Christians and Muslims have fought over their differences for centuries, yet the one thing the combatants have always had in common, the one indivisible element on any battlefield, is the blood they shed.

Once spilled, it is all tragically the same.

Baptists and Muslims in the suburban South might seem unlikely sources of reconciliation between the faiths as the nation remembers the 10th anniversary of the most deadly terrorist attacks in U.S. history. But that’s exactly what will happen Sunday, Sept. 11, when people of both faiths gather at a Baptist church in Huntersville to donate blood together, and to build on the unique bond between the leaders of the two congregations.

“After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, I contacted several local churches to try to allay some of the misgivings people were having” about Islam, says Nadeem Faizi who, as elected president of Huntersville’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, leads in the way an Imam would for a larger mosque. “I didn’t get much of a response from anyone else, but Doug did respond, and we
became friends.”

“Doug” is Doug Danner, senior pastor at the 1,100-member First Baptist Church of Huntersville, and that friendship between the two faith leaders has grown, fed by the pair’s openness, curiosity and mutual respect.

Early on in their relationship, at Faizi’s invitation, Danner attended prayers at the Ahmadiyya mosque, a remodeled one-story house on Hambright Road near Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road.

“I had my shoes off and was in there like everybody else,” Danner says. “I was honored to be there. I truly understood the significance of being invited and welcomed there.”

During the visit, Faizi sat with Danner and showed the pastor how the Quran calls on believers to be tolerant of other faiths, a view easily overshadowed by the fanaticism of radical Muslims whose infliction of terror leaves indelible images — and perceptions — in the minds of non-Muslims; and by the stereotypical reactions of those with little understanding of Islam and who view all who observe the faith as evil.

Persecution

In fact, Ahmadiyya Muslims, who number in the tens of millions in nearly 200 countries, are characterized by their commitment to peace and to bettering their communities. It’s that commitment that led the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to launch a nationwide series of about 200 blood drives on Sept. 11, with a goal of collecting some 30,000 pints of blood in honor of those who lost their lives in the 2001 attacks.

“The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has strongly condemned violence and terrorism, both before and after Sept. 11, 2001,” says Naseem Mahdi, vice president and missionary-in-charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA and coordinator of the national blood drive effort. “But we recognize that it’s not enough to just condemn it. We want to show our solidarity and respect for those we lost by spending this month in a way that will help save lives.”

For many Americans, Sept. 11, 2001, marked their first real exposure to the Muslim faith.

“It was the worst possible introduction, by the worst people, under the worst conditions,” says Mahdi. “Islam has nothing to do with the crimes perpetrated on Sept. 11, 2001. The terrorists who took 3,000 innocent lives cannot claim to be true Muslims who follow the teachings of our faith. Our faith was also hijacked on that day, and we want to take the banner of Islam back from those who exploit our religion.”

Amen to that, Danner says.

“I think giving blood on the anniversary of 9/11 is a powerful statement concerning that tragedy in which so much blood was shed,” he says. “Sometimes we forget that the radical forces that carried out the attack 10 years ago have killed more Muslims than any other group of people. Nadeem and his people are peaceful, loving people. While we have different faith perspectives, we join them and all people seeking peace among neighbors.”

While the Ahmadiyya Community’s commitment to peace might be a pleasant surprise to some Americans with little real knowledge of the Muslim faith, its views have led to trouble in places where followers of more radical fundamentalist Islam hold power.

In 2005, Muslim leaders in Indonesia, the world’s most populated Muslim nation, issued a fatwa (or religious edict) declaring that the Ahmadis’ beliefs make them heretical. The fatwa has been blamed for a series of attacks on Ahmadis and their property by fundamentalists.

“We are under a constant threat in Pakistan and several other countries from the same hatefilled mentality which caused the 9/11 tragedy here,” Faizi says. “Because of this we turn to God most humbly and try to get along with everyone the best way possible. We are of course delighted to be in the U.S.A., where the right to worship and freedom of religion have taken the worry of persecution away from us.”

Once that first lesson was delivered on Danner’s visit to the mosque, Faizi handed the Quran to the pastor and told him to keep it. Danner reciprocated with a Bible for Faizi.

They were perfect gifts for two men with voracious hunger for knowledge. Faizi, 58, came to the U.S. in 1969, graduated from Davidson College and teaches finance at Guilford Technical Community College. Danner, 54, is a self-professed North Carolina “mountain boy” who served in the Navy and was a nuclear physicist before going into the ministry.

The interfaith friends have continued to share the tenants of their beliefs. That kind of respectful exchange of ideas is not only beneficial, Danner insists, it’s absolutely necessary for a collection of disparate people from varied cultures and backgrounds to become a true community.

“It’s time for us to model how we can disagree, but still love one another and live with one another,” Danner says. “Now, that doesn’t mean I’m any less vehement about what I believe. But my faith requires me to love Nadeem and his congregation. That’s not hard to do because they are peaceful, loving people.”

People whose blood types are determined by the presence or absence of antigens, not by whether they are Christian or Muslim, Arab or Anglo, Baptist or Ahmadi.

The donors on Sept. 11 will be human.

Just like the people who died 10 years ago in New York, near the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa.

Just like all of us.

Want to Donate?

The joint blood drive with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and First Baptist Church-Huntersville will be Sunday, Sept. 11, from 1-5 p.m. at First Baptist, 119 North Old Statesville Road. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made at: www.cbcc.us/donate (the Sponsor Code is “life”).