Photo credit Bob van Hesse

Thoughts on shared prayer

Christians and Muslims together number roughly one half of the world’s population today. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder as equals before God, whether we call out in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Swahili or Mi’kMaq. We share a common faith in a God who loves and saves us, but we rarely experience that faith together. When we engage in prayer together, we consciously step together into the circle of God's love.

Not surprisingly, members and congregations of each faith vary widely in their willingness to pray with those of other faiths. Tradition, culture and politics can all impact the freedom we have to pray together.  At the most basic level, we can pray at the same time but separately, each in their own places of worship. When this is the only option available, it can still be a powerful symbol of our shared faith.

Some Muslims and Christians are willing and able to create times and spaces for interfaith prayer. We have gathered some thoughts on creating interfaith prayer moments in the hope of avoiding unintentional distress and opening the door to all the ways in which we can share our common relationship with God.

Types of Prayer

• Salat - Formal Muslim prayer done five times daily in Arabic. Some mosques welcome outsiders to be present during salat; in general, non-Muslims are not encouraged to engage in formal salat. Non-Muslims may be invited to sit in a separate area to the side or the back of Muslim worshippers.
  
• Du’a - Informal personal prayer
  

• Christian liturgical prayer - Some Christians denominations have prayer that is more formal and ritualized than others. These forms and rituals are sometimes called liturgy. Most Christian denominations prefer and many mandate that those who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus do not take part in communion. Many denominations do not permit Christians of another denomination to receive communion in their churches. A few Christian churches offer communion to anyone who participates in the worship service.
  

Interfaith prayer service at St. Edward the Confessor Episcopal Church, Wayzata, MN  Photo credit Paige Keiffer, Wayzata Sun Sailor

Music

• Most Muslims do not sing hymns as Christians do. Muslim worship generally does include what is called a “lyrical recitation” of the Quran.
  
• If Christians sing hymns during a joint service, the lyrics should not be Trinitarian or refer to the divinity or atonement of Jesus.

A Place for Prayer

• Some Muslims would not be comfortable worshiping in any space that is used regularly for Christian worship. For others, a worship space is acceptable as long as it does not have images of Jesus or crosses displayed. Still other Muslims are willing to pray in these spaces, although many would be prefer a more neutral setting.
• Christians may or may not be comfortable praying in a mosque or other dedicated Muslim prayer space. If possible it is often best to find a relatively neutral space that is not too distracting to either group.
  
• On entering a prayer space, Muslims take off their shoes and women cover their heads. Even if visiting women are not required to cover their heads, it is gracious to do so. The custom at some mosques is for the headcovering to conceal all of a woman’s hair. Youtube videos provide tutorials on creating a hijab. Most often visitors are welcome to be present, observe and/or pray silently, but not to join in with the formal salat prayers. Non-Muslims will usually be seated behind or perhaps to the side of the congregation.
  
• Some Christian churches expect worshipers to be silent as soon as they enter the worship space, while others allow quiet conversation until the worship service is formally begun.

Format for Prayer

One successful model has leaders of each faith leading various portions of the service. In this way leadership is shared, everyone is able to enter fully into at least one part of the service, and all have the opportunity to learn from those of other faiths.  We have attached a sample of such a service. It is important in planning that all participating faiths be well represented both in planning and presiding over the service.

Sensitivity to Language

Islam states that God has no partners, is not begotten and has not begotten another. Muslims do not refer to God as Father (or Mother), nor do they generally refer to themselves as children of God. They do refer to people of faith as brothers and sisters. See also our Language and Etiquette page.