Seventh-day Adventists and Muslims met April 23 and shared their perspectives on last day events. The meeting was a joint venture between the church's Global Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations (GCAMR), Newbold College, and the Shia Muslim community, wh
Seventh-day Adventists and Muslims met April 23 and shared their perspectives on last day events. The meeting was a joint venture between the church’s Global Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations (GCAMR), Newbold College, and the Shia Muslim community, whose main United Kingdom center is in Maida Vale, London.
Dr. Jerald Whitehouse, director of the GCAMR, was the main speaker on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Sheikh Bahmanpour, head of the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Department of Islamic Studies, at the Islamic College, Willesden, was the main Muslim speaker on behalf of the Islamic Centre of England. Other presenters included Oscar Osindo, also of GCAMR, and Sheikh Ali Al Hakim, a researcher for the Islamic Centre of England.
Whitehouse talked about the entry of sin into the world. He outlined how man lost the privilege of close association with God, and yet at that time God had a plan for the restoration of both peace and justice in the future. Whitehouse illustrated how God planned to restore His relationship with man through His promise to Abraham through the descendants of both Ishmael and Isaac.
Osindo then explained the second coming of Jesus, showing that both Adventists and Muslims look forward to His coming and see it as the time when peace and justice will be restored. He noted that although the world has tried to bring about peace in so many ways, the efforts have not succeeded.
“When Jesus left this earth He promised to leave peace with those who were left behind,” Osindo said. “Not the kind that the world offers, but God’s peace, the kind of peace that brings about true justice.”
Sheikh Bahmanpour noted the similar perspectives that Seventh-day Adventists and Muslims have on end-time events, and how both share in common the hope of the restoration of peace and justice at the second coming of Jesus. He added that it was impossible to think of peace without justice: “Those whose hearts are not with God will never find internal peace; true peace should be inside the heart.”
Sheikh Ali Al Hakim said justice can be achieved while on earth through the study and application of Sharia Law—the Islamic law that governs many aspects of day-to-day life.
“I hope that many more similar events will take place between Adventists and Muslims in the future,” Whitehouse said. “Such events need to stand out as a voice against the too-prevalent militant rhetoric that only increases tension and misunderstanding between faith traditions.”