Quraan Conference Program Sequence

Quraan Conference Program Sequence
Full Video of the program and report will be posted soon.

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The purpose of this conference is to understand the issues and find ways to remove such fears in an open forum and restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America. 

PROGRAM SEQUENCE

National Anthem
Pledge of Allegiance
Acknowledgements
How it got started – Jonathan Halsey
Purpose – to build a cohesive America
Misrepresented verses in circulation
Narrow it down to 10 Verses 
A short prayer
Methodology of reading the verses
Non-Muslim Panelists will read & explain 
Conclusion - comment from each panelist
Recognition of Recent Awardees
Refreshments.

IN CO-OPERATION WITH:
 

American Clergy Leadership Conference

Dallas Peace Center      
Unity Church of Dallas 

Universal Peace Federation –     
Fun Asia, banquet halls, Theaters, Catering

PANELISTS

Pastor George Mason - Wilshire Baptist Church
Rev. Petra Weldes – Center for Spiritual Living
Rev. Michael Jenkins – American Clergy Leadership
Dr. Harbans Lal – Guru Granth Sahib Studies
Pastor Eric Folkerth - United Methodist Church
Hon. Lon Burnam – Texas State Representative
Dr. John Norris – Professor of Theology, UD
Rev. Bill Matthews, Chair, Interfaith Council
Rev. Tony Brigmon, Mormon Church

Dr. Karen Hollie, Protestant

MUSLIM PANELISTS

Imam Zia Shaikh, Islamic Center of Irving 
Imam Shakoor, Warith Deen Muhammad Masjid
Hamid Sheikh, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 
Dr. Basheer Ahmed, Muslim Community Center

QURAAN COPIES

CAIR – Council on Islamic Relations
ISNA – Islamic Society of North America 

KEY VOLUNTEERS


Dr. Karen Hollie and her team, Life way Church
Esther Vasquez and her Team, Unification Church
Adil Khan, General AssistanceRita Clarke and her team, Dallas Peace Center

SERVICES

Aftab Chagani and his Staff – Audio & Video
Kevin Foresman, Video Technician
Syed Rafi, Banners and Signs

GRATITUDE TO:
Laura Sutherland, Unity Church of Dallas

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The program was organized by World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism working towards building cohesive societies with dignity and respect to every human on earth.  

Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated his life to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Quraan Conference Invitation

We are pleased to invite Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Pundits, Bhikkus, Shamans, Clergy, Civic leaders, Teachers, Educators, Journalists and you to join us on Sunday, December 5, 2010. We hope it would be one of the best Christmas Gifts to Americans living in North Texas.

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Event: Qur’aan Conference in Dallas
Purpose: To demystify the myths about Quraan and Islam
When: 3:00 PM Sunday, December 5, 2010
Where: Unity Church, 6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX. 75230
Website: http://www.quraanconference.com/
Inquiries: quraanconference@gmail.com
RSVP: Confirmattendance@gmail.com
Call: Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916
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The conference is a positive response to negative sermons delivered from a few pulpits in Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. It is time we replace the ill-will with goodwill, where no American has to live in fear of the other, anxieties or discomfort. We have to restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America.

Let us gather and understand the Qur’aan, the holy book of Muslims, so we can separate the myths from the truth and free ourselves from anxieties. Indeed, the truth always brings salvation and we owe that to fellow Americans.

Rev. Jeffress challenged on Quraan

Monday, September 13, 2010

Quraan is challenged by Pastor Robert Jeffress, Pat Robertson, Terry Jones, Fred Phelps and others who have not made any effort to understand the book, let alone reading it with sincerity.

Myths are manufactured about others without any substantiation; it is an old business of maligning others to have a momentary gain.

The purpose of this conference is to remove such myths in an open forum in the public and restore the cohesiveness of our society and build a safe and secure America, where no American lives in fear, anxiety or discomfort.

Video presentation

Sunday Morning on Fox
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/christians-and-muslims-meet

Monday Morning on Fox
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/091310-pastor,-muslims-meet-to-discuss-quran

MUSLIMS, HINDUS, JEWS ARE GOING TO HELL http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/091310-pastor%2C-muslims-meet-to-discuss-quran

Dallas Morning News Responds: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/DN-blow_19met.ART.West.Edition1.356a575.html

Our Response:

1 of 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMN8Zy1kc64

2 of 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZOFLQSAOhA&feature=related

Article: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2010/09/rev-robert-jeffress-challenged-on.html

We have to build, rebuild and continuously build the social cohesiveness of our nation
Details at: http://dallasquraanconference.blogspot.com/

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Richard Ray of Fox4 News interviewed me today about Pastor Jeffress and the Quraan at 11:00 AM this morning, however due to time constraints, or other reasons they have edited out the critical points about killing the infidel and Quraan Translations. I will recreate that interview and post it on the web in a few days, right here.

The challenge is simple; I will present the right translations of the Qur'aan to Rev. Robert Jeffress in his congregation and challenge him to find 3 evil things about Quraan, if he does, I will go work for his ministry, if he does not, I ask of him to retract the thoughtless cavalier statements he made about Islam and Quraan, and take up the challenge of becoming a peace maker.

