Oasis Meeting Addresses Role of Tradition in Dialogue

(24 Jun 09 - RV) The Oasis foundation for Christian–Muslim dialogue concluded a meeting of its International Scientific Committee yesterday in Venice, Italy. The topic of their June meeting was the meaning of Tradition for Catholicism and Islam, and its impact on plural societies faced with news demands generated by the new intermixing of different cultures and religions. One of the participants was associate Professor of the Anthropology and Sociology of Religion and Islamic Studies in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Malika Zeghal. She told us the September 11th attacks of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were an event that pressed on many Muslims the urgency of the need to engage in dialogue…