wfn.org | Islamic society head describes changing Muslim community

["RCCongress 2010" <webmaster@rccongress2010.org>]

Islamic society head describes changing Muslim community engagement

>by Deb Christian

CHICAGO (RCCongress 2010), April 9 - Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Director of
Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
at Hartford Seminary told a story of how change involves communication
to participants gathered in Chicago for Religion Communication
Congress 2010 (April 7-10).

The congress is the once-a-decade gathering of communications
professionals from different from different faiths, different
countries, and different areas of faith. More than 500 participants in
this decade's event explored the theme "Embracing Change:
Communicating Faith in Today's World."

Using the example of a film documentary planned to help explain Muslim
beliefs, Dr. Mattson described the difficulty innate in a medium
requiring images, when Islam forbids the creation of images of the
prophet Mohammed.

To assist the filmmakers, Dr. Mattson suggested the best way to
represent the prophet was to look at the life of his followers, then
found herself a reluctant participant in the often intrusive filming
process. She found this experience a good metaphor for American
Muslims because it illustrated the tension between the cultural
emphasis on "I" rather than on God.

Dr. Mattson spoke at length on the affects of the 9/11 attacks on
American Muslims. "How do you respond to injustice when you are
persecuted because someone hijacked your religion? We had to divert
money, human resources, creativity, thoughts, strategy to keep the
Muslim community safe," she said. "God has a purpose and we are only
responsible for our own response."

These difficulties led more Muslims to better understand the need for
interfaith involvement. That involvement now is much more a part of
the mainstream Muslim life. Another response that grew from 9/11 was a
push to define more globally "who is a Muslim" Since religious
authority is decentralized in Islam, in 2005 King Abdullah of Jordan
called together a group of scholars, who issued the Amman Declaration
to stop sectarianism within the Muslim faith.

These events and others have been instrumental in helping the Muslim
community to find new partners, become more open to change and learn
to use change as the basis for new opportunity.

Dr. Mattson also is President of the Islamic Society of North America.
She is the first woman and first convert to Islam to lead the
organization.

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Deb Christian, a member of the communications committee for RCCongress
2010, is customer care director for the United Methodist Reporter

>Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, 347-513-4030

http://www.rccongress2010.org/news/ingridmattsonplenary.shtml