Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

Deryl Davis, host

Cathedral Forum producer Deryl Davis speaks with Muslim leader Imam Yahya Hendi on the topic of “What Christians Need to Know about Islam.”

“We are better off when we engage one another as brothers, as sisters, as fellow citizens,” Hendi opens. “It’s an honor for me as a Muslim to be in a church on Sunday morning. … We actually have much more in common than we have differences.”

Hendi mentions many instances of discrimination in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “However, as a nation, we overcame that,” he points out. “There are more Americans now who know about Islam … and in a positive way.” The imam himself has delivered hundreds of talks about Islam at churches, synagogues, and schools nationwide.

Davis mentions the recent arrest in Massachusetts of a man allegedly linked to a Muslim extremist group. Hendi responds that criminals are found in all parts of society—among Muslims, Christians, Jews, and secular people. Sensational news about the arrest of one Muslim is not balanced by public understanding that, for example, many Muslims are serving in the United States armed forces.

American Muslims are part of America’s fabric, Hendi asserts. He cites evidence that Muslim sailors came to North America in AD 1320, ultimately settling in what is now Arizona and North Carolina. Later, Christopher Columbus used a world map with Arabic notations and hired Arab geographers to accompany him and interpret the map.

Are American Muslims different from, say, Arab Muslims or Pakistani Muslims? “America is a country of the free. … We can say whatever we want to say,” Hendi summarizes. He is often asked whether Islam is compatible with democracy. Although he cautions that no theology can be explained in a single hour, Hendi does say that “government of the people, by the people” is fully compatible with Islamic teaching.

The creation story in Islam differs from the Judeo-Christian story. In Islam, man and woman are created at the same time, whereas Genesis says that Adam was created first, and Eve was fashioned from Adam’s rib. Hendi believes that the Muslim teaching about creation shows a commitment to equality between men and women. God speaks to both Adam and Eve, not to one at a time. Both are equal participants in the law, and “each has his own good and bad,” Hendi says.

Muslim societies have their flaws, but Hendi holds these human societies and their customs, not Islam itself, responsible for those flaws. He decries the actions of the Taliban and other extremist organizations; the act of female circumcision, which predates Islam; and other practices that, in his view, have been unfairly blamed on Islam.

Hendi corrects several basic misconceptions. Only 17 percent of Muslims are Arabs. Some Arabs are Christians, and some are Jews. The word “Allah” refers to the God worshiped by Muslims, Jews, and Christians; at any Christian worship service conducted in the Arabic language, God is called Allah.

About Imam Yahya Hendi

Imam Yahya Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, the first American University to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. Imam Hendi is also the Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick in Frederick, Maryland, and is the Muslim chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

He also serves as a member of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of North America. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Science and Osher’s Lifelong Learning Institute of John Hopkins University, Fordham University, and Hartford Seminary. Imam Hendi also teaches a very popular course at Georgetown University called Inter-religious Encounter.

Mr. Hendi’s undergraduate education was in Islamic studies and his master’s and Ph.D. education were in comparative religions with interest in Christianity, Judaism, comparative religions, and inter-religious dialogue and relations.

He has written numerous publications on many topics, including women in Islam, women and gender relations in Islam, the second coming of the Messiah, Islam and biomedical ethics, and religion and Islam in the United States.

A sought-after speaker, Imam Hendi has presented a multitude of interfaith and general lectures in the USA, Asia, Africa, Europe, central Asia, Eastern Europe, Australia, and the Middle East over the past 10 years, and he has been to more than 63 countries and 45 US states for conferences.

Mr. Hendi was one of the Muslim leaders who met with President Clinton during his presidency. He also met with the President Bush in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy and continued to meet him many times during his presidency.

Imam Hendi often visits and lectures at churches and synagogues hoping to create a new positive relationship between the followers of the three Abrahamic religions. In his lectures, Imam Hendi focuses on issues related to gender relations, domestic violence, world peace, social, economic and political justice, and inter-religious and interfaith issues.

Imam Hendi appeared on many national and international television and Radio shows as an expert on interfaith dialogue and on Islam and Muslims (i.e. CNN, ABC, Fox, Kuwait TV, Nile TV, Pakistan Channel-II, RAI, MSNBC, and Al-jazeerah).

Imam Hendi recently engaged nationally and internationally on raising awareness on issues of the twenty-first century which included: 1) environmental responsibility, 2) a peaceful resolution to the Arab/Israeli conflict, 3) eliminating poverty, 4) fighting against the growing sense of militarism, and 5) empowering Muslims to reform the way they practice and understand Islam.

Mr. Hendi serves on national and international interfaith councils such as the Appeal of Conscience, the National Inter-religious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East.

Imam Hendi is the founder and the secretary general of Clergy Beyond Borders, and the founder and the president of the newly founded organization Imams for Universe, Dignity, Human Rights and Dialogue.

In May 2002, Imam Hendi was chosen by Hartford Seminary to receive its annual “James Gettemy Significant Ministry Award” for his dedication to his ministry and for his work to promote peace building between people of different religions. In February 2009, Imam Hendi was honored by the Baltimore field office of the FBI for fighting terrorism, drugs, and violence in America.

Imam Hendi offers inter-religious and Muslim retreats and leads Qiyyam-layl prayer and Jum’ah (Friday Services). He also councils students on academic, professional and social issues. Imam Yahya Hendi believes that with love and education the world will be a better place to live in.