 Week
of Prayer for
World
Peace
Newsletter
July 2003
On
Tuesday 1st April I visited the Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre
(Hounslow Mosque) where our gathering for prayer for peace is to take place
on 19th October at 3 p.m. I was graciously received by the Imam, Sheikh
Nisar Ahmed Hussain-Sulaimani, and entertained to lunch. The order of service
drawn up by Sister Regina Baumgart and me was shown to the Imam, and received
his approval.
Concerning
travel to the mosque, there are two points to be added to the information
given in our prayer leaflet. Firstly, the bus no. H28 does not actually
go from the Hounslow West Underground Station. To catch the bus, turn left
out of the station, and walk about a hundred and fifty yards. Secondly,
there is ample parking space available at the mosque. Even if the car park
should be full, more parking space is available in the grounds of the school
next door. The car park is at the rear of the mosque, as are the main entrances.
We are
all asked to take off our shoes on entering the mosque. Ladies will be
on one side of the prayer hail, and gentlemen on the other. Ladies are
asked to be modestly covered, including the wearing of a head scarf. Refreshments
will be provided by the mosque committee after the meeting.
When I
asked the Imam if there was anything he would especially like to be included
in the service, he requested that every person taking part in this devotion
should say a prayer for the people of Iraq. We cannot know what the situation
in Iraq will be in the middle of October, but of one thing we can be certain,
that the suffering will still be going on.
In 2004,
the Week of Prayer for World Peace will be from 17th to 24th October. This
annual Week of Prayer was inaugurated by the then Archbishop of Canterbury,
Dr. Michael Ramsey, at a service in Westminster Abbey on 19th October
1974, so we are seeking appropriate ways of celebrating our thirtieth anniversary
next year. Since 2004 also marks the 400th anniversary of the first solemn
opening of the Guru Granth Sahib, this also will be borne in mind when
planning next year's activities.
At our
June meeting, the Committee asked Fergus Capie and Megumi Hirota to form
a working party to investigate ways of extending knowledge of and participation
in the Week of Prayer for World Peace overseas. We look forward with confidence
to seeing the fruit of their labours.
News has
been received of two recent publications by members of our Sponsoring Body.
An anthology called "Timeless Prayers for Peace" has been produced
by Geoffrey Duncan, and is available from the United Reformed Church, Tavistock
Place, London WC 1 H 9RT at ten pounds ninety nine pence. One of the members
of our Committee, Roger Grainger, has written a book called "A Time Like
This" which can be obtained for five pounds ninety nine pence from him
at 7 Park Grove, Horbury, Wakefield WF4 6EE.
Roger
writes "This book is a cry to embrace the secular world — not by surrendering
to its values, but by engaging with it in love." I think this
is a suitable occasion for us to acknowledge the inspired and painstaking
work Roger has done for us as the principal compiler of our annual prayer
leaflet over the past four years. It is all too easy for us to take his
contribution to the work for granted. Let us show our appreciation
by sending our contributions for the next prayer leaflet to him as soon
as possible at the Wakefield address above.
We offer
our sincere condolences to our Sponsor Gerald Drewett on the death of his
wife Marian on l6th April. On 11th September 2002 Gerald addressed a mixed
audience of Muslims and Quakers in his home town of Hertford. I close this
newsletter with a small but significant quotation from what he said on
that occasion:
"There
was a Jew called Jesus of Nazareth who understood that the only way to
conquer violence is to transform it by surrounding it with love. He did
just that, and violence put him to death. But for two thousand years, we
have continued to meet violence with violence and have produced hell on
earth. But we can still choose life. We can still transform the violence
within our human condition. But it means living by the belief that God
is our refuge and strength".
SIDNEY
HINKES, Secretary WPWP |