Remembrance of One God
brings community together

On Friday June 9, the Affinity Intercultural Foundation and the World Community for Christian Mediation held a joint panel on the “Remembrance of One God in Islam and Christianity”. The event was held at the Riverside Theatre Parramatta. There were 350 people present and the night was very well received.

A warm welcome by the Master of Ceremonies, Grahame Ellis, a Protestant Church Priest, officially opened the panel. The Bosnian Gazi Husrev Beg Choir set the stage with a spiritual tone invoking the coming of “dearest One.”

The first speaker, Father Laurence Freeman, Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation and a Catholic Benedicton monk mentioned the art of meditation in remembering the One God by using the names of God mentioned by Jesus (pbuh) in the Bible. He used the original names in Aramaic used by Jesus (pbuh) such as ‘Maranatha’, meaning ‘come Lord’ to remember God in his meditation. He reflected on the teaching of Jesus (pbuh) stating that “when you pray, pray in the secret room of your heart, do not become over-anxious about material anxiety, be mindful and live in the present moment.”

He also shared a story about two of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when Abu Talha, sacrificed what little he had to eat for Abu Hurayra, one of the poorest companions. From this act a verse was revealed "They prefer others above themselves, even though they are in poverty themselves,” (Quran 59:9).

The second speaker for the night Mr. Mehmet Ozalp is the author of the “101 Questions you asked about Islam” and President of the Affinity Intercultural Foundation focused on various ways to “bring the presence of God in our lives and how can we access His light.”

He stated that the gathering was “like an oasis in the spiritual desert we are in today” and continued to say that he strongly believes “that when there is a meeting where the discussion revolves around God and His remembrance, angels stack in numbers and send praises to all involved.”

Mr. Ozalp stated that for Muslims, “the most important goal in Islam is to attain an intimate relationship with God to live life so that you are pleased with Him and He is pleased with you.”.
He elaborated on the four ways of connecting and being intimate with God for Muslims. That is through Reflection (tefekkur), Prayer (Salat), Supplication (Dua) and actual Remembrance of God (Zikr) through mentioning God’s beautiful names. One can also exercise spirituality and remembrance by reading the Jawshan containing over a thousand ways of relating to God by praising, glorifying and exalting Him.
 
The most insightful part of his address was his ability to draw in the audience and explain how mundane tasks can be transformed into trigger points of relating thought and heart to God.

Reverand Grahame Ellis closed the event leaving the audience with powerful words stating that “when words are spoken from the heart they will reach hearts and when words that are spoken from the mouth, they do not go past the ears.”

Father Laurence declared the night a great success with“friendship, openness and genuine dialogue.“Affinity is wonderful and an inspired organisation showing fruit in its work.”

Paul Taylor one of the key organisers of the night remarked that the event had a “ great sense of spirituality’and Mrs Taylor was “excited, stirred with great hope for the future as there was harmony of purpose and friendship.”