 Well it's really a blessing and an honor for me to be able to share the stage tonight with Sister Jose. I was very excited when I found out that we were going to each be giving a short presentation and then after that we will open up to some dialogue and some question and answer time before the time of Iftar at the evening meal. And Sister Jose proposed what I thought was the perfect thing to spend our time on this evening. And that was texts and traditions from our respective faiths having to do with the love of God. After a couple of years of isolation, of not being able to gather like this, and really I feel like escalating tensions and conflicts in our homes, in our communities, in the world, nothing could be more fitting than to spend our time talking a little bit about the love of God. Now I want to preface my talk by saying this, the scriptures that I picked, I feel are not necessarily the most universal ones that we have in the Bible that Christians and for two thirds of it Christians and Jews share. I did that very deliberately. It is not in any way to be divisive but rather an acknowledgement of the fact that I believe each of our faiths has something quite unique to offer the conversation about God's love. And I thought why don't I see what is pretty uniquely Christian and I trust that Sister Jose will offer us some things that are uniquely Muslim and that that would actually create a richer dialogue. So I offer this not in exclusion of any other perspective but rather as something rather unique that I feel that the Bible and the Christian tradition might have to offer this. So I'm going to focus my talk on three things and these are terms that I will unpack because they may be unfamiliar to some. Incarnation, resurrection, and trinity. Incarnation, resurrection, and trinity. And these are three themes that you will find very much throughout the pages of the New Testament. And the various authors that are represented in the New Testament each emphasized it to a somewhat different extent. And I want to make sure before we go into it that I'm also very clear on a perhaps misconception that occurs and Christian theologians over the centuries have very much had to deal with this because everything about this incarnation, resurrection, and ascension can leave one scratch, I'm sorry, and trinity, can leave one scratching one head thinking wait a second, is Christianity a monotheistic or a polytheistic religion because all of this speak to sort of more than one aspect of God. So let me just say Christianity is unapologetically a monotheistic, a one God religion. In everything I'm about to present from the Bible and everything from our tradition, all you're hearing about is different faces, different aspects, sometimes even different persons that language gets used of God, but it is all the one and only God. So I'm going to begin with the Gospel of John. There are several texts in the New Testament that are attributed to the Apostle John and the community of the shores of the Dead Sea that really took its inspiration and its theology from him. And I'm going to read the very opening verses of the Gospel of John. So these are the first several verses known as the prologue to the Gospel of John. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world came into being through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us. And we have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father's only Son full of grace and truth. Okay, so that's a lot to unpack. This Word that you hear so many times here is in Greek the logos. And the logos refers to the wisdom of God, the logic of God, the Word of God. And this is something that gets pulled actually from two places. One is from the Hebrew Old Testament, especially in the literature that is attributed to King Solomon. We hear a great deal of wisdom, and wisdom is actually personified as this beautiful, powerful woman. And this is the personification of some of God's creative power and of God's wisdom. Well, John pulls from that and says that that wisdom actually took on flesh in Christ. And this is what in Christian circles we've referred to as incarnation. It's the notion that the fullness of God, the Word of God, the wisdom of God actually came into a human body and lived among us. And I feel like this is one of the many ways that in our New Testament tradition the love of God is spoken of very powerfully, because it's very easy to look around and say, yeah, it's great to say that God loves us, but where's the evidence so much that that stuff is happening? If God loves us, why is there a war? Why is there a pandemic? Why do our kids get addicted to drugs and have horrible accidents? Why does all this stuff? Why do our friendships and our families fall apart? Why does all this stuff happen? And if we look at the incarnation, it gives us a very different perspective. It gives us a perspective of a God who actually somewhat hesitates to use the divine power to actually intervene in human affairs, but rather loves us in a very different way. And I'll give an analogy. If you have ever raised children, you know that when they're tiny, tiny, you do everything for them. And you intervene at any point when they have a need or where they may be in danger. But the older they get, the less and less you do that. And actually, if you don't stop doing that, you're a bad parent. At some point, you need to pull back. And instead of doing everything for your child and intervening every time there is a danger or a difficulty, you instead are a presence who is there with them. The older they get, it's more and more a presence of an equal rather than a superior. This is what we