{"id":1100,"date":"2016-11-17T12:37:25","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T18:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2016-11-19T20:59:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T02:59:19","slug":"american-jews-and-muslims-come-together-in-the-era-of-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/american-jews-and-muslims-come-together-in-the-era-of-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"American Jews and Muslims Come Together in the Era of Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/i><\/p>\n

It’s about time. <\/p>\n

In the wake of the unprecedented election of Donald Trump and his worrying appointments of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim ideologues, the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America have come together. <\/p>\n

On November 14, both organizations announced<\/a> the formation of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council. As news reports said, <\/p>\n

Though Jewish and Muslim groups have cooperated before, the size and influence of these two particular groups \u2014 and the prominence of the people who have joined the council \u2014 marks a milestone in Jewish-Muslim relations. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur council is coming at the right time,\u201d said Eftakhar Alam, senior coordinator at ISNA\u2019s Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to show the administration that as American Muslims and Jews \u2014 people of the faiths of Abraham \u2014 we are uniting to help the administration navigate in the proper constitutional manner, to uphold freedom of religion and constitutional rights for all American citizens.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Robert Silverman, AJC Director of Muslim-Jewish relations, also said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Council\u2019s formation shows that American Muslim and Jewish leadership are now working together, focused on domestic developments. This is a first and is good news for the entire country.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is truly heartening and one of – I pray – will be many silver linings of the election of Donald Trump. Our two communities are natural allies: we worship the same God of Abraham; we both seek to follow in Abraham’s enormous footsteps; we are both patriotic American communities of faith which desire the best for our country. <\/p>\n

This is in line with the letter and spirit of the Qur’an, which says:<\/p>\n

…help one another in furthering virtue and God-consciousness, and do not help one another in furthering evil and enmity… (5:2)<\/p>\n

Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto, you. Compete, then, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ. (5:48)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Compete, then, with one another in doing good works.”<\/p>\n

This is what I have always hoped for the American Jewish and Muslim communities. There are so many things that can separate us, and it is easy to let those forces tear us apart. <\/p>\n

But, really, we need to work together for the common good: not just the good of our two faith communities, but for the common good of all Americans, either of faith or no faith. We are all one American family<\/a>. We need each other, now more than ever before. <\/p>\n

Join me on Twitter (@GodFaithPen<\/a>). <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring It’s about time.  In the wake of the unprecedented election of Donald Trump and his worrying appointments of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim ideologues, the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America have come together.  On November 14, both organizations announced the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,93],"tags":[795,796,434,252,142,786],"class_list":["post-1100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","category-politics","tag-advisory","tag-council","tag-election","tag-jewish","tag-muslim","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Jews and Muslims Come Together in the Era of Trump - Common Word, Common Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American Jews and Muslims Come Together in the Era of Trump - Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring It’s about time.  In the wake of the unprecedented election of Donald Trump and his worrying appointments of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim ideologues, the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America have come together.  On November 14, both organizations announced the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/american-jews-and-muslims-come-together-in-the-era-of-trump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-17T18:37:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-20T02:59:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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