Leader's message of peace, dialogue

Leader's message of peace, dialogue
Former president of Iran draws crowd in suburban Chicago
Originally published Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006

By Emily Ngo and Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writers

Although the question of whether former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami would obtain a visa to visit the United States weighed on their minds, members of a small Streamwood mosque pressed ahead with plans to accommodate him.
The phones at Bait-Ul-Ilm, located on South Bartlett Road, rang day and night with people asking to come by busloads, said mosque founder Sheik Maulana Faezi.
But Saturday afternoon, when Khatami visited the mosque to speak on the integration of religion into modern lifestyles, only a select few were invited to see him.
He spoke in Farsi to an audience of about 300 - members of whom were not just Muslims but leaders of other faiths as well.
"People may wonder why we used this tiny, little center, why we didn't go to a big stadium," Faezi said. "But the people here are from different areas of life, and it shows how much people appreciate views on civilization and humanity."
A political philosopher, Khatami founded the theory of "Dialogue Among Civilizations" as a response to Samuel Huntington's "Clash of the Civilizations" and prompted the United Nations to dub 2001 the "Year of the Dialogue Among Civilizations."
He continued Saturday to spread this message of peaceful interaction.
Khatami, who served as president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, was granted a visa Tuesday for his private visit, despite the barring of Iranian officials from traveling within the country - first enforced in 1979 - and despite some protests by legislators, including Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania who dubbed Khatami "one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic fascist regime."
The ban is not applicable to Khatami - a more moderate leader than his hard-line successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - because he is no longer an official, according to the State Department.
He is not representing Ahmadinejad and has not planned meetings with any U.S. officials, according to the State Department.
Saturday at Bait-Ul-Ilm, Khatami arrived with some delegates and was in good humor, exchanging jokes with Faezi.
He then spoke to the diverse crowd.
"God created man, but beyond creating man is most proud of giving him knowledge and understanding," Khatami said through translation by Faezi.
The "common reality" among people of all faiths is that their religions deal with "essence and soul," but dealing with these components is no longer a priority to many, Khatami said.
"Blame those who give a bad explanation of religion to society; that has lead society to distance itself from religion," he said. "The materialistic world becomes the focus of attention. Science gets more important because it deals with the material matter of the world."
Science and technology are benefits to society, but can draw people further away from religion, Khatami said.
But wars and periods of suffering after those "have prepared humanity to accept the balanced approach," he said. "Yes, you should attend to your bodily needs and material needs as well as the benefits of science and technology, but you can mix it with a spiritual experience."
Pushing his message of dialogue among civilizations, he emphasized that now is a "great opportunity for dialogue and cooperation among people truly of faith," Khatami said. "I don't mean extremists or terrorists who exploit religion, but people who have a proper, balanced view of religion."
That message was also delivered to the Islamic Society of North America's annual conference in Rosemont on Saturday evening.
Khatami said the United States is a powerful nation with enormous potential to shape the world, especially with the help of its Muslims residents.
"If this potential of capability is used correctly, the entire human society could benefit from it," he said.
Khatami also addressed the conflicts Muslims and non-Muslims alike face in the modern worlds, such as terrorism and wars in the Middle East. Most of all, they have a hard time understanding each other.
"We must elucidate who we are as Muslims and who they are," he said to the conference, which is expected to attract 40,000 attendees over the Labor Day weekend. "And how this us and them can come together to build a better world."
Also planned for Khatami's private tour of the United States is an appearance at the Washington National Cathedral and visits with the U.N. General Assembly and possibly former president Jimmy Carter.