Henry G. Brinton

Jordan’s minister of Islamic affairs recently ordered imams throughout the country to preach peace or face banishment from the pulpit. “You clerics are our ground forces against the extremists,” Hayel Dawood said.

A move by Jordan’s imams toward a middle path is the right one to take. Islam is full of positive messages of charity, respect and tolerance.

Not long after the minister’s edict, here in the U.S., the Washington National Cathedral hosted its first Muslim prayer service. This was part of the cathedral’s mission to be a house of prayer for all people, and to elevate moderate religious voices. A Muslim spokesman saw this service as a sign that the Christian community is supporting the religious freedom of Muslims.

Both efforts are well-intentioned, and may have very positive results. But I worry that such attempts run the risk of abandoning certain core convictions. In Jordan, religious freedom is being sacrificed. At the Washington National Cathedral, Christian identity may become diluted.

Welcome strangers

Fortunately, extremism can be fought by addition rather than by subtraction. Specifically, by adding an emphasis on hospitality in religious gatherings. Hospitality is a practice at the heart of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, but we often ignore it. I am convinced that welcoming strangers not only leads to greater understanding between people but also draws us closer to God.

Abraham is the father of all three of these monotheistic faiths, and he is renowned for his hospitality. In the Bible, Abraham welcomes three strangers and discovers they are the Lord (Genesis 18:1-15). When I visited Istanbul with an interfaith group last summer, I was pleased to see in the palace museum an artifact called “Abraham’s saucepan.” From the earliest days, there has been a link between Abraham and hospitality.

Christians, Jews and Muslims can all counter extremism by making hospitality a central part of their religious practices. As people eat, worship and work together, they discover that strangers really are not so strange.

Christians and Jews can accept Muslim invitations to fast-breaking dinners during Ramadan, and then return the invitation at social events in their congregations. Table conversations build relationships, especially if people talk about common concerns such as child rearing and neighborhood safety. Theology tends to divide, while shared community concerns bring people together.

For example, members of various faiths worshiped together this Thanksgiving, the one true interfaith American holiday. Music and prayers from each tradition were offered, and statements given about individual thanksgivings. In Fairfax, Va., the Ezher (Bloom) Mosque joined two Presbyterian congregations this year, and Imam Bilal Ankaya said that “we need to be grateful to God (because) we live in a country where we feel safe and secure.”

Community service

Christians, Jews and Muslims can also work together for the good of our communities. To honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community began organizing blood drives across the U.S. in 2011. Its members did this to affirm their belief that life is sacred. In three years, they have organized more than 900 blood drives, helping to save potentially more than 100,000 lives. In this effort, they partnered with the American Red Cross and a number of churches and synagogues.

Members of different faiths can also organize food collections for the hungry, blanket drives for refugees and home-building projects in conjunction with groups such as Habitat for Humanity. Not every positive interfaith relationship develops face-to-face; sometimes, the strongest bonds develop when people work shoulder-to-shoulder.

Showing hospitality to strangers is a powerful way to counter extremism because people who eat, pray and work together are far less likely to demonize one another. It can guide our communities to a middle path without sacrificing core convictions because hospitality is already a practice that is deeply rooted in the three Abrahamic traditions.

We need this today, more than ever, as youths attack U.S. sailors in Istanbul and as leaders in America, such as Oklahoma Republican state Rep. John Bennett, make anti-Islam comments. The cure for such extremism is not the subtraction of free speech, but the addition of events that get people of different faiths eating, drinking and talking together.

Henry G. Brinton is pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia and author of “The Welcoming Congregation: Roots and Fruits of Christian Hospitality.”