May 14, 2004

Dear friends,

Shalom uvracha—peace and blessings—to you. I'm writing to tell you about a very special invitation. On this coming Sunday evening, May 16, the United Muslims of BC is sponsoring a celebration of Milaadun Nabi*, the birthday of the Prophet. Mr. Karamud Din, our most gracious host last Monday night and principle organizer of Sunday’s celebration, has invited us to attend. It is an opportunity to learn about the Muslim traditions regarding the birth and life of the Prophet Mohammed as well as an opportunity to personally experience a moment in the sacred cycle of the Muslim world.

The Milaadun Nabi celebration will be held at the John Oliver Secondary School, 530 East 41st Avenue (near Fraser) in Vancouver. Sheikh Ahmad Tejani ben Omar, a dynamic and renown speaker, will present a teaching on "The Prophet Mohammad SAW—His Message of Peace, Unity and One God". The event begins at 5; the Sheikh Tejani's teaching will begin at about 5:30. A late afternoon prayer service (called asr) is scheduled for 6:30 and an evening service (called maghrib**) for 8:56 to be followed by a dinner at 9:15. For more information, please call Qamar at 240-2888, Arshad at 588-3092 or Zamal 617-7488.

I will not be able to be there because I will be in Seattle teaching Talmud to the Eitz Or folks. I hope you will be able to join in this celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed who brought the word of God to so many, many souls on this earth.

B’Shalom—in peace,

Rabbi David Mivasair
___
* recognizable to Hebrew speakers as Molad ha-Navi
** in Hebrew, Ma'ariv

Shalom, Salaam,

I was truly blessed to be at the Milaadun Nabi celebration yesterday. On every level I was so glad to have attended and to have experienced our Moslem community's celebration of the universal holiness of all creation.

None of my words will do justice to what I experienced. And I want to write something anyway.

First I want to thank Karamud Din (one of the most beautiful people I have ever met who "does" for a living) for inviting us to this celebration and for doing everything to organize the event. His choice to invite Sheikh Tejani was brilliant.

Sheikh Tejani (who lives in Chicago but comes from Ghana) invited the whole Muslim community to applaud all the Jewish guests who came last night. This in itself was quite overwhelming for me and I believe everyone attending. Clearly Mohammed saw Moses as a true prophet and we Jews as God's children.

The Sheikh, who has the charisma of more than 10 people combined, called for the TRUTH all night. He demanded that Muslims confront their hypocrisies including hatred of Jews and other Muslim groups (Shiite/Sunni/Wahabe), to recognize that the inequality of women (religiously, socially and culturally), is not true Islam (Mohammed said “Honour your mother”), that Islam is not about terrorism but owning that plenty of Muslims are terrorists.... Truly One God must be seen, acknowledged, and lived, without dogma and prejudice. Sheikh Tejani sang some Motown, declared his own inadequacy to even be standing in front of us (calling himself hopeless, worthless, good for nothing), engaged us in Bibliodrama with our Jewish friend Harvey invited to the stage to play the prophet Ezra, and of course sang with all his might verses from the Quran and other religious texts. I may not have understood the words but the message was clear. One heart, One God, One world—When shall we begin our lives? Right now.
I thank again the Muslim community associated with Imam Fode Drome at the Masjid ul-Haqq mosque for everything they are doing to heal the planet. One way they are doing this is to bring Jews and Muslims together.

Thank you HaShem, Allah, for the opportunity to be alive at this moment to have experienced all that I did last night.

Halleluyah, M'shaalah,
Michal Mivasair

Hello all,

I was at this celebration last night too, and there's not much to add to Michal's heartfelt, passionate description, except for my own impressions.

I was overwhelmed by how warmly we four Jewish women and one Jewish man were received. At the dinner after the celebration, many people came over to me to thank me for coming and to remark how beautiful God's love is that he is making this happen. Several people wanted to tell me their views on the Israel-Palestine situation and to acknowledge that Jews are wonderful people in spite of what political leadership does. Sheikh Tejani is a powerful and charismatic presence and he put the whole weight of his charisma into getting the group to take responsibility for the human failings of hypocrisy and divisiveness, both within the Muslim community (including the division between Arab/Pakistani Muslims and Africans) and between Muslims and Jews/Christians.

(Incidentally, he pointed out in conversation to a small group after the official ceremony that since September 11 the Federal Penitentiary in Chicago has been filled with Arabs and Sikhs, and for the first time they understand the hatred, suspicion and discrimination that black people, still the majority in US prisons, face every day of their lives. So, ironically perhaps, a result of September 11 is increasing unity and understanding in the Muslim American world.)

The program started with people reciting poetry, in Urdu, about the Prophet's life, and when I say reciting, it was something that incorporated singing, chanting, calling: from deep within each person's being. Some were young boys, and one woman recited. I could hear the roots of the blues in the melodies and singing style. The first call to prayer brought tears to my eyes, it was so deep and so beautiful.

I hope we figure out more ways to share each other's religious expression. Last night was so moving and inspiring, I'm still full of images and sounds from it.

Donna Becker MacDermot

Salaam, Shalom,

I too was able to accept the gracious invitation to attend the Milaadun Nabi celebration yesterday and found the evening memorable. So much so, in fact, that I lost track of time, and only left at 10:45, after looking at the clock while talking with a group of Muslim women to whom I had been newly introduced.
I am so pleased to have had this opportunity and echo Michal's thanks and appreciation. From the time I arrived, until the moment I left, numerous individuals extended warm, welcoming hospitality on an individual basis. They offered me assistance, provided valuable information, answered questions, gave me food as we relaxed together. All of this in addition to honouring the prophet Mohammed in a fitting manner by focusing on his teachings and actions that we would all do well to emulate.

I honour Imam Fode Drome and my Rabbi David Mivasair for their spiritual leadership actions to build bridges between Muslims and Jews motivated by our respective beliefs. As for Sheikh Tejani, I thank him for forcefully banging our heads with the truth, pressing us for responses. Even Karamudl Din, who tried several times to move the Sheikh into the food area, could not deflect him in that direction after the formal presentation until the Sheikh had finished what he wanted to say to a small group of us.

Let our actions give life to the words of peace, love and compassion, and let us act now.

Leila Bell