostics, Pagans, Pastafarians, or the like.
Larry Reimer, a minister of the United Church of Gainesville, has decided to read scripture from the Qur'an in worship service in response to a local Qur'an burning.
It’s good to know that I’m not the only one, then, who sees Gainesville, Florida’s Dove World Outreach Center’s plan to burn as many copies of the Qur’an as possible a stab in the heart to groups of religious followers that care about tolerance. Larry Reimer is a minister at the United Church of Gainesville, a deep advocate of civil rights, and the man responsible for what seems to be a very intelligent response to Dove’s outlash at Islam.
“If they can burn it, then we can read it,” said Reimer from an armchair across from mine in his office, lined with bookshelves and photos from many events canvassing the years. On a side table next to me, there’s a statue of the Buddha, along with various other spiritually-themed trinkets that seem to indicate that this office does not belong to a spiritually firm-handed man.
Reimer, along with other Gainesville religious leaders, will read scripture from the Qur’an as part of worship services on Sunday, September 12.
When asked about how he came about with the idea, “Almost right away, members of the congregation here asked me, ‘what are we going to do about this?’ Originally, I had the intention of giving [Dove Center] no more attention in the media. But as I thought about it, I asked myself what we could do that would be effective and proactive in promoting cooperation among our religious relatives.”
I prodded further about religious relatives. “Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all part of the Abrahamic tree of faith. We all believe in the same God, and in many aspects we are all trying to accomplish the same goals. And in Islam, there are things that I think any follower of any other religion could learn from. Take prayer, for example. In Islam, one prays at least five times a day. The discipline to do that? Few of us have it. And like Christianity and Judaism, there is a strong call to love God and your neighbor.”
We chat on for a bit about the differences and similarities that each of the Abrahamic religions have when he says to me, “You know, we learn best from our rival siblings. We might not always agree with them, but they always point out our shortcomings. And in the end, we have the most in common with them. We pull from one another and make each whole.
“Look at FSU and UF, or Michigan and Ohio State. All students who grew up together, went to the same high schools, and in reality should be the most understanding of one another. Now that they’re on opposite sides of the stadium, they act like they have nothing in common. But they do, and if each member stopped for a minute and thought about it, they would realize they’re the same students, with the same dreams, looking and hoping to do the same things when they graduate.”
Then I ask him why he thinks these negative attitudes toward Islam exist. “The average American inherently assumes that Islam is violent and decidedly anti-American because we haven’t taken the time to experience Islam from an individual perspective or as a faith up close. A friend of mine was in Egypt when news of Dove Outreach’s Qur’an burning hit, and he told me that it was represented as mainstream Christianity, much in the same way that the violent acts we hear about here are represented as mainstream Islam. Here, Islam is still associated with terrorism. The acts of September 11th were not acts that were Islamic in nature. They were acts of fanatical extremists. And fanaticism is not confined to any one faith. I think that there’s no better time than September 12th to remind ourselves of this, and to read from Qur’an in worship to point out how much we really do have in common.”
Then I asked him the big one. If you could preach to the members of Dove Outreach Center for even five minutes, what would you say? “The danger to our faith comes not most from outside, but from the shadows within. We must pay attention to our neglect to look at ourselves, instead of automatically pointing the finger elsewhere. God’s call is for constant opening.”
Already, Larry has been interviewed for the New York Times. As of now, Fifteen religious leaders in Gainesville have agreed to share verses from the Qur’an on Sunday, September 12th. And he thinks that more will follow. “I’m not trying to make this a national or international event, but I feel that those who understand that allowing [the Qur'an burning] to pass silently by allows Dove Outreach to win in the fight against tolerance and religious compassion will stand up and share scripture from the Qur’an.”
Not a moment too soon. In the words of German poet Heinrich Heine written in 1820, now enshrined on a plaque at the site of Nazi Propoganda Minster Joseph Goebbels’ book burnings, “There, where they burn books, they will in the end burn people.”
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I am forwarding your writing to many of my email contacts. Thank you and our daughter Stacey Hoffman
nice post. thanks.
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Thank you so much for posting this. I found it on Twitter and have shared it on Facebook. Any suggestions for particular passages to read?
