Why I Teach About Peace: Dr. Irfan Omar
Inspired by an interreligious dialogue program he participated in as a youth, Omar now teaches stories that he knows have the power to shape how students choose to live their lives.
by Allison Dikanovic
This story first appeared in the Spring 2015 edition of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking’s Prints of Peace donor appreciation newsletter.
As a young college student in India, Dr. Irfan Omar participated in an interreligious dialogue program that has shaped the course of his life. Now an associate professor of theology at Marquette, he sparks conversation in his world religions classes by asking his students some of the same questions that were formative for him.
The question Omar is most passionate about is “How can we use interrelationships across religious traditions to create peace today?”
To answer this question he is especially interested in researching stories that provide examples of interreligious dialogue as a tool for spiritual growth and personal transformation. Through these stories students connect with and learn from powerful examples of religious teachings put into action.
The story that has been resonating most with his students this semester comes from the Middle Ages. It is the story of St. Francis of Assisi’s journey to Egypt and encounter with King Malik al-Kamil during the fifth crusade in 1219.
Omar has long been interested in the potential of this story to be interpreted in a way that can connect people of different faiths, different cultures, and different sides of conflict. He finally had the opportunity to research this story when he was awarded a Rynne Faculty Peacemaking Fellowship which is available because of donors like you. Now students are learning anew from this centuries old encounter you helped bring back to life.
St. Francis travelled to Egypt with the intention of meeting with the king. In an event unheard of in the time of the crusades, Francis was invited to stay as the king’s guest for a week. Both Francis and al-Malik walked away from this experience transformed. They learned about each other and acted in ways which we define as peacemaking.
Francis was moved by the Muslim spiritual practices he saw and al-Malik was moved by Francis’ courage. By 1229 al-Malik successfully negotiated a peace agreement with Frederick II.
Omar believes that investing in these types of relatively unknown interreligious narratives give students courage to dialogue with people who have different beliefs. The benefits of analyzing these types of stories are valuable to students in any major and can extend beyond the classroom. He said, “These stories can help you in whatever discipline or field of work you are in. These stories can help you be a bridge-builder, a peacemaker, and a good leader.”
