Islam in Suburban Minnesota

This session is part five of a six part series running through the 2018-2019 academic year titled Encountering Religious and Cultural Traditions: A Series Fostering Religious Literacy and Interreligious Understanding. In this session, Dr. Tamim Saidi will teach about the lived experience of Muslims in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul as well as address some common misconceptions and stereotypes people have about the tradition. Renowned scholar of religion Wilfred Cantwell Smith argued that in order to “understand Buddhists, we must not look at something called Buddhism but at the world so far as possible through Buddhist eyes.” Likewise, in order to understand Judaism, Hinduism, and so on, we must not look at Judaism, Hinduism and so on, but at the worldviews of Jews, Hindus, and so. In his New York Times Bestseller, Religious Literacy, Stephen Prothero writes “I am convinced that one needs to know something about the world’s religions in order to be truly educated,” and argues that “you need religious literacy in order to be an effective citizen.” This year-long series aims to foster religious literacy and interreligious understanding by examining the world through the eyes of religious scholars and practitioners from various traditions, especially our locally lived traditions in Minnesota. The presenters will share their own lived experiences of the traditions and address any common stereotypes and misconceptions. Dr. Tamim Saidi is chairperson of the Northwest Islamic Community Center in Plymouth, Minnesota, where he also serves as a part-time imam, and is a frequent presenter for the Islamic Resource Group. He recently received a prestigious Bush Fellowship to enhance his role as a transformational leader in his community while seeking to maximize his efforts as an imam with skills to bridge cultural and religious differences. With his Bush Fellowship, he is pursuing double master degrees in Islamic studies and leadership. This session is sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas, cosponsored by Theological Encounters: Encountering Islam (a program of the Theology Department), and is in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association at the University of St. Thomas. To make an accessibility request, call Disability Resources at (651) 962-631