Peaceful Greetings Maria,
I , as a Muslim (once catholic), recommend reading two Chapters (Surah) in the Quran; Chapter 112 (Surah) Ikhlas ( Purity) and Chapter 19 (Surah) called Maryam ( Maryam is the Semitic name for Mary, virgin mother of Jesus , in Arabic its Isa) Peace be upon them both.
May Allah (Arabic name for the Creator) guide us all ameen
May your efforts be an eye opener for the ones who know little about Islam but do a lot against it…
Ameen (the equivalent of amen)
Christians and Muslims do not serve the same God. Allah is Muhamed’s bastardization of a god.
Please if you are going to spew hate speech spell correctly. “Muhammad”
Not only you are arrogant but ignorant and stupid at the same time.
Educate yourselves!
Actually “Allah” is just the Arabic word for “God.” Christian Arabs call God “Allah” because they speak Arabic. And if you didn’t know, most Muslims are not Arab. People are so ignorant these days…
Even Jesus used the word “Allah” when he cried out go God on the cross, “Elohi”, which is the same as “Allahi”: meaning “my God” in Arabic/Aramaic, etc. It comes from Elohim… duh! lol
However, our word “God” is actually the more pagan word of the two… “Allah” is from the original Semite root word. So, let’s praise “Allah” unashamedly! 
Christians in the Middle East have no quams about it, of course, as it is their word too 
But the spelling or mispelling of “Muhammed” in English is silly since it comes from a different alphabet; it can be spelled several ways in English.
Thanks John and Daniel…
May Allah guide us all. ameen
Aubrey those are not nice words if you are a christian. Your Arab christian brothers and sisters will differ. A person who believes in God should never say such things.
Hi Aubrey. Perhaps you are mistaken… Muhammad is a prophet/messenger in the religion of Islam. He is a very important figure for Islam, the same way Jesus is very important in Christianity. I am sure it would hurt your feelings to hear someone insult Jesus, or whoever it is you really respect as a religious figure.
Please understand that we should deal with these religious issues with love and kindness. Thanks for reading.
God bless you.
Love,
Your Muslim Sister in Humanity
Audrey I feel so sad for you and your ignorence,which sounds so like plain prejudice to me.
You will never hear a Muslim say such foul things about Jesus Peace Be Upon Him because we love him and wish to follow his example, as the Prophet Muhammad called Jesus his brother.
– Sura 61, As-Saff Ayah 6
And [this happened, too,] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “O children of Israel! Behold, I am an apostle of God unto you, [sent] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains5 of the Torah, and to give [you] the glad tiding of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.”6 But when he [whose coming Jesus had foretold] came unto them7 with all evidence of the truth, they said: “This [alleged message of his] is [nothing but] spellbinding eloquence!
Allah in arabic means” the god”. Al is the, and Ilah is god , in arabic and other Semtic languages. If you watched the passions of the christ you will find that James Caviezel while crucifixion say ” Ilahy Ilahy ” Which means “my god my god” in Aramaic language . So Allah means the god. and the usage of the “Al” before God ” ilah” is to indicate that he is the only god.
I love this! I think you did a GREAT job writing it and look forward to reading more of your work. What a great message to pass forward to people.
Hi Katrina,
I am a Musim and thank you for your support of religious freedom and love. It’s really nice to see that people are still remembering our country and religions’ deepest values of open-mindedness and peace.
God bless you!!!
thank you, sent this to my priest (Episcopalian) to post on the church’s facebook page, and also pasted it on my facebook page. Keep the faith alive.
Thank you and others who are participating in sharing the Qur’an — we need SO much more of this in the United States. The biggest creator of hatred and bigotry is a lack of understanding. I have spoken to many people who are shocked and surprised to learn that there is much in the Qur’an about Jesus, Mary, and other scriptural figures that are widely perceived to be limited only to Christian texts. The Qur’an is a beautiful text with much to teach us all about tolerance and understanding, whatever faith we hail from.
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Thank you for doing the right thing in the face of this incredible stupidity.
Good to hear someone in the religious community speaking out forcefully.
What a Civilized Man, a true Christian and a Man of G-D
Peace and blessings,
I agree. I am Muslim and I believe that the man who wrote this article IS a true man of God, because he is speaking for PEACE and LOVE! Know that you guys have my support in any peace movements that you lead
God bless you.
Congratulation on your mature, thoughtful and considerate response to their hateful act. More of us should have the gift that you are displaying in responding to anger and violence with worship and education – instead of resonding with our own anger.
