WASHINGTON: Prayer rugs were laid out. A man in the first row read out the Azaan. “Allah ho Akbar”, said the imam and the prayer began.

These words are repeated in millions of mosques across the world everyday but this was a historic occasion for Washington: the first-ever Friday congregation at the National Cathedral in the US capital.

“Amazing, a truly spiritual experience,” said a worshipper as the call for prayer echoed from the vaulted stone arches and resounded across the huge cathedral.

“Let us stretch our hearts and let us seek to deepen mercy for we worship the same God,” said Reverend Gina Campbell as she welcomed Muslim worshippers to the cathedral, calling it “a place of prayer for all people”.

South Africa’s Ambass­ador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, led the prayer. He reminded the worshippers that they were holding this service in troubled times “when mischief is threatening the world”.

“If we do not stop them, they will also disturb the pea­ce that we experience at our places of worship,” he said while referring to the “sensitivity and humility” they experienced at the cathedral.

He specifically mentioned the militants who were killing Christians in the Middle East and urged Muslims to stop them before it was too late.

“A great inter-faith gesture, a reminder that now is the time to act for peace,” said Victor V. Gill, a leader of the Pakistani Christian community in the United States.

“Everyone there from the National Cathedral was just so friendly to me and to all Muslims attending,” said Seeme Gul Khan Hasan, a Muslim community leader.

The event was closed to the public, and there was heavy security. Only those invited could attend the prayer and police checked everyone entering the cathedral to make sure others did not come.

Organisers said they were forced to take additional security measures because of threats they received after the event was publicised.

Nevertheless, a protester — a well-dressed middle-aged woman — managed to enter the premises and reminded the audience that not all shared their vision for inter-faith harmony and peace.

“America was founded on Christian principles, leave our church alone,” she shouted before she was led out of the prayer hall.

A hate message also came from Reverend Franklin Graham, the son of a world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, who said that the cathedral was an Episcopal church established under a charter granted by Congress more than 100 years ago. “It is sad to see the church” opening its doors to Muslim worshippers, he said.

Rev Campbell and Ambassador Rasool, who were the first to plan a Friday prayer inside the cathedral, said they were not discouraged by such remarks, as they believed that it was important to promote inter-faith harmony to curb violence.

The two thought of holding the prayers when they organised an inter-faith memorial service for Nelson Mandela last year.

In an interview with VOA, Ebrahim Rasool said he hoped that a time would come when non-Muslims would be allowed to pray according to their own traditions even in mosques in Saudi Arabia.

“I think that we must return to the Muslim prophetic tradition in which the Prophet, may peace be upon him, invited Christians to his own mosque that he established in Madina — and to say to them, you can pray here.”

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2014