Thursday, September 11, 2003

New interfaith groups are still going strong

By VANESSA HO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

As a corporate vice president at Microsoft, Jawad Khaki normally sits at a desk, wielding a mouse and a telephone. But last month, Khaki spent two weeks hanging drywall in some new homes with an interfaith group he started two years ago.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, many people joined in some kind of interfaith effort. They learned about Islam at a church event or ate dinner at a mosque during Ramadan. Some gatherings were sporadic or one-time events.

But not Khaki's group. Comprising Muslims, Jews and Christians, his group of about 14 congregations has come together the last two summers to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. Khaki started the group after Sept. 11 to help people bridge spiritual differences.

He found that it was one thing to sit at a forum and discuss faith. It was an entirely different matter to swing a hammer next to someone for a community project.

"I think I formed bonds that will last a long time," said Khaki, leader of the Ithna-Asheri Muslim Association of the Northwest. "The thing I learned is the ability to look into the eyes of a stranger and see a potential friend."

On this two-year anniversary of Sept. 11, religious groups say the initial outpouring of concern was the catalyst for many community efforts today.

The attacks spurred John Hale, a Catholic at St. Patrick's Church, to help start the group Unity Projects-Seattle, which has organized a series of potluck dinners for Christians, Jews and Muslims.

"We found that we had people coming back repeatedly and getting to know each other more deeply, and some real friendships have developed," said Hale. His group plans to include more faiths and delve into such controversial issues as the role of women in religious leadership.

Sept. 11 also helped spawn a Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national, non-profit group that helps Muslims through political and social activism. The attacks pushed the Church Council of Greater Seattle to start developing "neighborhood networks" among faith groups.

And Sept. 11 propelled Idris Mosque, the center of much Islamic activity in the area, to be more outgoing toward non-Muslims.

The Northgate mosque has always taught the public about Islam. But now it throws an annual picnic for neighbors and community members to thank them for their support.

It hosts about a hundred non-Muslim visitors a week, and leaders go to schools and churches to lecture about Islam more than ever before. And mosque members now have better friendships with Seattle police officers and have joined an advisory council at the North Precinct.

Mosque director Hisham Farajallah summed up the direction of the mosque, two years after a distraught man shot at two congregants and doused cars with gasoline: "We made more friends."

P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com