At the opening of a Full Council Meeting in
Oldham
in the summer, Islamic prayers
were led by an Imam.
The new Mayor of Oldham is a Muslim
and the Imam-led prayer repeats the pattern
of the Mayor before last, who was also a
Muslim. The Qu’ran section read out talked
about ‘those who have gone astray, and those
who have earned [Allah’s] anger’ traditionally
interpreted
as meaning
Jews
and
Christians. Therefore the Council, were in
effect, being encouraged to not be like Jews
or Christians.
Greenbelt: lost roots
Christian Concern
At the end of August, the Greenbelt festival
hosted Islamic Sufi chanting and meditation, describing it as one of the ‘ways we
worshipped at Greenbelt 2017’.
This marked a significant break from the
festival’s Christian roots. Greenbelt’s website
describes Muhammad
as
‘the Prophet
(pbuh)’. Creative Director of the Festival,
Paul Northup said that the word ‘Christian’
had become ‘more slippery and vexed’.
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