Oak Ridge Today

Talk on ISIS is Thursday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rihab Sawah

Rihab Sawah

The Islamic State, its historical roots, and the ways ISIS differs from the Islamic religion will be explained in a talk at 3 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building, Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge Campus, a press release said.

Rihab Sawah, a Syrian native and professor of physics at St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley in Ferguson, Missouri, will deliver the lecture, a press release said. Sawah holds an M.A. degree in Islamic/Arabic science history. She teaches an introductory course on Islam at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Her lecture, presented by Roane State’s International Education Department and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL), is free and open to the public.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Roane State lectures to address differences between Islam, Islamic State (ISIS)

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Rihab Sawah

Rihab Sawah

Scholar Rihab Sawah from St. Louis Community College will discuss differences between Islam and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, on Thursday, March 31, at Roane State Community College’s Roane and Oak Ridge campuses.

The Roane County lecture will be held at 11:30 a.m. in room 101 in the O’Brien Humanities Building on the main campus in Harriman, 276 Patton Lane. The Oak Ridge lecture will be held at 3 p.m. in the City Room at the Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The lectures, presented by Roane State’s International Education Department and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL, are free and open to the public.

The presentations will define Islam and the Islamic State and will contrast 12 main points that highlight the diverging point of view of ISIS in relation to Islam. Sawah will also present the historical roots of a movement such as ISIS and explain why the movement misuses Islamic ideology and how it serves ISIS leaders’ aim to establish their influence in the region. [Read more…]

Class on Islam starts Sunday at First Presbyterian

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Phillip-Sherman

Phillip Sherman

Phillip Sherman, associate professor of religion at Maryville College, will present a free course on Islam for five Sundays at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, which is at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive.

The classes will start this Sunday, January 10, in the fellowship hall of the sanctuary building.

“This will be an excellent opportunity to separate fact from fiction with respect to the beliefs of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” said the Reverend Sharon Youngs, church pastor. The lecture-and-discussion course, which will end on February 7, is open to the public.

With about 1.6 billion followers, or 23 percent of the global population, Islam is the second-largest religion (after Christianity) by number of adherents (Muslims). According to many sources, it’s the fastest-growing major religion in the world. Most Muslims are of two denominations: Sunni (75 to 90 percent) and Shia (10 to 20 percent). [Read more…]

Women’s Interfaith Dialogue hosts free forum on world belief systems on Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Women's Interfaith Dialogue Steering Committee

Members of the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue Steering Steering pictured above are, from left to right, Barbara McCord, Jo Ann Garrett, Eileen Handler, and Cleva Marrow. (Submitted photo)

The Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge will sponsor a free community forum on different world belief systems at 11 a.m. Monday. The forum, “Tell Us about Your Faith: Learning from Each Other,” will be at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge.

The presentations by a dozen or so local women will be organized from oldest belief system in origin to newest, including Wicca, Hindu, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Islam, many of the major Protestant denominations, Quaker, Universalist and Baha’i.

A question and answer session will follow the presentations. The forum is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome.

The presenters include Nayeema Ahmad, Sharon Annis, Carolyn Dipboye, Margaret Dory, Diane Edwards, Jo Ann Garrett, Kas Gomathinayagam, Barbara McCord, Kathy Olsen, Ruth Prince, Fran Silver, and Toni Stephenson. [Read more…]

Ruth Queen Smith the featured speaker at Women’s Interfaith Dialogue today

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ruth Queen Smith

Ruth Queen Smith

Ruth Queen Smith will be the featured speaker at a afternoon meeting today of the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge.

Her talk, titled “Ruth, Miriam and the Woman at the Well,” will focus on these prominent women, and how the cultural differences of all three are reflected in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Smith is a pastoral associate at John XXIII University Parish. [Read more…]