DIC was invited to an Interfaith Dialogue (Open Doors, Open Minds) Panel at Collin County Community College on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. Many different faiths were represented at the panel. On behalf of Islamic faith, DIC Director Yasin Ceran talked about principles of faith. Mr. Ceran also stressed the importance of dialogue between the faithful. Panel ended with a Q&A session.

The Dallas Islamic Center continued its panel series with a panel titled “Civic Peacebuilding against Fanaticism”. Speakers of the panel were Rev. Dr. George Mason from Wilshire Baptist Church, Dr. Mark Chancey, the professor and chair of Religious Studies at SMU, and Mr. Bashir Ansari, Afghan writer and author who also serves as instructor at SMU.

DIC was at Lovers Lane UMC for joint commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 tragedy. There were two services of remembrance and reconciliation at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Speakers for this interfaith service of worship include Imam Nihat Yesil, President of the DIC; Imam Hamidullah Qiyam of DIC, Rabbi Heidi Coretz, Director of Hillel of Dallas; and Dr. Stan Copeland, Pastor of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church.

The Dallas Islamic Center volunteers attended an interfaith program with Cathedral of Hope Mid-Cities. The seminar started with a recitation of Quran by Imam Yesil. Then, Mr. Kazan gave a presentation titled “Islam and Compassion”, in which examples of showing mercy of God and compassion were listed. Also, several sayings of Prophet Muhammed on being compassionate were presented. A brief information about Ramadan and fasting was given, as well. Attendees were encouraged to “walk the walk” by donating to fight the current famine, spreading in the Horn of Africa. The talk ended with a Q&A session followed by a joined prayer.

In continuation to its seminar series, DIC organized a seminar on Saturday, May 7th, 2011. The program started with dinner and refreshments. Then, Dr.Adem Akinci, who is a theologian with expertise on this topic, presented the seminar titled “Moral Education of Children in a Family”. The program ended with question and answer session.

The Dallas Islamic Center organized a panel discussion titled “Breathing Love with Rumi” at the Southern Methodist University. The event took place on November 12, 2010 at the SMU Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall. Writer and scholar Mr. Bashir A. Ansari and Prof. Alan Godlas from Department of Religion, University of Georgia kindly accepted the invitation to participate in this panel. They shared their knowledge and thoughts on Mawlana Jalal ad-din Rumi’s understanding of love and later answered the audiences’ questions. We thank once again all our panelists for their insightful contributions to an inspiring discussion. It was a uniquely indulging atmosphere appreciated by all the participants.

DIC was invited to an Abrahamic Panel discussion at Perkins School of Theology on Tuesday, November 10, 2010. Three Abrahamic faiths were represented at the panel. On behalf of Islamic faith, DIC Outreach Coordinator Osman Kazan talked about principles of faith, social justice, and eradicating racism and poverty. Kazan stressed the importance of dialogue between the faithful.

The Dallas Islamic Center organized a panel discussion on the healingpower of prayer at the Southern Methodist University. The event tookplace on February 25, 2010 at the SMU Hughes Trigg Ballroom East. Thefollowing panelists kindly accepted the invitation to participate inthe discussion: Rev. Timothy McLemore, Kessler Park United MethodistChurch; Rabbi Jeremy Schneider, Temple Shalom; Ms. Satoe Soga, BaylorHealth Care System; Dr. Ibrahim Sumer, University of Houston…