Celebration of Abraham at the Woodland, California Mosque

By Ras H. Siddiqui

 

There have been many attempts at building bridges of understanding across the Abrahamic faiths in America. The idea has been to bring together followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on a single platform so that they can hold religious discussions and develop friendships while dipping into their common origins starting with the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim (AS) to Muslims).

One such continuing effort has been a grouping identified as “Celebration of Abraham” which was incubated in Davis, California in the aftermath of 9/11. The mission of the organization is “To create a welcoming tent for all people in our community to nurture a sense of compassion, respect, and appreciation and to foster learning and understanding among the three Abrahamic traditions.” 

The Celebration of Abraham event changes its gathering venues, and we attended one such well-attended one on February 1, 2026, this time at the beautiful (year old) Woodland, California Mosque just north of Davis. The theme for this event was “Returning to Abraham: Reflections in Courage.” This writer has had the opportunity to report on the earliest gatherings of this effort over two decades ago, and it is great to see that it is continuing despite the national and international challenges that just refuse to go away. That members of the regional community still carry optimism along with them these days is commendable.

The afternoon started with a brief instruction by Helen Roland Cramer, Chairperson of the Celebration of Abraham Davis, and a member of the Methodist Church. Helen reminded us that the first event of this grouping was held in Woodland. And speaking of Woodland, introduced next was local Muslim community leader Khalid Saeed who has been instrumental in both mosque and bridge building in the area for over half a century. As one of the founders of the Woodland Mosque starting in the 1970’s Khalid shared a brief history of the area community and the grand opening of this Mosque a year ago. He said that it was an honor to see the three faiths coming together here and then introduced the three speakers representing each one, namely Father John Boll, Rabbi Leah Julian, and Imam Riaz Ahmed Qadri. Their speeches were long and informative, but unfortunately we have to be very brief here.

Father John Boll, Diocese of Sacramento (retired) spoke first. He went deep into the scriptures and religious history on Abraham’s domestic life, courage, and how his name was  transformed. “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5). He spoke about how Abraham’s wife Sarah, who lacked a child, grew impatient, and offered her maid servant Hagar (Hajar) to her husband to bear him an offspring, out of which Ishmael (Ismail AS) was born. It is through Ishmael that the Muslim community is tied to Abraham. Later in life Sarah too was able to conceive a son, Isaac (Ishaq AS) and things got a little bit more complex. Father John left us something to ponder over. Abraham was faithful. Will we be faithful to the Lord?

Rabbi Leah Julian, Director of Education and Youth at Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis, spoke next. She said that she would share what the classic (Jewish) scriptures say about Abraham’s courage and follow up with her own opinion on Abraham’s courage. The ancient Rabbis saw Abraham as a man of great faith and courage. There are several stories in the Torah regarding his courage. The Rabbis of the early times interpreted some of his doings as courage, especially his stand against prevailing idol worship, because of his belief in the one God. He had the courage to do the unpopular thing (smashing idols) at the time. She said that on some occasions (but not always), Abraham even stood up to the ultimate authority for what he believed was right. The Rabbi ended her speech with a heartfelt appeal for community unity through caring.

For the Islamic view on the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) we heard from Imam Riaz Ahmed Qadri of the Woodland Mosque. As the venue was this mosque’s community hall the Imam warmly welcomed everyone as a host. According to Islam, Allah (SWT) sent 124,000 prophets to guide mankind. And Ibrahin (AS) was one of them. Due to his  status, close to 55 percent of the people on this planet not only know but follow  Abraham. That is one reason that this day and gathering is significant, he said. In Islamic theology we say that Ibrahim was a friend of Allah (SWT). It is written that Ibrahim turned away from falsehood and followed the right path. This demanded courage at the time, faith over fear, he said. Ibrahim (AS) set a good example for all of us, said Imam Qadri.

To be fair, as has already been mentioned, the presentations by all three speakers were certainly more detailed than what was included in this report but hopefully the direction of the content has been conveyed. And we will have to skip the details of the lengthy question and answer session moderated by Michael Hirsch (also from the Congregation Bet Haverim) here, except to add that it was a vigorous exchange and took up more time than it was scheduled to have. Due to time constraints, the scheduled “Table discussions” which were to follow had to be skipped, and we went to the “Bread and water ritual” which best reflects the sharing aspect of our lives as members of the human family.

Chris Erdman, a Director at Joshua’s House, next gave a short presentation on it, the first of its kind hospice home located in Yolo County for dying unhoused patients who are discharged from hospitals and have no place to go. People who would like to donate to this great cause can contact YoloCares ( https://yolocares.org/  ) or by calling 530.758.5566 for more information. There need to be options other than dying alone and unwanted in our community, so please be generous.

The last item on the agenda was presented by Randy Ferris, composer of Children of Abraham who led us in an Acapella version of the “Children of Abraham” song. Thank you, Randy! It was a befitting ending to a great afternoon as the words “One truth, one love, one faith in God above. Come together children of Abraham” concluded the formalities.

After the event, visitors who had not been here before got a guided tour of the main mosque. They took the opportunity to see it from inside and admired its beauty. And speaking of beauty, a closing thought. We did not gather at this Children of Abraham event to rectify all that has been going on in the world. That is not possible for us. But there is certainly a need for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to keep this conversation going. It is through this interaction that we may discover more in common and even beautiful things to share.