Bob Crane on Muslims Together building a cohesive America
Every Sunday, we have two programs – This Sunday, Bob Crane will speak about Muslim Citizenship in public Square. Safi Kaskas and I will speak about the Ultimate Citizenship – The Al-Amin.
Please note, I wear three hats – as a Muslim, I speak, write and talk about Islam, and as an American, much of my work is about pluralism in religion, politics, society, and the workplace. As an Indian American, I stand up for the rights of minorities in India including Muslims. All of it is volunteerism. My mission in life is to open people’s hearts, minds, and souls towards each other. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept their uniqueness, conflicts fade, and solutions emerge.
Bob Crane is the first Muslim American Ambassador, he served as the Deputy Director of the National Security Council, he was the principal foreign policy advisor to President Nixon. Since the early 1980s, Crane has worked full-time as a Muslim activist. From 1983 to 1986, he was the Director of Da’wa at the Islamic Center of Washington on Massachusetts Avenue. In 1986, he joined the International Institute of Islamic Thought as its Director of Publications and then helped to found the American Muslim Council, now defunct, serving as Director of its Legal Division from 1992 to 1994. In this capacity, he was the founding President of the Muslim American Bar Association. His service to America is immeasurable – Full bio at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dickson_Crane
Bob will speak about Muslim Citizenship in public Square.
Pluralism: Muslim Citizenship in the Public Square
by Dr. Robert Dickson Crane
Introduction: Essence
The purpose of my talk today is to serve as the second session in addressing the 20 principles of Mike Ghouse’s Center for Pluralism for Muslims to follow as guidance in practicing their religion.
The first principle in this series of talks began last month in July 2021, with a talk on “essence”. This served as an introduction to my talk today on pluralism in the public square, because the possibility of the paradigm of thought known as pluralism depends on awareness of the paradigm known as essence.
A decade ago I co-wrote with Professor Muhammad Ali Chaudry a two-volume textbook, now being expanded into four volumes, entitled Islam and Muslims: Essence and Practice. This highlights the concept of “essence” as the key to cooperation among persons in defining each one’s personal identity and as a key to building a cooperative identity among religions.
The Public Square
The paradigm of thought known as pluralism also can benefit from introducing the paradigm known as the “public square”. Mike Ghouse has retitled my talk today to include the term “public square”. This addresses the problem of so-called “practical politics”, which can devolve into the simple question, “How can I join the most powerful establishment and run the show?”…Peaceful Engagement
In all discussions of interfaith cooperation in the public square, it is paramount to avoid the term “tolerance”, because the term “tolerance” can mean merely “I won’t kill you yet”. The next higher step is called “diversity”, which can mean, “I respect you, but we really don’t have much to talk about”. Finally, we have “pluralism”, designed as the basis for “peaceful engagement” in bringing out the best of one own religion and identity in order to understand and cooperate with the best of other religions based on their common essence in seeking transcendent truth and compassionate justice.
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