Faculty and students gathered Monday to begin a dialogue on the recent controversy over the location of the University's adhan.
Sponsored by the Islamic Studies Center and organized by graduate students, the Monday evening event was titled "The Adhan at Duke: A Public Forum on Power, Solidarity and Pluralism." Panelists included Omid Safi, director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center, and Imam Adeel Zeb, the Muslim chaplain at Duke. The event arose from the need to have conversation and unpack the issue in the aftermath of the controversy, explained Nura Sediqe, a graduate student in political science and one of the evening's organizers.
"A few Muslim and non-Muslim graduate students were thinking about what we can do," she said. "A public forum was just an idea that arose organically while we were having brunch."
David Marshall, associate professor of the practice of Christian-Muslim Relations, opened the discussion by emphasizing that theological dialogue is essential to finding a solution that appeals to everyone.
"At the heart of both faiths is a theology, an understanding of God," he said.
Raising the question of what the adhan signifies, he said that for Christians, the adhan may feel like a proclamation that corrects one's faith. Marshall discouraged the mindset of making minorities suffer for the actions of extremists who share their religion on the other side of the world, and emphasized the importance of both the local and global contexts and the links between them.
Marshall encouraged informal discussions between Muslims and Christians and said that the Duke community must educate pastors to be "intelligent, humble, and confident."
Imam Zeb gave concrete examples of the interfaith harmony Marshall discussed, most notably an example of when the Prophet Muhammad sent his followers to seek refuge in Abyssinia, where the Christian king welcomed them.
"It is all God’s space," said Imam Zeb.
Luke Bretherton, associate professor of theological ethics, urged members of the Duke community to find a way to be committed to their respective religion while also recognizing similarities with other faiths. He added that Duke has to discover how to create the conditions in which this kind of action can be rightly received. Unlike Marshall, he stressed that interfaith dialogue as religious practice in sacred places is challenging and informal encounters might be a better idea.
"The Duke Chapel adhan can’t be answered in the abstract," Bretherton said. "We have to ask was it right in this time, in this place, for these people."
Diane Nelson, professor of cultural anthropology, entertained the audience by taking off one shirt after another—each one revealing a different social message. She reminded the audience of the country's troubling past on the topic and said everyone should feel like they belong at Duke.
"The students who pay my salary come from all backgrounds," she said.
She criticized the three major religions for indulging in "self-constituted othering." Nelson also emphasized the impact capitalism and colonialism has had on societies, saying that we are under the impression that "our oil somehow got under their soil." She expressed hope about the adhan, calling the people who threatened violence "little."
Safi extended his support to all those who had suffered emotionally as a result of the incident.
"You are here, and you belong," Safi said. "What we may be lacking by institutions, we have as a community with each other."
He urged the audience to remember not only the many threats but also the expressions of appreciation.
"We are not your political football, your other for you to sort out," he added. "I love this place enough to be disappointed in the half-a-step back [by the Duke administration]."
After an hour, the debate was opened to the floor for questions from the audience. One sophomore student asked whether the proclamation of "no God but God" in the adhan was offensive to Christians.
Safi replied that there are three options: have no religious expression in public, allow only one religion to do so or have plurality.
One audience member, introducing himself as an "old white guy" said he appreciated the forum and noted that the problem was that "there are not enough old white guys in this room." He asked the panelists to reflect on why people such as Franklin Graham had the power to critique the adhan in such a way. Safi addressed the question from a historical perspective.
"This country was built on beautiful and noble dreams…for some, not for all," Safi said. "We have to go back to the start of the American project and we have to say there is an American dream but it is in the future."
Sophomore Sarah Hakani said that although she applauded the risk some panelists took in answering questions, there could have been less political correctness.
"The more uncomfortable we are in our discussions, the more we can grow as a community," she said.
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