An interfaith retreat is a gathering for people from different religions (like Judaism, Christianity, Islam), to learn about each other’s faiths, build understanding, and find common ground through dialogue, shared activities, often featuring storytelling, prayer, and community building. These retreats are hosted by universities, religious organizations, or dedicated centers.
I was invited to join one of these retreats in a city two hours’ drive from Irving, to give a 60 minutes presentation about Islam as a Resource Scholar.
The retreat activities lasted for four days, during which the Dean of Cantorial Studies and Student Life, Academy for Jewish Religion spoke about his religion as well, as did the Senior Instructor of Gender and Religious Studies, Texas Christian University.
The retreat included many activities, such as small group discussions, to discuss important points about these religions and to answer common questions about them.
My husband -who accompanied me- and I answered all the questions about the religion of Islam and clarified many points.
The retreat activities included as well a demonstration on Friday Prayers was done by my husband.
I began my speech with a simple introduction, in which I said:
“Due to my travel to various countries, I learned many languages, and I was able to interact with different cultures and religions. As a result, I found out how others are in fact very similar to us, and that we are all combined by humanity and by our similarities. We all have the same issues, aspirations, challenges and we all want the same things for ourselves and for our children. I found that we have the same Creator, the same source of existence and that all our religious differences are about the intermediaries between the human being and His Creator, so when we all pray direct to the Creator without intermediary, we will get united, then all the cultural, traditional and political barriers will be removed, then we would have peace. These experiences gave me the ambition to know more about the religion of Islam and other religions, as I had always a very important question in my mind, which is: Why Islam is the true religion? So, I dedicated all my time and effort into learning the best way to present Islam for different people and different backgrounds.“
I then spoke about:
The Existence of a Creator to the Universe.
The Creator’s Communication With the Creation.
Believing in God.
The True God.
The Reason for Existence.
The Motto of our Mission on Planet Earth.
The Purpose of Life.
The Lesson of God to us.
A Special Journey.
A Special Faith.
A Special Message.
Similarities & Differences.
The Same Message.
A Fact.
Natural Faith.
The Creator & the Creatures.
The Mediators.
Validity of a Source.
Three Questions.
Who is your God?
Meaning, have you devoted your effort, time, money, and love to supporting which idea and goal?
Was your money your god? Or your wife and children, your trade, modern science?
Was Muhammad your God, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Messi, or Maradona?
The answer should be: The Creator (The Power in Heavens), He is not a Trinity. He has no son or partner. He does not come to earth in any human, animal, idol form).
The second question is:
What is your religion?
Meaning, what is the life system that you made sure to follow in your life? Was it your whims and desires? Was it society, the religion of parents and grandparents, customs, traditions, and social media?
Or is it the divine system, which is the religion of monotheism?
The answer should be: The Pure Monotheism, which means to believe in the Creator and to have a direct connection with Him. It is not allowed to supplicate to the Creator through saints, prophets (including Prophet Muhammad and Jesus), idols, or priests.
The third question is:
Who is your Prophet?
Meaning, who was your role model, your leader, your role model?
The answer should be: All the prophets of God including Moses, and Jesus who was created without father, just like Adam who was created without father or mother.
For example, if a Hindu or Buddhist wants to convert to Islam today, he must believe in Moses, Jesus, Jacob and Isaac, otherwise he will not accept his conversion to Islam.
This is another feature that you can only find in Islam.
If I want to convert to Christianity, I must renounce my faith in the Prophet of God, Muhammad. And if I want to convert to Judaism, I must lose my faith in Christ as well. And also if I want Ito embrace Hinduism or Buddhism, I must lose my faith in all the prophets of God.
However, in Islam, it is a condition for the validity of one’s faith to believe in all the prophets.
The teachings of Islam include:
- Performing the ritualistic prayers to keep the connection with the Creator.
- Fasting the month of Ramadan to developing better self-control and appreciate God’s blessings.
- Giving a certain specific percentage of certain types of a person saved annually wealth, reaching to the poor people to keep economic balance in society, purify the wealth, and revive the economy.
- Performing the pilgrimage to Mecca[3]once in a lifetime to symbolize the unity of all believers regardless of their classes, backgrounds, cultures, or languages.
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