Neighbor News
Christians & Muslims Share Food, Fellowship, Scripture in Madison
Will launch NJ's First Known Quran-Bible Study Group
On April 30th of last year, Mazher Ahmad an American born Muslim, hosted a few friends at his house in Morristown. One of them brought along Madison Presbyterian Pastor Scott Foster and a friendship was born. “We immediately hit it off”, says Mazher, a local HR executive.
The two began getting to know each other and before long, Mazher and another local American Muslim executive, Tariq Sharif, were invited to participate in a panel discussion at Madison Presbyterian about the Muslim month of Ramadan. Church members were invited to bring food to break bread and “meet the Muslim next door”. The results were fantastic. “The room was packed and all of us were overwhelmed by the feeling of positivity”, said Pastor Scott. “Everyone who came brought food, and we all ate together when the fast broke.”
A few months later, Mazher and Tariq - who belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Central Jersey – were looking for a place to have Friday prayer services (“Jumuah”) a little closer to home. Again, Pastor Scott lent a welcoming hand. “We had available space and our Session was supportive. Their message of peace and prayer was well aligned with ours.” Local Ahmadi Muslims now pray every Friday at 1:00 in rooms upstairs from the Church. “Our prayer service is open to the public”, says Mazher. “Anyone can observe and ask questions. Our goal is to become the best versions of ourselves, and to contribute to our families, communities, and workplaces.”
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Most recently the two faith communities began their most ambitious plan – to hold a joint discussion group drawn from their respective scriptures. To honor the Islamic faith tradition, the discussion will be held separately for men and for women.
“We have so much in common”, said Pastor Scott, “and so much to learn from each other’s faith traditions. We’re all challenged with the same things in our daily lives.”
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“As far as we know, this is the first non-academic Quran Bible study group in New Jersey”, said Mazher. “We’re so excited to build relationships and bridges with our neighbors and talk about our shared message of peace and hope.”
The Quran Bible discussion group will hold its first session on July 10th at 6:00 pm. To learn more, please contact Pastor Scott Foster at scott.foster@pcmadison.org .
