GUIDING LIGHT ISLAMIC CENTER

October 11, 2021 | 0 COMMENTS | by admin

Dr. Bradley Bowman
Department of History
It has been my great pleasure to be involved with the Salaam Network (TSN) over the past few years. Through countless events, public lectures, and presentations, TSN has been extraordinarily effective in furthering awareness against the rising tide of Islamophobia in the United States and abroad. While there is no question that the global phenomenon of Islamophobia is a mounting concern, as there are voluminous news reports, incidents, and metrics that support its growing severity, TSN has diligently and conscientiously attempted to illuminate an alternate path – one of community, inter¬‐faith cooperation, understanding, and unity. Indeed, our mission statement includes the mantra ‘striving to make our beloved community whole’. I truly believe that those of us at TSN have made significant strides in this regard, but the work continues.

I hold a PhD from the University of Chicago in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, specializing in early Islamic history, and am an Assistant Professor of History/Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Louisville. It has been my sincere honor to work with other like¬‐minded educators, such as Dr. Riffat Hassan, Dr. Greg Hutcheson, Dr. John McLeod, Dr. Saleem Seyal, and many others, in the endeavor to educate our local community about Islamic history, theology, culture, and inter¬‐faith relations.

This educational outreach has indeed been an essential key to combatting issues of ethnic prejudice, xenophobia, and religious intolerance. Virtually every corner of the world has been touched by contemporary outbreaks of such phenomena, and unfortunately even our own local community has recently felt the impact of discrimination and intimidation against our Muslim neighbors. I reference here the September 2015 vandalism of our oldest Louisville mosque and Islamic center. Though the perpetrators were clearly seeking to create division, even this event too galvanized our inter¬‐faith communities together in the quest for understanding. The Salaam Network has attempted to further bridge the remaining divides through educational outreach.

We have held student panels, discussion groups, and lectures in a wide variety of venues as well, attempting to reach across broad cross¬‐sections of our local public. Our events have included venues like libraries, community centers, churches, seminaries, synagogues, mosques, as well as the lecture halls of several local universities. In such diverse ways, it has been truly inspiring to witness the dedication of TSN to furthering education and fostering dialogue amongst Louisville’s religious communities. Many of our students at the University of Louisville have taken a keen interest in the work of TSN, not only attending events but also being active participants in some of the programming. Moreover, the reception of our events by the public has been most encouraging. This all reinforces the importance of the Salaam Network endeavor and the necessity of continuing to fulfill its charter of promoting tolerance, understanding, and community wholeness.

Dr. Bradley Bowman, Department of History

University of Louisville

November 24, 2019