Wonderful to see our American Cousins picking up the gauntlet against religious intolerance. Such a great idea. I hope you get lots of National Media attention. I’d love to see your whole reading appear on You Tube. Your word needs to spread, Reverend.
Phylis; Vancouver, Canada
Thank you for taking up this cause. I think that unfortunately some Americans still thrive on anger and hatred and fear. It is the same response that caused the United States to send Japan Americans to internment camps. It is sad that this is still the response of many Americans to blame eall the people of one culture or another for the violence and ignorance of a few. Thank you for your willingness to do something many of us are unwilling to do. I believe we should learn about the different cultures and religions in the world and respect them. What we do not understand we fear. I applaud your stand to read from the Qur’an on September 12th. We all should read a passage from the Qur’an on that day. I stand with you.
What a creative and positive approach. And it is what we “people of the book” do best: read and interpret scripture.
I hope this idea will be picked up across America.
Mart
It is truly heart-warming and refreshing to have a “man of the cloth” take a stand against those who blame a culture and religion simply out of fear and hate.
I too will find a copy of the Koran (Qur’an) and read a few passage from it as well.
Maybe we can all learn a powerful lesson from Rev. Reimer – love can ALWAYS conquer hate and cowardice.
Would they read the verses about not taking the Jew or the Christian as a friend? Would they read the verse about the crime of apostacy (changing religion to non-muslim) being cause for a death sentence? Would they read the verses about converting the non-believer (infadel) or killing them? The same god? Wasnt Allah the moon god? Sure they have the same roots, but somewhere along the way someone kinda led them in a different direction. Check your facts before you condemn. Why bother with the speck in my eye before you remove the plank from your own?
Nothing is being condemned other than the intolerance of biggoted individuals who are seeking ‘retribution’ through an immature, disrespectful, and destructive means.
And read Leviticus before you talk about specks and planks.
You beat me to it, Zach. Leviticus has all kinds of things that nobody lives by today.
Real, maybe you would benefit from reading this report on the number of religiously-instigated violent conflicts and number of deaths caused since the beginning of recorded time.
http://www.rissc.jo/docs/bodycount_final.pdf
I have no wish to point fingers at one faith or the other. As a Muslim, I firmly believe in freedom of worship and faith and peacful coexistence. I am merely requesting you to at least get your historical facts about violence and Islam straight.
Oh, I don’t know. When they go back to reading from the bible, will they read about how to put their kids into slavery? Will they read about how this particular god destroyed entire cities because they didn’t worship him? Will they mention the fact that according to the ten commandments, wanting to buy a Corvette because your neighbor has one, or lying to your wife about how great her chili is, is worse than raping or otherwise torturing someone? I wonder……. I can’t believe you’re defending those who burn books they don’t like, and then have the audacity to question whether someone speaking out against it is ignorant or intolerant. Look in the mirror.
lets be frank here – there may be some violent passages in the Bible as well, and, indeed, there may even be some Jewish and Christian fanatics who commit horrific acts… but do you see Christians or Jews commiting acts of religious terror in the same numbers as Muslims? NOPE. That says something about the whole of the message being preached in each of the relevent books.
Yes, Real, let’s be frank. Perhaps we should consider that we get all of our perception of who Muslims are from a mass corporate media. How do you think westerners are portrayed in the middle east? I can tell you this: the Qur’an burning, a small event organized by a cult church of only 50 psychotic members, is being portrayed as mainstream Christianity there. Perhaps you need to consider that all of the ‘extremist Muslims’ we hear about aren’t the majority, but a small minority that is blown way out of proportion by a media trying to generate viewers.
zachary – burning a book is not even remotely close to killing innocent people.
and to be clear – i agree with nancy – burning the books is a terrible idea.
Innocent people are killed every single day for a myriad of ‘justifications.’ Fanaticism is not contained to any faith: the ‘Muslim extremists’ we hear about on our nightly news happen to be fueled by a distorted view of their faith, but they are by far a huge minority. Please try to understand this. Christians kill innocent people every day. Jews kill innocent people every day. Atheists kill innocent people every day. But they are all extremists killing people, not Christians, Jews, or Atheists killing people.
right – but it happens more often with Islam – that is fact, and it is historically true too – no need to bring up modern media to see it. And I would also take issue with your statement that Islam is being twisted by extremists. I think the extremists are actually the purists. The ones doing the twisting are the moderates, making it more palatable and peaceful to the masses. At its heart, it is a hateful, dangerous creed – no twisting necessary to get to that conclusion. And yes – it is okay to criticize the teachings of a faith. Satanism is a faith and it is subject to criticism. So too is christianity – christianity is mocked, criticized and tested on a daily basis, so it is only fair to also examine islam.
