March 22, 2007

On April 1, a groundbreaking interfaith coalition called the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative will host acclaimed scholar Dr. Ali Mazrui in Los Angeles to address "War & Its Impact on U.S.-Muslim World Relations." Mazrui will discuss the Islamic scholarship on war and peace as it applies to current international events, including the ongoing war in Iraq.

The lecture concludes a yearlong lecture series on "peacemaking in the Abrahamic faiths", which has previously featured Dr. James Carroll (author of "Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews") and Rabbi David Saperstein (Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism). Author of "Islam: Between Globalization and Counterterrorism", Ali Mazrui is one of the Muslim American community's most distinguished and articulate voices.

WHAT: Dr. Ali Mazrui on "War & Its Impact on U.S.-Muslim World Relations" Part 3 of 3 in the Abrahamic Peacemaking Initiative Speakers Series

WHEN: Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Islamic Center of Southern California 434 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Born in Kenya, he received his Ph.D. from Oxford, taught in Uganda for many years and is now one of the leading scholars in African history and affairs. He is now the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He also serves as the Chair of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), and sits on the Board of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Islam itself needs to expand and enrich itself, Mazrui argues. Some Islamic cultures have become dominated by narrow, legalistic interpretations. But in much of the Islamic world, including parts of the Arab world, Islam is tolerant and varied -- Pakistan, for example has had a woman leader, something that in the main western powers only Britain has achieved.

Dr. Ali Mazrui has published more than twenty books, including "Islam Between Globalization and Counter-Terrorism". In 2005 the American journal, "Foreign Policy" and the British Journal "Prospect", nominated Mazrui among the top 100 public intellectuals alive in the world as a whole.

The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative began in early 2006 with a meeting in Southern California among Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious and community leaders in order to respond to the worsening global situation, particularly with regards to the war in Iraq and the Palestine/Israel conflict. The group aims to explore solutions as well as to contribute substantial information that could be useful in pushing forward the agenda of peace and justice, which is at the core of all three of the Abrahamic traditions.

For the purpose of providing a holistic response to these issues, the initiative has worked to bring together leading Muslim, Jewish and Christian voices who could present a unified message fostering peace in the world.