Prof. Najeeba Syeed

Yesterday's Chicago Theological Seminary Reflections Zoom session featured Prof. Najeeba Syeed, who is currently on the faculty at Claremont School of Theology but will join CTS this summer as Associate Professor in Muslim and Interreligious Studies. Prof.Syeed's presentation reflected on a Sura of the Koran which deals particularly with the idea of justice, and she outlined the main features of what could be called a Muslim conception of justice. My sense of the key idea is that the Muslim notion of Justice emphasizes the community in contrast to our Western (and especially American, capitalist) notion which emphasizes the individual. The Muslim concept is closer to what we call "restorative justice," which, in the case of a criminal act, brings the perpetrator and the victim (and family) together to restore the health and balance destroyed by the crime (as opposed to just punishing the perpetrator, usually with prison time, and leaving the victim(s) to fend for themselves with the aftermath). She has recently published a book titled Critical Perspectives on Interreligious Education Experiments in Empathy (Currents of Encounter), which looks very interesting, and has been active for some time in interfaith dialogue and peacemaking. She has been influenced by Quaker thought and practice (her B. A. is from  Guilford College in North Carolina, a Quaker college) and in her presentation, mentioned as a mentor, Elise Boulding. When Ellen heard that name, she perked up her ears. When Ellen was 19, she spent a summer working for the WILPF - Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - where her mother, Elizabeth Tollles, was very active. That summer, Ellen carried on a correspondence with Elise Boulding. She never met her, but felt she got to know her through that correspondence. Boulding is also a very interesting person. She wrote a book titled The Underside of History which is a study of the role of women in society from Paleolithic times to the present! Lots here to follow up on. Prof. Syeed will be a strong addition to the CTS faculty. I wish we lived close enough to CTS to be able to sit in on courses, but who knows - maybe I can via the internet! Meanwhile, these Wednesday Reflections on Zoom are sort of like going back to school - albeit in small pieces! Next Wednesday, the speaker will be Prof. Rachael Mikva, who is prof. of Jewish Studies. We are getting a good exposure to CTS's interfaith diversity, An interesting place for sure.

Prof. Najeeba Syeed

Elise Boulding  (1920-2010)

 Meanwhile, I am forging ahead on the Judas Maccabaeus project, collecting information and digitizing the cassette tapes. Today I found the libretto of the Oratorio online and downloaded it. Amazing what you can do these days! 

Ellen and I also do the NYT Spelling Bee every morning. It's a good way to get one's brain moving.