Islamic Cleric coming to Fort Frances church

Seminars planned next week at St. John’s Anglican Church

By FR. WAYNE MCINTOSH, St. John’s Anglican Church Rector

Since the tragic event of 9/11, a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion has arisen about Islam and its relationship with other faiths. This has too frequently resulted in the building up of walls between people and cultures, even leading to acts of aggression and violence as people have sought to come to terms with the knowledge they currently have about this global crisis.

Fort Frances will welcome Mohammad Attieque to the community, who will conduct a two-day seminar entitled “That we may know each other: A conversation between Islam and Christianity.” Mohammad is an Imam (minister of religion), an Islamic scholar, a chaplain in hospitals and penitentiaries, a pharmacist and retired civil servant of Ontario. Born in India but raised in Pakistan before moving to England for further education then finally Scarborough, Ontario, where he currently resides, Attieque is a member of the Islamic Circle of North America. He delivers lectures in schools, churches, social clubs, colleges and universities and is actively involved in inter-faith dialogue at different levels.

The event is hosted by St. John’s Angelical, Knox United and Zion Lutheran Churches and will take place over two evening sessions, Tuesday and Wednesday. All sessions will be at St. John’s, 360 Church St., Fort Frances, and will begin at 7 p.m. Session One (Tuesday) will explore the question, “What is Islam” and will seek to clarify the basic characteristics of the Islamic faith. Session Two (Wednesday) will deal more specifically with the role of Islam in the 21st century both in Canada and abroad.

The event is open to all and there is no charge. For more information, call St. John’s Church at 807-274-7692. The church is wheelchair accessible.