@real — That “it happens more often with islam” is not a fact. Here’s just a selection of some of the worst violence, extremism, and terrorism by christians:
– St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572, where between 2,000 and 25,000 French Huguenots were murdered by catholic mobs, while the Pope of that time stated that it “gave him more pleasure than fifty Battles of Lepanto”, and commissioned Vasari to paint frescoes of it in the Vatican.
– National Liberation Front of Tripura, an Indian christian terrorist group, is considered among the top 10 most active terrorist groups in the world and has a history of forcefully converting people.
– Northern Ireland.
Those are a few examples, but there are plenty more. Further reading and references (many links in both articles on this topic):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_violence
I continue to wonder why people insist that what they heard from a pundit is a fact, when it’s so easy to go to Google and look things up.
The killing of innocent people is more a politically motivated agenda than a religious one. Thousands of Muslims have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade – yea not by suicide bombers but by carpet bombing jet fighters. But the death toll is surely higher in the Muslim camp.
Islam is a religion of peace but obviously its not difficult for the extremists to find a line in the Quran which says defend yourself from the oppressors.
This is a noble cause and tolerance is key if we are ever to make peace.
no, Allah is not the moon god. Allah is the arabic word for “god,” as “god” is in english and as “haschem” is a name for god in hebrew. it just means “god.” if you read an Arabic Bible, the word for “God” would probably be “Allah.” It’s just an arabic word.
I am a Muslim who follows mainstream, orthodox Islam and I know what Islam is. The Jews and Christians are called, “Ahl Al Bait,” or “The People of the Book.” They are beloved to Muslims because we share a lot of the same prophets and beliefs. Please don’t twist what is written in the Quran. May Allah/God/Haschem guide you and give you happiness.
” Ahlul kitaab ” correction : People of the Book
MoonGod? where do you get taht? Pam gellar?
Quran came within 23 years. To understand Quran somebody have to know what was the story behind it, for example whether it came down during the battle and so on. You can not just paste and distort things because you can do the same of the chapter in the bible. It is a matter live peacefully with many religion here in America that we all must respect people believe.
The question is What do you do to others ? Or you can choose to fill your heart with hate and anger toward other human being just because they do not believe the same thing that you believe.
A word on apostasy: Islam means to submit oneself to God. Giving him your legion, pledging your loyalty. To turn away from Islam, then would mean to break that pledge, that vow. What is the ruling for an American, or other nationals who become traitors? Why can’t God punish a traitor?
Additonally, I think they should review those verses. Then, they should read the verses before and after to understand, what in English literature classes, we are taught as being the ‘context’ of any statement.
Please check YOUR facts. Allah, the Creator of All, give you knowledge and understanding, Ameen.
Two things. First, I am a born again believer of Christ, and I DO NOT agree with the Dove church for what they are doing. We have to think about what Christ would want us to do, and burning is not the answer. How would we feel if a group burnt our Bible. Yeah, we would not want that either.
Second, I do not agree with all you have to say about Islam and the Qur’an. The Word of God does not change ever. The Old Testament points to the New, and Jesus fulfilled the Old. The New Testament points to our future. The Qur’an starts out peacefully, and as the writings go it changes to violence. The new taking precatence over the old.
Are we to burn it, and only make for more hatred and violence. No. I ask that we all pray for the Dove church and the people there to stop what they are doing in the name of God. God WILL take care of the vengence, in His own way, not mine. It is not my or anyone else’s place to do it.
Just to add to the discussion: Isn’t Jesus the actual Word of God (John 1)? And yes I’m a born-again evangelical. And of course this idea of the Word is in contrast to what our Muslim cousins believe, since they believe the Qura’an itself is God’s infallible Word. But I know MANY Christian “brothers/sisters” who believe our Bible is the Word of God too… and I can tolerate their theology
… I’m not ignorant to the fact that God can speak to anyone, anytime. Whether each person gets God’s message “just right”, is not my call to make, but I can celebrate the “good” and “holy/peaceful” things that I feel come from their message in light of God’s Word (i.e. Jesus). And, yes, there are some very “edifying” parts of the Qura’an 
And just to juxtapose what the previous poster put concerning the change from peace-to-violence in the Qura’an, the same could be argued about the Bible, yet in reverse order: from violence-to-peace (Old Testament to New Testament).
