Shaikh M. Ibrahim Memon and Dr. Stuart Chen stood side by side Tuesday night as two distinguished men of two different faiths came together for the same reason: to speak at UB's "Muslim and Christian Dialogue" series.
An attentive crowd of over 50 attended the lecture, which was held in 145B Student Union and ran for two hours. The second of four dialogues, Tuesday's discussion focused on the Muslim and Christian views of salvation.
Memon, a Quran scholar and the principal of Darul-Uloom Al-Madania Inc., a private Buffalo school associated with the Islamic community, spoke first. He opened by addressing the issue of attaining salvation through Islam and the ways in which it differs from the Christian beliefs.
"Always remember that the differences between religions are regarding beliefs," said Memon. "Salvation becomes one of the very important beliefs that will either unite or divide people into different religions."
"We need to realize both the religions believe in God," he added.
Memon continued to talk about the concept of God from the Islamic point of view.
"God is something that cannot be hidden from and that he is the all-seeing, all-knowledgeable and almighty," he said.
In explaining his religion and its beliefs, Memon made many comparisons and contrasts with Christianity.
"According to Islam, God never comes in the form of human being. But in Christianity, God comes in the form of human," he said.
With the basics out of the way, Memon moved to the topic of salvation and the ways in which one washes away sin in Islam, including the performance of "righteous acts" and repentance.
"When a person has committed a sin and repents to God, he becomes like a new born baby, free of all sins," said Memon.
Following Memon, the spotlight turned to Chen, associate professor of civil engineering and volunteer for International Students, Inc., who opened by explaining the origins of Christianity and highlighting several lines from the Bible.
"In Christianity, God is described as a loving bridegroom and his people as his many brides, who he shall never be divorced from," Chen said.
Chen spoke about attainment of salvation through prayer and devotion to Jesus.
"Only God and Jesus paid the price, there is no other way to salvation but only through Jesus," he said. "God treats us as righteous because of Jesus's blood."
Chen explained the importance Christianity places not just on prayer, but on demonstrating faith through actions.
"Sins separate us from God and prayers become useless," he said.
Chen spoke briefly on the Christian beliefs concerning submission to God.
"The crucifixion of Jesus is what happened when he gave himself for us to save us from our sins," he said. "That act shows complete submission."
Hyder Husain, president of the Muslim Student Association, saw the dialogue series as a way for Muslims in the community to educate those of other faiths who do not know much about them other than familiar stereotypes.
"It's really important for us as Muslims to educate members of our community about the stereotype and show them what Muslims really believe, and by conducting this dialogue we hope to remove all misconceptions," said Husain.
Several UB students attended the dialogue exactly for that reason, to gain better understanding of each faith.
"I'm Christian and my roommate is Muslim, and we're just trying to understand each other by coming to this lecture," said Jami Furnagiev, a junior nursing major.
The "Muslim and Christian Dialogue" series is sponsored by the Muslim Student Association, the Middle Eastern Students Club, and the International Students, Inc. The next dialogue, "Scriptures," will be held on March 23 in the Student Union Theater at 6 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
