The Muslim Student Association hosted an event Jan. 24 to celebrate the similarities between three religions prevalent on campus; the event centered around Abraham, who is said to be the father of the religions.
The organization held the event to bring the roots of Islam, Christianity and Judaism to the campus’ attention, said MSA vice president Abdud Dahian.
About 200 students turned out for the program, which highlighted the similar views of Abraham, a patriarchal figure in the Muslim Koran, Christian Bible and Hebrew Torah, from three religious perspectives, he said.
“We had a great crowd, and I feel we did a great job of informing the students who attended this event about prophet Abraham,” Dahian said.
Three speakers presented the three religions’ views, respectively.
Seth Oppenheimer, a mathematics professor and lay leader at the Congregation B’Nai Israel in Columbus, presented the Hebrew perspective of Abraham, building a base of the religious figure for the entire evening.
“He is the primary ancestor of the Jewish people,” Oppenheimer said.
Abraham’s story is told in the Torah, but there are also many traditional stories told about him not included in the Hebrew book, Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer shared several of these stories, which built an image of Abraham as a hospitable and moral character.
James Hardin, a philosophy and religion professor who has also spent 17 seasons conducting archaeological fieldwork in places such as Cyprus and Israel, presented the Christian perspective of Abraham. He expanded on Abraham’s character, using both archaeological and theological views.
Hardin described the archaeological view of Abraham as a pendulum, swinging back and forth between a literary criticism and a contextual criticism. Those who examine the biblical text that include the stories of Abraham say there is no proof the stories are valid, but those who also examine the context in which Abraham’s stories are set say there is proof in his favor, he said.
Hardin discussed the theological aspect of Abraham’s story, citing that all three religions claim Abraham as their ancestor, which has caused conflict.However, Hardin said this is not a negative claim.
“[Religion] is an exclusive thing,” Hardin said.
Each religion must maintain modesty in their claim, but an exclusive claim is not wrong, he said.
Masoud Rais Rohani, an aerospace engineering professor and former faculty adviser to the MSA, presented the Islamic view of Abraham, displaying the similarities between each religion’s views.
Islam calls Abraham the first Muslim and the father of the religion, Rohani said, and all three religions see Abraham as the predecessor of their religion.
Each religion views Abraham as a moral character.
He detested idol worship and even struggled against his own family and their idol worship, Rohani said.
“The truth was dearer to him than the traditions of his ancestral heritage,” Rohani added.
Islam views the religious figure different in several regards, he said. The biggest difference is the sacrifice story. Judaism and Christianity believe God called Abraham to sacrifice his second son, Isaac, but the Koran says Abraham was called to sacrifice his first son, Ishmael.
The event served to accomplish two objectives, Dahian said, because donations were taken for UNICEF for the tsunami relief effort. The event raised $300, and Dahian said he hopes this will make a difference in the victims’ lives.
Muslim families from the community served food and refreshments after the presentations.