see in the doctrine of the incarnation. We see a God who says, the way I'm going to love you human creature is the way a parent loves a child. And at first, without any help from you whatsoever, I'm going to create you and I'm going to bring you out of the womb and I'm going to nurture you on your mother's breast. But as you grow, I'm going to begin to use that divine power and that divine intervention less and less because my dream for you is that you yourself become more and more like the divine. And so instead, I'm going to live with you like a sibling instead of looking over you necessarily like a parent looks over an infant. And so this is what we see in the doctrine of the incarnation, but there is more. Right now in most Christian churches, we find ourselves in the season of Easter. This is the season that we really focus very heavily on resurrection. So the tradition is that on Good Friday, Christ was nailed to the cross and died, spent all of Saturday in the tomb, and early Sunday morning was the tomb was found empty. The accounts differ just in slight detail, but they all agree that it was actually his female companions who were the first ones to witness the empty tomb. And Mary Magdalene is the one who was known for telling the apostles that she had first seen the risen Christ. And so we look at this tradition of resurrection and the passage that I'd like to go to actually comes from the literature of Paul. Paul authored slightly over half of the New Testament. The New Testament is comprised of Gospels, which are accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and then numerous letters to early churches and early pastors in the church, many of which were penned by St. Paul. One of his longest and best known is the letter to the Romans, and this was not surprisingly to the fledgling church in Rome in the first century. And this is one of the passages that we read most commonly during the Easter season. Please forgive me, I have lost my place. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. The death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Now you might wonder at first, the word love does not appear anywhere in that passage. So what does that have to do with the love of God? As a matter of fact, the word death appears in that passage more than once, and we don't often think of death in terms of love. But let's unpack it a little bit. This passage, perhaps more than any other, presents in three very short verses the entire theology of resurrection found in the Christian tradition. And the idea is that Christ died to sin, and therefore as humans we can consider ourselves dead to sin, and Christ rose, became alive again to God, and therefore as humans we can consider ourselves alive to God. Now this whole dead to sin business doesn't sound like great news, but if you stop and think about the one advantage that a dead person has, it actually says a great deal about the love of God. Think about it. If you go to a graveyard and you scream obscenities at somebody and you pound on the ground and you throw baseball bats, you fire bullets, you give it your worst, what is the dead person's reaction? Absolutely nothing. The dead person is not vulnerable to any of those attacks. So if we think about this text that way, we are dead to sin and alive to God. It's really good news. If God has made us people who are as invulnerable to sin and sin is all around us, it's in us, the temptation is everywhere and we often succumb to it. But if we are as imperturbable to that as a dead person is to any of the abuses that can be heaped upon them, I really have a hard time imagining a more loving act than that. This story of death and resurrection at first doesn't seem very loving at all. In fact, it actually seems rather horrific. But if I spent a little bit of time just meditating on those three verses on the purpose of death and resurrection, all of a sudden it has a very, very different meaning. So the final thing I want to discuss a little bit is Trinity back to John. But we're not going to go back to John's Gospel. There are also a few letters that are attributed to John in the Old Testament and they all come out of this same Dead Sea community. And this theme of God's love is incredibly strong in these. So I'm going to read a short passage from the first letter of John. Beloved, let us love one another because love is from God. One who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. Now that probably pretty obvious why I would pick a passage like that when we were talking about the love of God. But you might be wondering what on earth does that have to do with Trinity? And Trinity is the Christian understanding of God that while God is absolutely one, within that one there are three persons, three aspects, three faces, if you will, that we refer to in worship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are definitely not three separate gods, but rather three expressions of the same God. And it is only because of that understanding that the author of this letter can say God is love. Because notice that the Greek is very specific. It does not say God is loving. It says God is love. In other words, God's nature is love. Well, to love there must be a subject and an object, right? Love can exist if there isn't a giver and a receiver of it. And in this understanding of God as Trinity, we had this idea that within God's self there are these persons who love one another. So God is not only loving, but by nature, God is love. Now where that extends to humanity is it says, you know, again, human creature, you are in many ways a mess. There are so many facets within you and often those facets seem like