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Catholic Community of Pleasanton
Social Justice Newsletter Archive
Selected Article on Interfaith Relations | |
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Islamic Community Outreach of California
 Dr. Amer Araim, the president of Islamic Community Outreach of California and a member of the Executive Committee of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, spoke recently at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek. He spoke briefly about Islam and American Muslims. He said that most Arabs are Muslim but most Muslims are not Arabs. There are 1.5 billion Muslims and 300 million Arabs. Islam is a religion of peace and fair dealing. Many of the ills and atrocities that have occurred in some Islamic countries are due to backwardness and tribalism within their populations, not to Islam. American Muslims respect the rights and freedoms that they have as Americans.
Dr. Araim demonstrated a remarkable ability to give lucid and detailed answers to questions from the audience. He also spoke of the need for candid dialogue and cooperative community endeavors.
Dr. Araim was born in Faluja, Iraq in 1940. At age 26 he began his first diplomatic assignment in Washington, D.C. Since then he has continuously been absorbing and appreciating American culture and values. He traveled extensively but maintained contacts with colleagues in the United States. He moved permanently to the U.S. in 1978 when he began working for the United Nations, dealing with many issues, especially the campaign against apartheid in South Africa. After retiring from the U.N. in 1999 he began teaching in academic institutions, lecturing on Islam, and participating in interfaith dialogue. He and his family moved to Walnut Creek in 2001.
September 11, 2001 was a turning point in his life and for America, giving new urgency to interfaith understanding and to condemning terrorist acts. He worked to rebuild the image of Islam and to reassure Americans that that their Muslim countrymen were loyal Americans and peaceful. In 2008 the Islamic Community Outreach of California (ICOC) was created as a 501.C.3 corporation dedicated to presenting Islam as a religion of peace, to worshiping Allah and serving the local community. It honors individual respect and honest dialogue. Its website is www.islamicoutreach.org. Dr. Araim's many speaking engagements and question answering periods at churches, mosques, universities, labor unions and women's groups have resulted in a book, Understanding Islam: Fifty Questions, available through ICOC and from www.amazon.com.
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