Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 152

PROGRAM DE
Friday, December 4, 2009
the Muslim woman should behave (from how she should dress to how she should view herself), but the individual woman is the one who wishes to determine this for herself. This panel of Muslim women professionals will compare their different societies in the context of who the Muslim woman is, how society perceives her, and the challenges she faces in defining herself and her individuality. The panellists will explain how taking an active role in society will secure the right of Muslim women to be who they want to be while they also explore the challenges and barriers they face in taking this step. In discussing the actions women are taking to define themselves, attendees will be inspired to help their sisters achieve their goals.
Janaan Hashim is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney practicing in Illinois with Amal Law Group, LLC. She co-founded this firm, the first of its kind in the US, with five other Muslim women. Ms Hashim writes a legal column for Arab Horizon newspaper in Chicago. She is also an adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. From 2004 to 2008 she was the spokesperson for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
Hana Bubshaitis Special Development Program Coordinator for Communication Engineering with Saudi Aramco. In 2008, the US State Department chose Hana to participate in its Legal and Business Fellowship Program with 27 other Middle Eastern women. She studied Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and was then placed with Motorola, Inc as a Human Resources Coordinator. Hana also travelled the US giving talks on cross-cultural Issues.
Dr Shohreh Shahsavandi is an associate professor of English Language in the Ferdawsi University of Mashhad, Iran. She holds a PhD in English Language from the Allameh Tabatabaee University, Tehran. She is an expert on the rights of women and has presented a number of papers on such subjects as 'Feminism, Language and Religion and Translatability of the Glorious Qur'an' at different domestic and international seminars. She has also written a book entitled 'The Qur'anic Lexicon.
Meditation: The Heart of All Things
Laurence Freeman Room 220
Interactive Workshop
Meditation is an ideal tool to promote reconciliation and sustainable global peace. This is because it is such a widely accepted practice. Although different traditions may meditate differently, meditation itself is universal. The Christian tradition of meditation is rooted in the essentially contemplative teachings of Jesus on prayer. The theology of Christian meditation was first developed by the early Fathers of the Church and practised by the Fathers and Mothers in the desert, before flowering in the richness of the Christian mystical tradition. Central to meditation in the monastic tradition is the radical simplicity and poverty of spirit of the 'prayer of one word'. The hesychast tradition, or the prayer of the heart as distinct from mental or liturgical prayer, was refreshed, restored and reintegrated into the mainstream of Christian life as a daily practice by some of the great teachers of our time, such as John Main (1926-82], founder of The World Community for Christian Meditation. During this interactive workshop. Fr Laurence Freeman will explore the many facets of Christian meditation.
148 PWR Parliament of the World's Religions
Laurence Freeman is a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto and Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation. Born in England and educated by the Benedictines, he studied English Literature at Oxford University. Before entering monastic life his experience included the United Nations, banking and journalism. In the monastery his spiritual teacher was John Main, with whom he studied and with whom he helped establish the first Christian Meditation Centre in London.
INTERRELIGIOUS 11:30am-1:00pm
Plenary Hall
Panel Discussion
11:30am-1:00pm
INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
Respecting and Defending Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles: An Islamic Global Perspective
Dr Mahmud Erol KILIC
In this session, Prof Dr Mahmud Erol KILIC, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Member States (PUIC), will discuss the efforts of the PUIC to foster coordination among peoples of the world in order to respect and defend human rights and humanitarian principles and establish peace based on justice. An interfaith panel of respondents will offer reflections and questions followed by a question and answer period with the audience.
Professor Mahmud Erol KILIC is the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Member States IPUIC). The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations. It is the collective voice of the Muslim world, aiming to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.
Interreligious Partnerships
for Ending Hunger
Ray Buchanan
Amjad-Mohammed Saleem
Room 101
Panel Discussion
Twenty-five thousand people die every day from hungerrelated causes. Eradicating poverty is a goal that members of all religious faiths can agree on. This program will challenge participants to move beyond compassion to justice by teaching them how to establish intentional partnerships between interreligious, faith-based, nongovernmental organisations. These partnerships can foster mutual understanding among diverse groups, as well as help broaden the sense of community by demonstrating the power of working together. This program is aimed at creating a strategic interreligious response to ending world hunger. Ending hunger will only happen if people of faith become leaders in creating a just world, which no longer tolerates twenty-five thousand members of the human family dying every day from hunger. Working together as people of faith we can end hunger in our lifetime.