Developing opportunities for American Muslims to learn Islam in a rigorous and systematic academic setting is long overdue in the United States. Presently there are very limited formal learning opportunities in the U.S. for Muslims to become bona fide imams or scholars.
Imam Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir are developing Zaytuna College for this purpose. Several online and weekend seminar-based programs exist as well such as Darul Hikmah, Sunni Path and Al Magrib Institute. There are also some interfaith dialogue programs for Muslims at Christian seminaries across the country. The Catholic Theological Seminary and the Hartford Seminary are two that come to mind.
The Claremont School of Theology is planning a new program that seeks to fill this void. The Los Angeles Times reported that:
In a bow to the growing diversity of America's religious landscape, the Claremont School of Theology, a Christian institution with long ties to the Methodist Church, will add clerical training for Muslims and Jews to its curriculum this fall, to become, in a sense, the first truly multi-faith American seminary.
Not surprisingly this announcement has been met with mixed reviews.
Christians have voiced their concern. One News Now, a conservative Christian online news source conducted an online survey asking the question: How would you describe this seminary's plan to teach its student about the "legitimacy and integrity" of other faiths? Over 50% of the respondents said this shift in teachings constitutes apostasy. Only a handful of respondents (19.10%) described it as misguided tolerance. None of the survey respondents said anything clearly positive or supportive of the move.
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui of the the Islamic Center of Southern California seemed to be very positive about Claremont's new program, but his mosque is going to oversee the Muslim/Islamic curriculum at Claremont so his support is to be expected. How will the majority of American Muslims respond?
What do you think? Respond with your feedback.
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