Introduction
World Interfaith Harmony Week is based on a United Nations resolution calling for a worldwide week of interfaith harmony. The idea was proposed in 2010 by HM King Abdullah II and HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan. Scheduled annually for the first week of February, the week aims to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.
HM King Abdullah has long been known for his peace initiatives and when he introduced the idea for World Interfaith Harmony Week at the 65th UN General Assembly in New York he stated:
It is essential to resist forces of division that spread misunderstanding and mistrust especially among peoples of different religions. The fact is, humanity everywhere is bound together, not only by mutual interests, but by shared commandments to love God and neighbour; to love the good and neighbour. . . . we are proposing is a special week, during which the world’s people, in their own places of worship, [can] express the teachings of their own faith about tolerance, respect for the other and peace.
To recognize World Interfaith Harmony Week in Wyoming, Wyoming Interfaith Network will share about a perspective from a different faith tradition in Wyoming each day from February 1 through February 7. We ask that you take time to think about ways in which we can love our neighbors no matter their expression or understanding spirituality.
View the offerings from different faith traditions below
There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one. Let us worship Him, and give praise for all His great Prophets and Messengers who have manifested His brightness and glory.
`Abdu'l-Bahá
City Temple in London
Sunday, September 10th, 1911
Oh Mankind. We created you from a male and female and made you into nations and tribes that you might know each other. The noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you and Allah is all-knowing and all-aware.
Quran:49:13
“In the cathedral of the world there are millions of windows, each telling its own story of who we are, where we came from, where we are going, each illustrating life’s meaning. Every religious, philosophical, even scientific worldview has a window, or many windows, through which the one Light shines, refracting Truth, bringing illumination to worshipers and seekers."
“No one can see the one Light (Truth or God, call it what you will) directly, only as refracted through the cathedral windows. Every great religion teaches this insight. We cannot look God in the eye any more than we can stare at the sun without going blind. This should counsel humility and mutual respect for those whose reflections on ultimate meaning differ from our own. Sadly, this is not always the case. Some religious leaders, perceiving the Light shining through their own window, conclude that theirs is the only window through which the Light Shines. If they forget that it is in our lives and not in our words that our religion must be read, they may go so far as to incite their followers to throw stones through other people’s windows. Skeptics, on the other hand, perceiving the bewildering variety of windows and worshippers, conclude that there is no Light. But the windows are not the Light, only where the Light shines through.”
Rev. Forrest Church
Unitarian Universalist minister
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
The Buddha
