One of the biggest misunderstandings between Christians and Muslims relates to their respective views of the Prophet Muhammad and his character. Christians envision Muhammad as a violent, lustful, power-hungry figure who was, at best, duped into spreading false knowledge of God, or, at worst, intentionally drawing people to the devil.

Some very happy personal news: My husband and I welcomed our son, Adam Robert Duffner, in January. Thank you for your prayers in the lead-up to his delivery—both Adam and I are doing very well. A thread on the significance of his name: Adam is named after the first human created by God in the Bible and the Qur’an, the first person to have a relationship with God and the father of the diverse human family.

Time flies! We wrapped up my #IntroToIslamGU course this week (well, except for their final research papers...). It was such a pleasure to teach this wonderful group of students—and to learn from them, too. Here's what we've been up to over the last month or so (thread): During our week on “hot topics,” we first looked shari’a, commonly known as Islamic law. We discussed what it is and common misconceptions about it in the US. To prep, we listened to @OttomanHistory podcast's episode on it and watched a talk by @AQuraishiLandes.

I really enjoyed our two week unit on the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in #IntroToIslamGU. This thread covers what we did.

“What I find truly challenging is to communicate, and to understand myself, what Muhammad has meant to Muslims over the centuries.” -@JonathanACBrown We began by reading a standard biography of the Prophet, looking at his life and mission as attested to by the Islamic tradition. (Reading: Ch. 1 of Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction by @JonathanACBrown)

Among many US Catholics, there is a feeling (sometimes unstated and perhaps unconscious) that what goes on in Israel-Palestine is not ‘our’ issue. It’s framed as a Jewish-Muslim conflict that we can observe from a distance but that doesn’t really affect us. I observed this sense on a pilgrimage to Israel and the West Bank in early 2020, and have felt it even more this week, when Catholic Twitter has largely been very quiet on the events in Jerusalem and beyond.

This weekend I received the advance copy of my new book on Islamophobia, which releases next week. It looks GREAT!

A lot of thought went into the cover. It features an Islamic geometric pattern of interlocking stars & crosses, an artistic motif that Christians also adopted. The eight-pointed star has historically been a symbol of Islam, and the cross is a central symbol of the faith for Christians. The pattern is a Rorschach test of sorts—which symbol do you see first?

Georgetown undergrads #onhere, I'll be teaching an Intro to Islam course in the fall. If you're interested, sign up for THEO 050-01, which will meet MW 3:30-4:45. Spread the word! Description: "Twenty years after September 11, 2001 and a rise in Islamophobia, Islam remains a deeply misunderstood religion. This course introduces students to the diversity and depth of the Islamic religious tradition, and how it is lived by 1.8 billion Muslims globally..."

Today is the Feast of St. George, also known as Al-Khidr in Arabic. He is revered in both Christian and Muslim spirituality and brings our two communities together in beautiful ways, esp in the Middle East. The above photo is from a shrine to St. George in Mahis, Jordan. On May 6th each year, Christians and Muslims visit the shrine and an Orthodox Mass is held. Here a Muslim woman and my Catholic friend, Elham, are speaking to the local bishop.

This report contains what, to me, are some of Francis' most profound and theologically rich reflections on Muslim-Christian dialogue to date. Reported by @gerryorome. #CatholicMuslimBridge americamagazine.org/faith/2021/03/… "Many times one has to risk to take this step forward [in the dialogue]...There are some critics who say the pope is not courageous; he is mindless [incosciente], that he does things that are contrary to the Catholic doctrine, that it is a heretical step, that there are risks.”

Excerpts from Pope Francis' amazing, tear-jerking address at the interreligious meeting in Ur, birthplace of Abraham. #PopeFrancisInIraq #CatholicMuslimBridge vatican.va/content/france… "In those stars, Abraham saw the promise of his descendants; he saw us. Today we, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with our brothers and sisters of other religions, honour our father Abraham by doing as he did: we look up to heaven and we journey on earth."

We’re just a few months away from publication of my new book, #Islamophobia_WhatChristiansShouldKnow.
Here’s a thread to give you a chapter-by-chapter preview. Full title: ‘Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination.’ Will be published with @OrbisBooks in May 2021.

For his feast day, a thread on Pope Saint John Paul II and Islam. He was instrumental in putting the Catholic Church’s teaching on Muslims into practice. #CatholicMuslimBridge 1/ He constantly reiterated the Church's teaching that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. This teaching was originally declared in Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, from Vatican II. You can also find it in the catechism (841). 2/

I reviewed Gary Wills' book, What the Quran Means, for @americamag. Wills is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Catholic author.

In this thread, I summarize the book and outline some pros and cons I saw:
americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2… Wills' writes about his experience reading the Quran. He encountered familiar characters he knew from the Bible — Adam, Moses, Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist.

"The overall tenor [of the Quran] is one of mercy and forgiveness, which are evoked everywhere, almost obsessively."