P K Niaz | The Peninsula
(September 24, 2019)
in Mardin, Turkey: Dialogues between different religions will help overcome misconceptions and the efforts by the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar is a welcome step in this regard, said Father Gabriel Akyuz (pictured), the metropolitan vicar of Mardin in southeastern Turkey.
“I have received an invitation from the vice-president of Istanbul’s Sehir University to attend a workshop on” Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) Covenants with Christian Communities” jointly organised by Qatar’s HBKU and Minnesota-based Caux Round Table (CRT) on October 5 and I will definitely attend that event,” Father Gabriel told The Peninsula.
The first workshop on this subject was held in January in Rome after CRT came to know about the covenants through Imam Asad Zaman, the Executive Director of Muslim American Society of Minnesota. Further studying John Andrew Morrow’s book on the subject, they were impressed about the subject and wanted to raise Muslim-Christian relations to a dignity of mutual respect and deep goodwill. The participants at the Rome conference were inspired by the importance of covenants as the true Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) and the need to study about their origins and text.
The head of the 1,600-year-old Syriac Orthodox Monastery in Mardin said there are almost one hundred Syriac Orthodox families in Mardin and they live here peacefully with their Muslim neighbours.
Dr. John Andrew Morrow 