RNA - Bassam Issa wasn't surprised to get the call. President of the Islamic Center of Greater Chattanooga, Issa spoke with Rick Waldrop, a coordinator with Pax Pneuma of Greater Chattanooga, a six-month-old fellowship of Pentecostals and Charismatics for peace and justice in Cleveland, Tenn. Waldrop wanted to know if he could share an open letter "of support to our Islamic neighbors."
Issa welcomed it as just another way that local groups have reached out to him and the Islamic Center.
"This is pretty normal," he says. "We do get a lot of people on a regular basis come to the Islamic Center to show us and tell us of their support," he says. "Whether they are pastors or regular people, they do come."
Waldrop says the four men in Pax Pneuma — "pneuma" is Greek for "soul" or "spirit" — are still figuring out ways to impact the community around them, as well as get their own message out. Sending the letter of support was suggested as one option.
"We are a Pentecostal and charismatic group and we are often thought of as very conservative and, while we are in many aspects, it doesn't mean we can't be more progressive in certain political and social issues," he says.
The letter to the Islamic Center reads in part: "Pax Pneuma believes it is especially necessary to confess the ways that those within our religion and in our specific movement have harmed you. We are very aware that the loudest Islamophobic voices in our country often come not only from self-proclaimed Christians, but from Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders within our churches. Many of these voices claim to speak on behalf of God, using hateful words supposedly inspired by God. It pains us greatly that much of this rhetoric from individuals in our churches has been prejudicial and has negatively impacted your lives. We, hereby, publicly denounce those harmful words and the physical and psychological violence they engender.
"We pledge to defend your rights and the rights of others who are being discriminated against during these times."
Waldrop and a group from Pax Pneuma first visited the Islamic Center to learn the protocol for sending such a letter and, after being put in touch with Issa, it was suggested that Waldrop read it himself to members of the Islamic group at a recent Friday worship service.
"It was received so nicely," Issa says. "Everybody clapped and, in the mosque, you don't do that often. People liked it very much and a lot of people went to him and thanked him."
Waldrop says the men in Pax Pneuma were hugged and thanked by a line of people after the letter was read in the mosque, "and then we took a tour of the school and enjoyed Afghan rice and chicken."
The Islamic Center of Greater Chattanooga opened on Gunbarrel Road in East Brainerd in 2012. Since then, Issa says it has welcomed anyone who wishes to visit. Members also have gone out into the community in an effort to not only be good neighbors, but to help people understand what Islam is all about.
"We have so many alliances," he says. "I've visited a Sunday school class at Southern [Adventist] University and a world religion class. I went to Howard [High School] and talked to two English classes.
"Everywhere I go, after we talk it is always the same: We have more in common than we have differences. It is always very positive."
Often, one of the subjects that comes up is attacks by known or alleged extremists invoking Islam, including the one here on July 17, 2015 that took the lives of five servicemen, he says. While Islam is often used by the attackers as an excuse, "our religion does not allow for violence to be done in God's name."
Too often, Issa says, the attackers are angry or unstable people looking for an excuse for what for they do.
When he speaks at these community outreach opportunities, he tells the audience that "we are all American citizens of all faiths and we were all immigrants at one point and we all believe in keeping it safe. We are neighbors and we've got each other's backs.
"Chattanooga is beautiful and it has exceptional citizens," Issa says. "I wish other cities would learn from it."
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