they're at war with one another. You ever had the experience of looking at the mirror and thinking, I don't like myself very much or one part of me doesn't like another part of me very much or I'm in conflict with myself. I'm ready to jump out of my skin. I drive myself crazy and that's only looking in the mirror. Try living in family or in a religious community or in a civic community or a global community. We know how well that turns out sometimes. But if we not only as individuals, but as a human family are created in the image and likeness of God, this passage has something incredibly important to say to us, which is it's okay if there's tension. It's okay if there's conflict. It's okay if one aspect of you doesn't like another aspect of you doesn't understand another aspect of you. It is okay if you don't like or understand your neighbor because being made in the image and likeness of God, you as individuals and you as community are love. And this isn't the kind of emotional love where it's like we feel all warm and butterflies for each other. It's rather that fierce kind of love which is I may not like you. I may not understand you. But when push comes to shove, I recognize you as my sister, my brother. And if the train's coming down the tracks about to hit you, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to stop it. It's that kind of love. So this was my offering from the Christian tradition in the New Testament scriptures on incarnation, resurrection, and trinity and what they have to say about the love of God. And I look forward so much to hearing what you have to offer to sister Hosea. Thank you. First of all, thank you so much, Reverend Andy, and this wonderful congregation for opening up your space for us in the month of Ramadan. This is such an honor. I really feel very honored to be here and I thank you so much. I'd like to first greet you with the universal greeting of peace. As Muslims, when we see one another, even if we're complete strangers, we offer prayer and that is, again, from the faith, as an extension of love, but that is also to anyone that we wish peace for all. So I would like to greet you with assalamu alaykum, which just simply means may peace be upon all of you. And with that said, I begin in the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful. This presentation, as Reverend Andy mentioned, came out of deliberation about what do we really need to focus on as faith communities. And as he so eloquently said, because of everything that's happened in the past couple of years, but certainly before that as well, I think we all agree we definitely need more love. Our world is fragmented, maybe more than ever before, and we need to come together. So that's why I so appreciate any work with other faith communities, because I think we all really do have those same, you know, objectives, which is just just spread love and certainly love of God. So I've prepared a presentation here that I'd like to invite all of you to join me as I go through the slides and Brother Menir is going to help me. So we'll go to the first slide here, which for Muslims, we understand love first and foremost as a divine attribute. And for those who are not familiar, God is certainly one. We are absolutely, as Reverend Andy also stated, a monotheistic tradition. We are very, very monotheistic, but we do also hold that God defines himself according to what we call the 99 names or the 99 attributes of God. So here is a quote from Prophet Muhammad, God's peace and blessings upon him that he said, God has 99 names and whoever preserves them will enter paradise. He also had a specific prayer that he taught us that he called upon God by, as this quote says here. I ask you by every name that you have named yourself, revealed in your book, taught any of your creation or kept unto yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with you. And so this is a prayer that Muslims will learn and memorize and also say following his example. So the 99 names, the image I apologize, I know it's probably very difficult to see. I can't even see it in the laptop. But I've tried to give you at least a preview of some of the names that are on here. There are again 99, and these are just partial. There's actually in fact more names as well in the Quran that God describes himself by. But this is a collection that is heavily known and taught. So here are some of the names. The most merciful, the most generous, the gentle, the provider, the appreciative and giving, the peace, the Lord, Incidentally, that's the word rabbi, right? We kind of, there's a Symmetica relation there between rabbi and rabbi. And so I wanted to just highlight this last attribute, al-Wadud, as I mentioned. We understand love as an idea, as a concept, because of God's attributes. So we are then taught what that means by looking at his words as he defines what love is. And here is a verse from the Quran, chapter 11, verse 90, where God says, وَسْدَغْفِرُ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّ رَحِيمُ مُوضُودِ That's in Arabic, and that translation is, and ask forgiveness of your Lord. Then repent to him. Surely my Lord is all compassionate, all loving. Now this specific word al-Wadud, which is defined as the loving and the affection, also needs to be understood in the context of love in the Arabic language. There are several different ways to express love. The predominant words that are used to define love are hope, which is really the feeling, that internal fuzzy-wuzzy feeling that Reverend Andy was talking about, that feeling that we all feel for each other, hopefully, for our family, our spouses, our children, our community members. So we