Lutheran religious leaders discussed the similarities of Islam, Christianity and Judaism on Monday during two hour-long forums at Valparaiso University.

The public talks were a forum entitled "Muslims and Christians: Prospects for Friendship" where two speakers shared their experiences with Muslims and the Middle East.

The Rev. Saïd Ailabouni, Senior Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in LaGrange, spoke about growing up Christian in Nazareth.

Carol Schersten LaHurd, coordinator of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Peace Without Walls," spoke about her work, including teaching in Yemen and Damascus.

They hoped to "help people understand that Muslims and Christians live together in the Middle East and can do that here," Ailabouni said. However, "nothing I can say today will make as much a difference as meeting someone of a different faith," he said.

He grew up among Muslims, and "because of my personal experience as a child, I could never think of (all) Muslims as enemies or terrorists. I think of them as neighbors and friends. There are extremists," Ailabouni told the crowd.

The three major religions share the concepts of sovereign God, Abraham as spiritual father, God's laws and the importance of prayer, LaHurd said.

They share many prophets, and Islam shares the ideas of universality of the religion and missionary work with Christianity, as well as the concept of final judgment and afterlife, she added.

Barb and Fred Matzdorf of Lake of the Four Seasons, participants in the university's seniors programs, felt they got a better idea of what Muslims' beliefs are.

Paul Tully, a Merrillville Catholic, said the talk reaffirmed what he learned from a Jewish son-in-law and a Muslim son and daughter-in-law, and he agreed with the Matzdorfs that the university and Lutherans were on top of fostering understanding and "creating situations that people can participate in."

"It was really interesting to learn about the differences and the comparisons," said freshman Kalyn Unger, who attended for her freshman core class, but it was the first time she'd heard comparisons or much about Islam, although she's still curious about its concepts of afterlife, she said. Abdul Aziz and Thamen Alshehail, two Saudi Arabian students learning English at Interlink on campus felt the talks were good and comparisons can correct misunderstandings. Alshehail said being in the United States has corrected his misconceptions of Americans.

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