Hi Nancy, I am a Muslim and I thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for being a supporter of love and peace. I truly love you for the sake of God, even if I don’t know you. May God bless you and protect you
Good post – I’ve passed this along to a friend of mine who is a bit of a lay priest in the Episcopal church.
Hi, thanks so much for your support! I am a Muslim who follows mainstream orthodox Islam. I am all for freedom of religion and also for the spread of love and peace. God bless you.
Thank you for taking a stand and helping spread peace through education.
Hi, thanks so much for your support! I am a Muslim who follows mainstream orthodox Islam. I am all for freedom of religion and also for the spread of love and peace. God bless.
Hello all! These posts make me proud to be a Christian! THANK YOU ALL!!!
Hello Miriam! I am proud of the Christians as well. Thank you so much for supporting peace between various religions.
I am a Muslim and I follow mainstream orthodox Islam. I fully 100% support peace and love between all people. Thanks so much for staying true to Christianity. I feel like a lot of people lately are falling into the hype of hating on other religions and it’s absolutely lovely to see kind, right-minded people like yourself. God bless you.
Bless you for the beautiful idea
Has anyone asked the Muslim community in Gainesville, Florida what they would like done in support? I am curious if that community has a preference? Maybe reading the Qur’an is not they’re idea of support- maybe it is?
Hi Andy,
Thanks so much for your consideration. As a member of the Muslim community, I think it is a great idea to read the Quran! Thanks so much you guys for the great idea! Maybe if people read the ENTIRE Quran (not just one sentence without looking at the whole chapter), they will realize that the Quran is a beautiful book.
I myself have read lots of passages in the Bible and I feel that Christianity’s main teachings are also very kind and loving.
I say: Yes, please read the Quran! You will discover that Islam IS a kind, loving religion for sincere people!
God bless you!
The Gainesville Muslim community supports the interfaith dialog and learning. They have asked the general community to not counter-protest Dove World Outreach. Rather they encourage folks to participate in acts of service and to particate in the numerous outreach activities they have planned.
Every time I fell like hanging my head in shame at being called a Christian, it seems that some one like you reminds me that there are lots of us tying to live out the Good News.
Thanks for your courage, and for showing God’s love in a climate of hate.
Oh, and I have shared this on Facebook and Twitter!!
There is a FREE (no-strings-attached, no-signups) corrected-English translation of the Koran available online. Unlike most publications, this is translated into current English, and gives comparison tables showing how the most troubling Kuran passages have in the past been inaccurately translated — and now corrected — on hot-button topics such as divorce, abuse of women, (wrongly) purported underage marriage of orphans, amputations of criminals, etc. The translators published it free online so people around the world could study it and also so Muslims in difficult societies such as Iran could potentially have better access to scriptural basis for their desires to work toward improving human rights in their home countries. The publishers are moderate and progressive Muslims who advocate for interfaith exchange and improved religious study tools.
Please at least read the comparison-translation tables, starting around p.17 (through p.38+) as these are extremely interesting.
http://www.irshadmanji.com/PDFS/ReformistTranslation.pdf
May God bless you Larry, and your congregation. I appreciate all of your desire to reach out and show your support for religious, as well as simply moral, integrity. Human beings will only find greater encouragement to worship God (i.e. the purpose of our faith) by seeing those who, of any faith, appear earnestly to seek Him and abide by a higher standard of conduct. Extremists, and the hard-hearted, will only turn away those who they profess a desire to save. I pray your Sunday Service goes well.
salam
Dear All,
Thank God/Allah that there are at least some people who have not allowed hate to spread through their entire beings like a cancer, blinding them from what all true monotheistic religions, including Islam, teach: peace, love and tolerance.
It has been historically documented by non-Muslims that Islam was NOT spread by the sword. Here are some very interesting an inspiring quotes about Islam and Muhammed by famous people of the past. http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/quote1.html
I pray all of our hearts are guided to Truth and that we can learn to share this beautiful earth together in harmony rather than creating a world of war. Its no wonder our precious earth is falling apart.