feel things internally. But then the manifestation of that love is referred to as wud, and this is the expression that is then defined by al-Wadud. And so this, you know, God has again named himself by this attribute, to convey that he is not only loving, but that he shows his love to his servants. Now when God loves a servant, here's another quote from Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This is a really beautiful exchange between, and you might notice some familiar names here, that God says when he loves someone, he calls to the angel Gabriel, who is referred to as Jibril in the Arabic language. He says, oh Gabriel, I love such and such a person, so love him. And then Gabriel will call to the angels of the heavens, Allah, which is just an Arabic word for God, loves such and such a person. So love him, and the angels will love that person. And then Allah will place acceptance on earth for that believer. So this is how God again expresses his love in the heavenly realm. Now God's love is reflected in his creation also in different ways. And here's another quote from the Prophet Muhammad or Hadith, which is just a quote of his, where peace be upon him, where he says, Verily, Almighty God rewards for gentleness what he does not give for rudeness. If God loves a servant, if Allah loves a servant, then he grants him the quality of gentleness. No household is deprived of kindness, but that they have been truly deprived. God also responds to our love of him with love. So here's a very famous, these are a category of Hadith that we call Hadith Qudsi, where God is actually speaking in the first person. So it's not revelation from the Quran, but it is considered still revelation or sacred text. If my servant comes closer to me, a hand span, I come closer to him or her an arms length. And if he or she comes to me walking, I come to him or her at speed. So God is responsive to our love of him. The most beloved servants to God, who are they? The most beloved people to God are those who are most beneficial to people. The most beloved deed to God is to make a believer happy or to remove one of his troubles or to forgive his debt or to feed his hunger. And again, if you look at the wording here, this is not exclusive to just Muslims. It's to humanity, people. We also have in the Quran defined groups that God has outlined of people that he loves. So I'll read these and there are no particular order. The first group are called the al-mahsineen. And these are the doers of good. So people who are engaged in just good, benevolent acts and deeds. The second are al-muktaqeen. And these are those people who are mindful of God, who are really self-aware and watchful over themselves. And they have the understanding that God is also ever watchful. Al-muksiteen, these are the equitable and just. So people who really push for justice and fairness. Those who purify themselves. We have a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that cleanliness is part of or half of faith. So that's why you may find when you visit a mosque, for example, we will have spaces, pretty large considerable spaces for the what we call the lustration or ablution that we as required of us before prayer. So Muslims will sometimes be washing our limbs face up to four or five, maybe more times a day, depending on how many prayers we're doing. And so cleanliness in general is a very big part of our faith. Tawabin, those who return to him. So this is repentant. People who have who are in a state of repentant, they are, you know, they have sinned, they have perhaps lapsed, and they return to God knowing that his mercy is vast. And they do not let their sinfulness impede that process of of returning to him, no matter how many times they make mistakes. And there's quite a few different traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, where he shares that even if your sins are as much as the foam of the ocean, and if you've ever stood at the coastline here in California or anywhere and looked out into the ocean and seen the foam, you can see it's difficult to even, you know, see how vast that is. But that's the point is that don't get worried about the number of sins. Just keep returning, keep returning. And many other beautiful traditions that have the same message that God will forgive all who ask. And in Ramadan, one of the famous or sorry, the popular prayers that Muslims are saying every day in this month is Allahumma innaka affoon tuhibbun afwa faafoo anni, which is, oh God, you are the one that forgives. So please forgive me, right? So that's, this is a prayer that Muslims are saying all day. Throughout the month of Ramadan. But this idea of returning to God, no matter what you think of yourself, because you have certainty that God is the most merciful of the merciful, which is an attribute he also defines himself as. Al-Mutawakirin are those who put their trust in him. So this is also a category of people that God loves. Those who when something happens, you know, the world as we know is a difficult place. But those who have surrendered to know that God is in control and they turn to God first with prayer, with seeking his help, his assistance. And then of course, whatever world to know that he exists to be able to access his words. And so we look at the even the Quran is often called the ultimate love letter from God. So there's love is a very big part of the Islamic tradition. And again, there wasn't enough time, but there are many more passages and many more sacred texts that we could pull from to show that. But I thank you again so much for the honor of presenting to you. And I wish you all nothing but love. God's love. Thank you so much.