The project’s foundational teaching:
Once the Messenger of God, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, was riding his camel and a man was holding its rein. The Prophet asked, “What day is it?” We kept quiet, thinking that he might give that day another name. He said, “Isn’t it the day of nahr (sacrificing the animals)?” We replied, “Yes.” He further asked, “Which month is this?” We again kept quiet, thinking that he might give it another name. Then he said, “Isn’t it the month of Dhu’l-Hijja?” We replied, “Yes.” He said, “Indeed your blood, property and honor are inviolable to one another like the sacred inviolability (hurma) of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this city of yours. It is incumbent upon those who are present to inform those who are absent because those who are absent might comprehend this better than those present.” (Imam al-Bukhari, ‘Kitab al-‘Ilm, Sahih)
Founded and directed by
Dr. Ingrid Mattson
Dr. Ingrid Mattson is the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at Western University in Canada. Dr. Mattson was educated in Canada and the United States, earning a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1999. From 1998 to 2012 she was Professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary in CT where she developed and directed the first accredited graduate program for Muslim chaplains in America, and served as Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.
