Prayer: Christian and Muslim Perspectives is a rich collection of essays, scriptural texts, and personal reflections featuring leading scholars analyzing the meaning and function of prayer within their traditions. Drawn from the 2011 Building Bridges seminar in Doha, Qatar, the essays in this volume explore the devotional practices of each tradition and how these practices are taught and learned. Relevant texts are included, with commentary, as are personal reflections on prayer by each of the seminar participants. The volume also contains a Christian reflection on Islamic prayer and a Muslim reflection on Christian prayer. An extensive account of the informal conversations at the seminar conveys a vivid sense of the lively, penetrating, but respectful dialogue that took place.
Table of Contents
Participants and contributors
Introduction, David Marshall
Preface, Rowan Williams
Part I: Surveys
1. Lived Prayer: Some Examples from the Christian Tradition, Michael Plekon
2. A Qur’ānic Theology of Prayer, Reza Shah-Kazemi
3. Muslim Prayer in Practice, M. M. Dheen Mohamed
4. Christian Prayer in Practice, Philip Sheldrake
5. A Muslim Response to Christian Prayer, Caner Dagli
6. A Christian Perspective on Muslim Prayer, Daniel A. Madigan
7. Response, Rowan Williams
Part II: Prayer and Scripture
8. The Lord’s Prayer, Susan Eastman
9. Al-Fātiha, Rkia Elraoui Cornell
10. Prayer in the Spirit in Romans 8, Philip Seddon
11. In Reverence of the Almighty: Understanding Prayer and Worship in Qur’ān 3:190-94 and 29:45, Asma Afsaruddin
Part III: Learning to Pray
12. Learning to Pray With and In the Christian Tradition: Personal Reflections, Lucy Gardner
13. Learning to Pray as a Muslim: The Foundational Stage, Ibrahim Mogra
14. Growing in Prayer as a Christian, Timothy Wright
15. Growth in Prayer as a Muslim: Reflections and Lessons of a Struggler, Timothy J. Gianotti
16. Conversations in Qatar, Lucinda Mosher
Afterword, Rowan Williams
Personal Reflections on Prayer
Index
Reviews
"A scholarly assessment recommended for any interested in prayer and its incarnation in different faiths."—Midwest Book Review
"Very useful for all those who are engaged in interfaith dialogue as well as for students of both religions."—Abdur Rashid Siddiqui, Muslim Book Review
"A rich resource for Christians and Muslims alike, providing for both some tools for deeper understanding and appreciation for the practice of prayer. Also an excellent example of interfaith dialogue in action."—Dialogue & Alliance
"Scholars of Muslim-Christian relations and interreligious dialogue will find this an interesting book. . . . I believe we are more enriched by this book than we would be without it."—Theological Book Review
"Offers to the reader much to ponder and plenty to quarry."—Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
"While many of the current interfaith projects are strictly theological in nature, Prayer: Christian and Muslim Perspectives breaks new ground by looking at what religious human beings all over the world do: pray. In learning about the rituals that gives shape to our deepest yearning and highest aspirations, we also come to grapple with how we see God, and our own true nature. Recommended for all who are interested in the Christian tradition, the Islamic tradition, and the dialogue between the two."—Omid Safi, professor of Islamic Studies, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill
Contributors
Muhammad Abdel Haleem Asma Afsaruddin Akintunde Akinade Seyed Amir Akrami Rkia Elraoui Cornell Vincent J. Cornell Caner Dagli Gavin D’Costa Susan Eastman David Ford Lucy Gardner Timothy Gianotti Toby Howarth Muhammad K. Khalifa Daniel A. Madigan Jane Dammen McAuliffe Ibrahim Mogra M. M. Dheen Mohamed Lucinda Mosher Michael Plekon Sajjad Rizvi Philip Seddon Recep Şentürk Reza Shah-Kazemi Samy Shehata Philip Sheldrake Mona Siddiqui Janet Soskice Michael Welker Rowan Williams Timothy Wright Jihad Youssef
About the Author
David Marshall is director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies and associate professor of the practice of Christian-Muslim relations, Duke Divinity School and the academic director of the Building Bridges seminar.
Lucinda Mosher is the faculty associate for Interfaith Studies, Hartford Seminary and the assistant academic director of the Building Bridges seminar.
