Adelaide, ‘the city of churches’, is a hectic place this time of the year. Known by locals as ‘mad march’, the city is full of festivals bringing artists and performers from around the world.
This year, as a part of the 18th Biennial of Australian Art, saw a Anasheed ceremony by members of the Al Rahma Islamic Society of Western Sydney.
As I queued up waiting to enter, I was fascinated to observe the other attendees. I spoke to a elderly Anglo-Celtic woman next to me, who told me she was quite excited and had been looking forward to the event.
Other attendees were a similar, although slightly younger demographic, all eager to witness a deeply spiritual Islamic practice.
Once the ceremony started, there was an awareness of our privilege, as outsiders, to share in this most intimate space. At the end of the ceremony, the audience gave a standing ovation.
I was left pondering on my way home; what had moved the audience to express such an enthusiastic response.
I suspect, or would like to think, it was more than just being entertained with something exotic and novel.
After all, what I and the others had just witnessed, and the Al-Rahma Islamic Society had just engaged in, was a form of interfaith dialogue, known as a dialogue of spirituality.
Research has shown these types of exchanges can be effective at breaking down prejudices and building respect.
The effect of such interaction can lead to a re-categorising of the other into what is termed ‘a common in-group category.’
Put in simpler terms, the other is now viewed as someone, like us, who strives in their own way for a relationship with the divine.
This is what I believe the audience was applauding. Members of the Al-Rahma Islamic Society had allowed us into their sacred space and we had been transformed by the experience.
These types of exchanges are vitally important if we are to mature as a multicultural/multifaith society.
Critics warn without these types of interactions we run the risk of becoming an “incoherent society of cultures isolated from each other, existing parallel to each other and united by nothing more than physical proximity and a nominal citizenship.”
It often takes trust and a degree of vulnerability to share such a spiritually intimate space with the other.
However, as the members of the Al-Rahma Islamic Society has shown, the benefits for the wider community, can certainly be worth the risk.
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