Keep up the excellent work in bringing about a better understanding of Islam and Muslims, may Allah bless and guide you.

Dr. Liyalatali Takim, 
Professor Religious Studies
University of Denver

16 Sep 2002

Dear Raheel I'm just collecting my wits after the Film Festival and have just had time to give your site a thorough viewing. It quickly draws the viewer to the various topics It is very well designed and I'm going to add it to my links page. How about listing it as "Raheel Raza -- Spokesperson for Muslim Women"? or something like that.

Regards Ben Viccari, 
President CEJW

27 Sep 2002

Hi Raheel, Hey, this is a super website. I hope SnowStar links with it & vice versa. Good stuff, Raheel. Best Wishes,

Del Stewart, 
V.P. & Director 
SnowStar Institute of Religion

31 Jan 2003

Raheel, I loved the prayer. Thanks again,

Ruth Cooke

10 Mar 2003

Hi Raheel, I've read numerous of your columns in the Toronto Star and have always come away with a feeling of warmth. You write lucidly and with the pen of an angel. Having read your most recent column on the university professor on the Religions page, I felt a need to visit your Web site to learn more about the interesting writer behind the story. Please continue to write and to share your world of interests with the rest of us.
Sincerely,

Michael Persaud 
e-mail address: mpersaud45@hotmail.com

18 Mar 2003

Very impressive webpage. So much accomplished....Congratulations Raheel. With all my love and prayers, 

Nimet

19 Mar 2003

I came to know of you from an interview you did on CBC Radio recently. I quickly wrote down your name and web page. This afternoon I took the time to read some things on your page. I particularly liked the Prayer you have written. I printed it and will share it with our Small Christian Community group that meets twice monthly in our homes. I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to print this prayer. We often look for different forms of prayer to open or close our gatherings. Thank you for sharing this prayer with us.

Patricia Milton, 
Ontario

20 Jun 2003

Thanks for your presence and comments to Kent Presbytery of The United Church of Canada in Chatham on June 14, 2003. I have found your web site to be a wealth of information to share with people through the Kent Presbytery web site (http://www.kentpres.org I hope your visit can help us to join the struggle to build bridges of understanding and respect with people of all faiths within Canada and around the world. Mandate, a publication of the United Church (May 2003, p. 16)quotes Karen Hamdon, a Muslim woman in Edmonton: "People need to understand that the process of dialogue is not about convincing others of your position. It's not a debate. It's about compassionate listening and coming to a deeper understanding of others." This seems so much more important now as we pursue peace and justice in the midst of misuse of religion to justify "terrorism" or "war against terrorism". Thanks again for sharing your wisdom, passion and humour, and for the privilege to link your web site to our web page.

Curtis Marwood 
curtis@kentpres.org

04 Jul 2003

Raheel Raza is a very impressive, open, challenging, and well informed speaker. Hers is a voice of compassion and tolerance in a religious world that too often contradicts these greatest of human qualities. She always impresses me as a breath of fresh air so badly needed internationally among the complexity of social and religious concerns that compose our post-modern world.

David Galston, Ph.D.
 President SnowStar Institute of Religion

07 Jul 2003

Thank you for sending this article. Raheel, I'm in complete agreement with everything you wrote. I have often felt that we are really not taught to see Allah as the creator, the all powerful, the one who is like no one else. Instead, from our childhood we are asked to imagine Allah as someone to be afraid of, who will not forgive the smallest mistakes we make (like wear nail polish!), who prefers Muslims over all his other beings, and on, and on. So in our minds we create the image of someone who is larger than life, but still has human like qualities of anger, revenge, even ego, because we cannot imagine any better. As I have grown older I have started to think of Allah as one who loves me (even when others don't), who forgives me even when I do not realize that I made a mistake, who understands me (even when I don't understand myself), and for whom all human beings are equal. I think I now have a much more comfortable and grown-up relationship with my creator. You are doing a commendable job of bringing these issues to light. We, the Muslims, need to highlight our own lack of understanding rather than have others point fingers at us. Keep writing and keep sending your postings to us.