Thanks to the Imam Zia Shaikh, other Imams and friends for their encouragement to challenge the myths and ask the mis-informed to be informed. Thanks to the Islam bashers for telling me what is it that bothers them, they have time and again given me a list of about 60 verses, and I have made serious effort to address them most directly at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/ I have dealt with some of the Islamophobes who have made their business by maligning others including Islam, in this case. Look at their websites, they shamelessly ask for money, people should seriously debate if their money is going to bring peace or chaos.

Whether it is Pastor Jones, Jeffress, Phelps or Robertson, the media has failed to nail down the exact words or phrases that cause them to make such divisive declarations, and the unfinished business is frustrating the public.

America needs peacemakers who can boldly clarify the un-truths and myths about each other for the sake of peace. We owe peace and security to each one of the 301 Million Americans, our efforts ought to be directed so every one us can live without fear, without harassment and without prejudices. My question to Pastors Jeffress, Jones, Phelps, Robertsons and their likes is this; Didn't Jesus pray and worked to create the kingdom of heaven on the earth, so all of us can live freely?

Some 2000 years ago, Jesus delivered the sermon "Blessed are the peace makers" on Mt. Beatitude, I was there and felt the power of that statement. I walked where Jesus walked on via Dela Rosa; I was baptized in the river Jordan where Jesus was baptized. Symbolically, I accepted Jesus’ message to become a peace maker by drenching myself in the holy water.

The role of people of religions is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill. I ask Rev. Robert Jefferess, Rev. Pat Robertson, Rev. Fred Phelps and Rev. Terry Jones to walk the journey of peace with me.

Pastor, Muslims Meet to Discuss Quran
Published : Monday, 13 Sep 2010, 4:52 PM CDT

Richard Ray
FOX 4 News
Adapted for Web by Tracy DeLatte, myFOXdfw.com

DALLAS - First Baptist Church of Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress said he has no regrets about calling Islam an evil religion. But on Sunday he gave a warm welcome to a group of Muslims visiting his church.

It was an unusual meeting of the minds. A pair of Muslim leaders showed up unexpectedly wanting to talk to the pastor, not sure what kind of reception they’d get.

“We have some very special guests here this morning. Leaders, members of the Islamic faith in Dallas and I want you to join me in giving them the warmest First Baptist welcome you can,” Jeffress said to his congregation.

Muslim Mike Ghouse was part of that small delegation and afterward met with Jeffress to discuss the Quran.

“He asked us to stand up and there was a good welcome. It was beautiful. I really liked that,” Ghouse.

He is convinced that Jeffress and most Americans have only read mistranslations of the Quran, where ugly language about Christians and Jews has been incorrectly inserted.

“What he said about the Quran and Islam I agree with him. He has read the wrong translation. To find the truth, to be peacemakers, we have to find the truth for the sake of a secure America. His statements are divisive and offense,” Ghouse said.

A study last month by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that over the past five years the percentage of Americans with a positive view of Islam has dropped dramatically from 41 to 30 percent.

Jeffress said he enjoyed his meeting with Ghouse and the others, but still believes he has read an accurate translation. He expresses no regret for what he’s said about the religion.

“I have to regrets at all. I think some of my statements have been mischaracterized simply because the whole statement wasn’t given. I don’t believe most Muslims are terrorists. I don’t think most Muslims oppress women. But there is something within the religion of Islam itself that I believe incites violence,” he said.

Jeffress said he thinks he can disagree in a loving and kind way.

“I think we need to quit walking on egg shells. I think we do need to tell the truth. We tell it in love. But we still tell the truth,” he said.

Ghouse and the others involved in the meeting said they’d like to meet with Jeffress again in the future to have a deeper discussion.
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I will continue with the points later.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Islam and Pluralism offering pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on the issues of the day, his work is expressed in 22 blogs and 3 websites listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Dallas Quraan Conference 2010

DALLAS QURAAN CONFERENCE
SUNDAY 12/05/10

Myths are manufactured about others; it is an old business of maligning others to have a gain. Qur’aan and Islam are no exception. It all started in 1142 by the Monastery of Abbey who were paid to deliberately mistranslate Quraan to foster hate towards Muslims in the name of Christianity and then in 1922, the hate was resuscitated towards Christians and Jews by a Muslim Hilali Khan.

Thank God for the comments at Dallas Morning News, thank God for opening people’s hearts and minds to share what is bothering them. I want to thank abh00 for sharing the following statement, “In fact, in this very book, it states that they are to pretend to be friends with non-Muslims in order to take advantage of their non-Muslim counterparts in order to force their beliefs upon our society.” This is one of the strongest reasons to hold the conference. Please highlight the verse from the Qur’aan that even matches closely with the statement. Let’s do it in open public forum to remove the phobias and fears based on hearsay and propaganda. One of my friends suggested that it would be great Christmas Gift to Christians and Americans to remove the fears and ill-will from all our hearts and towards each other.

Unless Pastor Jeffress wants another date, I want to announce Sunday, December 5th to hold a conference to demystify the myths propagated out there. You cannot get a better challenge than this, bring all the fears, all the hearsay and all the propaganda, let’s put it all on the table and find solutions. Let's have a civil dialogue and address those issues.

We owe it to our country; we owe it to our nation to build safe and secure America, where no American lives in fear, anxiety or discomfort. We cannot let anything destroy the social cohesiveness of our nation. Join me with your skepticism and good will, let's find the way forward. We are all Americans with a common goal; peace and prosperity of every one of the 301 Million Americans.

Mike Ghouse