EDMOND —
The Interfaith Iftar Dinner was held on the second floor of the State Capitol Building last week.
Nijim Dabbour, a young man who is a graduate of Deer Creek High School and the University of Oklahoma, served as master of ceremonies for the event, and he explained to the assembled guests that during the 30 days of Ramadan Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink during the daylight hours and that the Iftar dinner is the meal that they enjoy after the sun sets during the month.
Dabbour said that a visitor to the Capitol building is reminded by the portraits and paintings that are in place there that people of different races and religions played a role in the state’s development, and that Muslims are now part of the state, and are contributing to its development.
State Sen. Tom Ivestor told the guests that the people of Oklahoma are tolerant of people of different faiths, and that his constituents in Southwest Oklahoma are now welcoming Muslims and people of other faiths to that area.
The keynote speaker for the dinner was Oklahoma City University President Robert Henry, who said he was proud to share a holy occasion with fellow Oklahomans of the Muslim faith. The university president also pointed out that the “right to worship as we please is the most basic American right.” Henry quoted from the Koran the wording that requires Muslims to be just in their dealings with others and to be compassionate to the less fortunate, and said that those requirements are also part of Christianity and Judaism.
Oklahoma City Rabbi Abby Jacobson told the attendees of how fasting plays a role in Judaism and that Jews are required to fast on two different days during the year. On Yom Kippur Jews are required to abstain from eating as they ask God to forgive them for the sins that they committed during the past year. They are also supposed to fast on Tisha B’av, as they contemplate all of the tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries.
Imam Imad Enchassi of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City also addressed the gathering, and said that the Prophet Mohammed told his followers that if they look at those who have less than they do that they will be grateful to God for what he has given them. During Ramadan, Enchassi reported, Muslims feel compassion for those who are hungry because they lack funds to purchase food.
Father Sami Chaaya of the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church in Norman also addressed the gathering, and spoke of how it is recorded in the gospels that Jesus fasted on occasion, and said that the early Christians were converts from Judaism, and that they brought the Jewish tradition of fasting with them when they became followers of Christ. Chaaya said that fasting brings people closer to God.
At 8:35 p.m. water and tea were distributed to the attendees, and they went to the buffet lines where servers offered them a variety of Middle Eastern and Indian foods and desserts.
WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City attorney.
Opinion
Capitol site of interfaith dinner
- Opinion
-
-
ROCK DOC: Japanese find a new source of natural gas
The name “natural gas” might be a puzzle. After all, how could there be such a thing as unnatural gas? The reason we call natural gas what we do has to do with history. There was a day that people made burnable gas by heating coal. The gases that came off the coal were piped around cities where they did things like light street lamps and even power cook stoves in homes.
Coal gas had its down side. For one thing, it often contained carbon monoxide. And it took energy to make the gas, so it never could be truly cheap. -
Witnesses missing; Behenna case could be heard at Supreme Court
The film “Breaker Morant” was nominated for an Oscar for the best screenplay in 1980. It told the story of Harry “Breaker” Morant, an Australian who served in the British Army and was court-martialed for alleged war crimes during the Boer War in Southern Africa in the early years of the last century.
That conflict pitted the British Army against the descendants of the Dutch settlers who had migrated to what is now South Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries. The majority of them were farmers and in their language of Afrikaans were known as “Boers.” -
Don’t leave Oklahoma!
May is graduation season. As I have done every year as lieutenant governor, I have given multiple commencement speeches. Advice flows freely during this time and it usually runs the gamut. What to do, what not to do, how to do ‘x’, be sure not to do ‘y.’ Too often commencement speakers speak in big generalities. So general, the message is frequently lost or forgotten.
-
Last-minute funding proposals not in state’s best interest
All indications point to this being the last week of this year’s legislative session. The Legislature will go home a week early. This is good news for Oklahomans as not only will there be cost savings but all Oklahomans should breathe a sigh of relief when the Legislature stops making new laws a week ahead of schedule.
As usual, the Legislature will take a number of important votes during the last week. Some will be forced due to attempts to introduce and pass far-reaching, new policies that should have been introduced much earlier in the year. -
BY THE NUMBERS: Oklahoma still needs to invest in its economy
After six months of stagnation, the Oklahoma economy finally appears to be expanding again albeit still weakly. Unfortunately, our leaders aren’t making the investments we need to give our economic prospects a boost.
Last week the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services reported that in April state General Revenue fund collections were 5.2 percent above the estimate and 14.7 percent higher than last year’s collections. Under normal circumstances, such a report would indicate that the Oklahoma economy was very strong. But this isn’t a normal circumstance, and April isn’t a normal month. -
Americans deserve the truth on Benghazi
Lately, the media has been consumed by the controversies surrounding the White House. Among these controversies is the horrific terrorist attack on the United States’ diplomatic compound in Benghazi that took place Sept. 11, 2012. As more people come forward with additional information regarding the attack on the consulate, many Americans, including myself, are still asking for the truth.
The Obama Administration and the State Department have been less than forthcoming with key information on Benghazi and recent information points toward a major cover-up. -
Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
HEY HINK: Some people just are not cut out for command
Recent headlines cause me to remember an incident that occurred on an army base some years ago. Warning here: I’m taking some liberties with names and details, but the basic outline of events is accurate.
A certain company commander, let’s call him Captain Duntz, had command of a motor pool on a large army base in the continental U.S. -
We’ve become our own worst enemies
The past couple months have been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
You don’t want to dwell too long on the negative, but we do have to take notice of horrific human events and we owe it to ourselves to respond to them in some way. We don’t always agree on those responses, however, and that usually exacerbates the problem. -
Let’s reimburse higher ed for remediation costs
The good news: Oklahoma schools are teaching phonics. The bad news: It’s in college.
Students at Tulsa Community College, for example, can take a college English course called “Spelling and Phonics,” which “helps students master basic spelling literacy, principles of phonics and decoding skills.”
This sort of higher education brings to mind former Boston University president John Silber’s quip: “Higher than what?” - More Opinion Headlines
-
ROCK DOC: Japanese find a new source of natural gas