With loving kindness,
Jennifer
May God bless you for your ability to counter hate with love.
This is the choice of wonderful people.
I am proud to be your sister in humanity. Thank you so much for supporting mature, diplomatic ways to deal with the current situation of Muslims in America. I am so happy to see that there are people on the side of justice.
May God bless you, protect you, and help you continue in your path of peace and love.
Hira (a Muslim from California)
The Quranic translation by “Irving” is awesome. I really recommend it. There are so many verses that speak directly to all of mankind in the Quran and not just to Muslims. Also, the pillars or basic duties mentioned repeatedly in the Quran can be shared by all Christianity and Judaism which is giving charity to the poor and keeping up with prayer.
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As an American convert to Islam, I have been shocked by the intolerance and bigotry I have recently seen in America.
I am so proud and happy that there are still so many people like this pastor and his congregation who don’t fall for the media’s lies and who still have love and compassion in their hearts. This is a great initiative to increase understanding and turn out the fires of hatred with the water of love.
Thank you, you are all in my prayers
May Allah/God be with you
Allah = Al-Ilah – Al= The, Ilah= god = The God (The one and only God of all the prophets)
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I Thank You, all of you who have not allowed darkness, ignorance and hatred to be your guide and true north!
Light is more powerful then darkness and it prevails always, all ways! – Let it shine, let it shine through and through into your hearts and soul, Ameen!
Please take a look at this site where people are making a stand in Peace and Unity- the foundation of Islam!
I am very happy to see that Rev Larry Reimer and others to whom he refers are taking a stand against religious intolerance in our country.
I find it ironic that the so-called Dove World Outreach Center planned to burn all copies of the Qur’an. So much for the use of the word “Dove,” which symbolizes Peace, and the word “Outreach,” which implies Reaching Out to Others!
It is time for people of all faiths to stand up and speak for tolerance and understanding in opposition to those in the “Christian,” or other faiths who preach and practice bigotry against other groups.
The burning/destroying of any book of religion is an abomination of any religion
how truly blind are the mindset of the people that come to the conclusion that it is OK to burn the Qur’an or any good book of religion
Asalamu Alaykom from Egypt. I am a former P.K. (Preacher’s Kid) who found Islam to fit better with my faith than what I was experiencing at church. Would I ever burn a Bible? NEVER! Nor a Torah for that matter. I honor others who are searching for a way to worship The One. I use “God” and “Allah” interchangably. “Allah” is preferrable in that you can have gods in the plural (as the ancient Greeks or Egyptians did) but you can never put “Allah” into the plural. However, I’m American and grew up with English and I know God is Allah and Allah is God. There is no other God than God.
As for how to write the name for the Prophet of Islam, let’s get real: Mohammed, Muhammad, Muhammed. It’s a phonetic transliteration. The important thing got missed: after saying the name of any prophet, we must wish peace upon him. Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) and Jesus (p.b.u.h.) are deserving of this—as are all the prophets from Adam, Abraham/Ibrahim, Noah/Nuh, David/Dawud, Joseph/Yusef, Moses/Musa, et. al (peace be upon them all).
I would like to caution church leaders to use a linguistically accessible translation of the Quran. Mohamed Asad is hailed as one of the best modern English translators of the Quran. You do not need to buy a thing! http://www.scribd.com/doc/10720330/Message-of-Quran-Muhammad-Asad-Islam-Translation
However, reading the Quran is only part of the experience. I would love it if church leaders would invite a Muslim man or child to recite the Quran in Arabic for the congregation. Perhaps, give the English translation of one short surah first and then the Arabic version. The candence and emotional intensity of recited Quran is very moving. You can listen to one of the world’s best http://www.jebril.com. I was fortunate, alhumdulillah (thanks be to God to hear Sheik Mohammed Jebril last Ramadan at Africa’s oldest mosque (built in 642 A.D.) http://www.nileguide.com/destination/cairo/things-to-do/amr-ibn-el-aas-mosque/339168
I stood with 10,000 worshippers that night. There were so many people praying that Ramadan that the enormous mosque was full. The respectful crowd stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the street for block after block. I wish you could have been there to feel the peace.