love, 

Tasso

07 Jul 2003

I have known Raheel Raza for the last three years as a popular and valued speaker in different contexts. Twice Raheel has spoken to The Catholic Network for Women's Equality, in Toronto, Ontario, once about the essential teachings of Islam in light of the events of 11/02, and secondly, about the role of women in Islam re. peace. Both talks were well attended and appreciated by us. Raheel has also served as "visiting expert" for my on-line course, Women and Holy Writ, at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her comments on the biblical and qur'anic stories of women were welcomed by my students, who found Raheel's analysis both broad and deep, and extremely informative for those who knew little of Islam or its teachings.

Elaine Guillemin, Ph. D., Ryerson University 
Open College - Continuing Education. 
eguillem@ryerson.ca

07 Jul 2003

Dear Raheel, I just have so much to say that I hardly know where to begin with detailing and praising your amazing gifts for inter-faith work. I believe that that kind of work is indeed a calling and that you indeed have been called to it. Some of the many things that stand out for me in terms of your work in the field include your passion, your extremely articulate way of speaking, your clarity of thought, your clear awareness of the areas in which different faiths converge and the areas in which they diverge, your absolute rock-firm commitment to inter-faith dialogue as necessary, essential for our way of being as peoples of this planet, your scholarship - which goes very deep and is very wise and profound and has the ability to see past, present and future and your wonderful sense of humour!!!! You are so real with people, so much yourself enabling them to be so much themselves but pushing and prodding them with great reasonableness and great joy further in their thinking and believing. The best inter-faith dialogue encourages us all to be deeply grounded in our own traditions and deeply respectful of and responsive to the other and you enable that in abundance!!!

Dr. Karen Hamilton Council of Churches

11 Jul 2003

In my opinion, inter-faith dialogue is a field that develops knowledge, but is not necessarily "academic" in nature. The best practitioners are people with a clear understanding of their own faith, a willingness to learn about other faiths, and an eagerness to meet people of other faiths as people, rather than as "study subjects" or "potential converts" or anything else that dehumanizes the other person. In my opinion, Raheel, you do this marvelously well. You are knowledgeable, you reveal your humanity through your personal warmth and sense of humour, and you are courageous enough to face difficult questions. I am still getting positive comments from my congregation about your visit. You have served so well as an ambassador, that after the service at which you spoke and answered questions, a member said: "Great! Now, who are you inviting next? We can't stop here!" Not only have you presented Islam clearly and well, but you have opened a door for wider inter-faith dialogue in Chatham.

Rev. Andrew Jensen, 
Kent Presbytery of The United Church of Canada

If it were possible to achieve peace and harmony throughout the world through the efforts of one person, that person would be Raheel Raza. There is no one more passionate and more committed to the cause. When she speaks, people listen.

Carola Vyhnak, 
Manager of Community and Public Relations 
Toronto Star

Raheel Raza is one of the most highly respected scholars in the field of Inter-faith studies that I the privilege to know. On several occasions, we have worked together on presentations designed to facilitate relationships between the Muslim and Christian communities. She is a very able communicator, and very dialogical in her educational approach. Her analytical insights are sharp, and extremely valued by the wider community. That is part of the reason her frequent articles in The Toronto Star are so well received. There are few scholars I know who have a greater grasp of thecurrent inter-faith issues that challenge us, and who are able to make the connections between these issues and the political, economic and social contexts of our time. As a feminist scholar, she brings a fresh and often prophetic perspective to the raging religious and political debates in our world, and has the courage of her convictions in the process. She does this with the passion of commitment to her own religious tradition, and with deep respect for other paths of religious search and truth. Raheel Raza is dedicated to the pursuit of truth that frees and builds relationships among peoples of diverse cultures. Her scholarship is a reference point for many of us who seek have a similar goal.

Dr. Hallett Llewellyn, 
Pastoral Staff 
Trinity St. Paul's United Church 
Toronto.