Christianity & Islam have been in a relationship ever since the 7th century CE & the earliest years of the Prophet Muhammad’s time in Makkah. Down through the centuries, there have been good times & bad. Muslims trace their ancestry back through Abraham, just like Jews & Christians. All three of these “Abrahamic faiths” have much in common but also see things differently. We need to know & appreciate our “cousins in faith”.
Over the last forty years, a large number of Muslims have moved to Britain so that now they number by far the biggest religious group after British Christians. In many of our major towns & cities, Muslims make up a substantial minority of the population. This constitutes an invitation to Christians to get to know their cousins better & to explore ways of building bridges of mutual respect & understanding. This applies to those involved with Muslims as neighbours, friends, workplace acquaintances or clients in the caring professions.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding of Muslims in the West. This course has been designed to give an appreciation of the inner dimensions of Islam & the way that it shapes the lives of Muslims, as well as the outer manifestations of Islam as a religion. If we are to engage in dialogue with our Muslim fellow citizens, then we need to understand something of their world view, beliefs, & the history & theology of Christian-Muslim relations.
This is ten-week taught course meeting on Wednesday evenings from 1st October to 10th December (no meeting 12th November) and includes a visit to a mosque/Islamic Cultural Centre. It is given by Dr. Chris Hewer, the St Ethelburga Fellow in Christian-Muslim Relations, who has been involved in the study of Islam and the practicalities of Christian-Muslim relations since 1986. For many years, he worked in Birmingham as Inter-Faith Adviser and was associated with the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.
01/10/08
All welcome
St Saviour's Church, Eton Road, South Hampstead, London NW3 4SQ (near Chalk Farm Underground Station)
8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Free, but please book a place.
Contact Revd. Paul Nicholson 020-7586 6522 or email 