Alhumdulillah (thanks be to God) that you are bringing the peace of Islam to your churches and to your people; my brothers and sisters in faith.
I can not believe how America is going backward now!
Hey Mr. Zach, I created a Facebook page in response to your article. I love it, and thank you.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/If-They-Can-Burn-It-We-Can-Read-It/106141522781077
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Assalam Alikum,
Peace be with you (A greeting of peace) to everyone who is reading these comments and wrote them…
May Allah bless us all…if you need help and need to read the Quran in Arabic, or English or maybe in any other languages please let me know and I will get with you this is my website http://www.knowingthereality.com
and my email is mohammed@knowingthereality.com
Thank you
and may Allah be with you
Salam Alikum once again
Peace
Zach – Peace and blessings to you. Outstanding piece of writing! How did you think of this, did you plan to meet him or was it a happen stance? Can we come down to Florida and hang out with you and the Pastor for a Docu shoot?
Best wishes
Imran
Long time ego and for a long time I used to make fun of Hinduism that how they can worship statues that human make? What type of power they can possibly have?. Then I learnt that I had not actually learnt enough about their religion to even comment on it rather pass a judgement. I realized that it is so easy to be just ignorant and falsely assume things which are incorrect about others and their religion compare to actaully try to learn about it and understand it. So I decided to always respect others believes and their religion even when I disagree.
I am glad that I learnt this lesson before my ignorance did any damages and I pray that the people who are planning to burn my Holy book will realize this soon.
I do agree that we need to do something to stop extremist to kill innocent and influence others to the extend of dictaorship they way they are. But becoming one of them can not help the situation.
Right now there is a great need to educate people on true Islam to fight extremism and whenever I get a chance I write to highlight the examples from Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him)’s life of kindness, forgiveness, tolerance and respect for humanity. But event like these are actually hindrance and take a lot of energy. Past week or so, since I have learnt about it, all I have done is to write how wrong burning the Quran is instead.
The point is that we do need to do something about what is going on around us but it is not by further killing, blasting, burring or destroying.
Actually this channel on youtube.com is going to address the objections from dove outreach church starting Wednesday Sept 8, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zKAHzOdhlw
I think anyone who disagrees with the Dove Outreach church should call the church and convince them not to do this.
we need more good people like this man and his congregation. I am Muslim and Im not so ignorant as to believe all Christians have the same hate beliefs as Terry Jones. Thank you Mr> Reimer and may God reward you and your followers for the showing of peace and tolerance.
beautiful idea
hope this idea will be picked up all over the world
thanks
Thanks for your article Rev. Reimer. I am working on trying to forge a relationship between my parish and a local mosque that is going up down the road. If we Christians would open our hearts and minds and actually learn from our Muslim sisters and brothers, we could counteract the constant media portrayal of all Muslims as terrorists. Thanks for your good work.
We Muslims are grateful & appreciate the gesture.
The spirit will grow & peace will prevail in the face of stupidity.
Saturday, September 11 marks the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001.
As a way of honoring the victims of those attacks, and to offer a peaceful, positive alternative to a Qur’an burning ceremony planned for that day by Florida’s Dove World Outreach Center and its pastor, Terry Jones, a special interfaith service has been scheduled.
The “Honoring Sacred Texts” service will be held in Louisville on September 11 at 11:30 am at Highland Baptist Church. The Service will include a display of sacred texts from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Baha’i Faith and other religions. The gathering will also include non-sectarian music, and readings from the sacred texts by representatives of the world’s great religions on topics related to peace, cooperation and mutual understanding.
This service is offered by Interfaith Paths to Peace in partnership with Highland Baptist Church and the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship. Additional sponsors include the Islamic Cultural Center (River Road Mosque), the Council of the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, St. William and St. Agnes Catholic Churches, The Temple (Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom), the Pakistani American Community of Louisville, Independent Muslims of Louisville, Thomas Jefferson and Clifton Unitarian Universalist Churches, the Hindu Temple of Kentucky, the Drepung Gomang Institute (Louisville’s Tibetan Buddhist organization) and the Baha’is of Louisville. It is expected that the number of co-sponsors for this event will grow.
According to Terry Taylor, one of the organizers of the gathering, “We want to show the world that in Louisville we don’t burn sacred books; we honor them. We may not all agree about every word written in our sacred texts, but we do honor those books and our brothers and sisters in other religions who revere them.”
Peace,
Terry Taylor, Executive Director
Visit our web site: Paths2Peace.org
I think its a great idea.
Start with some of These Passages
After you read the Koran, will you, in a symbol of interfaith outreach please travel to Mecca and read the bible? John 1 -10 would be fine, perhaps, John 3:16? I am very sure that all of these Muslims would support your doing so.
….crickets…..
You can read the bible in any Christian church in Saudi Arabia….
….crickets…..
You can’t do either, because they don’t allow bibles in Saudi Arabia or Christian churches or infidels to travel to Mecca.
….crickets……..
SO much for interfaith outreach. I guess we’ll just call it useful idiots instead.
THANK YOU PASTOR LARRY REIMER! May ALLAH bless you and those who side with you. Ameen.
As a Muslim, I thank you for bringing to light the positive work Christians are doing to prove that all of us are brothers and sisters in humanity. May God bless you for your good work!
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Michael,
No one in Mecca is trying to burn a Bible, are they? Maybe you’d like to take that in to account before making that idiotic comment.
“Be so tolerant that your heart becomes wide like the ocean.. become inspired with faith and love for others.Offer hand to those in trouble, and be concerned about everyone” F.Gulen
Dear Larry you have done all of the above, God bless you………..
YILDIRIM
May Allah be pleased with you my Christian brother. Voices like you need to be heard in the air and on the Internet to prevent the evil who intends to burn the Holy Quran. Holy Quran teaches tolerance, brotherhood, love, and affection. May Allah guide Terry Jones to the right path of Islam.
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Simple and wise words, good initiative! Hope your work gets the same publicity in the muslim world as do these blasphemous events, so that muslims can realise that their exist people who are tolerant towards Islam and adopt a more respectful attitude towards it. Inter-faith peace & harmony FTW!
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. ”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you for your kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness .
it is gr8 to c soooo many christian supports thanku all realy love u alll for ur support and love
it is realy impresive
May ALLAH (GOD) bless u alll
This type of wisdom and insight is what makes this country great. Americans face adversity and try to find the lesson to be learned, to make ourselves stronger. I really respect the goodness that is in you and the rest of the Christains following your lead. All religions teach good things. All religions have people who defame their faith, and all religons have people who examplify the teachings of their faith. You and your congregation are shining examples to the world. Thank you.
Nicely done. Now, if only we could find a way of talking about this, without TALKING about it – feeding the beast of this Floridian-psychopath’s fundamentalist narcissism.
Nonetheless,
Cheers,
Peter Walker
I CAN,T BELIEVE ALL THOSE PEOPLES ABOUT THEM ALLAH HAD FORBID US LIKE JEWISH AND ELSE ……….
QURAN IS NOT ONLY A BOOK ITS TRUTH WHICH CAN,T BE DESTROYED WHATEVER THESE NON MUSLIMS MADE ACT UPON IT ALLAH HAD THE POWER AND THEY ALL WILL SEE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN SOON.
THAT DOESN’T,T MATTER WE ALWAYS REMAIN IN DEFEND OF OUR RELIGION AND THESE PEOPLES REMAIN IN TEASING US THEY SEEM THAT THEY COULD DEFEAT US MENTALLY MY FOOT NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ANY MUSLIM IN ANY FIELD OF LIFE ITS OPEN CHALLENGE.
ITS MY HUMBLE REQUEST TO ALL MUSLIMS BE ATTENTIVE FROM NON MUSLIMS ESPECIALLY JEWISH WHICH ALWAYS REMAIN AGAINST ISLAM.
GIVE RESPECT & TAKE RESPECT.
82. … you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, “We are Christians.” That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant.
83. And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they have recognized of the truth. They say, “Our Lord, we have believed, so register us among the witnesses.
84. And why should we not believe in Allāh and what has come to us of the truth? And we aspire that our Lord will admit us [to Paradise] with the righteous people.”
85. So Allāh rewarded them for what they said with gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. And that is the reward of doers of good.
I ain’t reading no ko-ran as Scripture on Sunday u must be insane to get me to read some kinda terrorized book.u sympathizers are goin to hell first class Ricky Bobby style Pete rose homering direct.burn a ko-rannn
i aint readin no terrorizer book…the ko-ran needs to burn!
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ESTIMATED SAD IS A TERRORIST
I should say – an anti-semite