‘No one should be left out’

FREDERICK, Md. — He has counseled two presidents, visited 80 countries and appeared on global television programs, so one might expect Imam Yahya Hendi to politely decline speaking engagements off the beaten path.

But on successive days in late February, Mr. Hendi drove from his home in Frederick to ecumenical gatherings in Cumberland, Md., and Columbia, Pa., each at least 80 miles away, bringing the same hopeful message that has made him among the best-known Muslim proponents of interfaith dialogue in the United States.

Mr. Hendi’s eagerness to converse with everyone — from small-town churchgoers to international heads of state — reflects his philosophy of inclusiveness in the search for common ground among people of faith.

“Everyone has room around the table,” he said. “I would not imagine the American table without Jews — all forms of Judaism; without Christianity — all forms of Christianity; without Islam — all forms of Islam; without Buddhism and Hinduism and atheism. All people are on the table, and no one should be left out.”

His welcoming attitude and moderate views on women’s rights and Middle East politics are at odds with the more hard-line and extreme forms of Islam with which many Americans have become familiar. But Mr. Hendi, born in the West Bank city of Nablus, said his adopted nation has a more true expression of Islamic principles of justice and equality than Middle Eastern countries with Islamic theocracies. Mr. Hendi, 42, has been a U.S. citizen since 1993.

“I am proud to be an American, and I want to be used as a bridge between the East and West, between America and the Muslim world,” said Mr. Hendi, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Society of Frederick.

Mr. Hendi — educated at the University of Jordan, in Amman, and at Hartford Seminary, in Connecticut — has been building that connection since at least 1997, when he became a chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. He regards the job, which he still holds, as a form of military service. “To offer my ministry and my support to our soldiers — for me, that’s priceless,” he said.

Georgetown University named Mr. Hendi in 1999 its first Muslim chaplain. The school claimed to be the first U.S. college to create such a position. Such universities as Brown, Rutgers, Tufts and New York also have them now.

Mr. Hendi said the Georgetown job fulfills his dream of ministering and teaching at the same institution. Beside offering spiritual and career guidance to several hundred Muslim students, Mr. Hendi, along with a priest and a rabbi, teaches a popular class called Interreligious Encounter and Dialogue. The class, which focuses on current events, teaches students “how you can debate issues about which you are passionate without necessarily becoming angry, without fighting, without screaming,” he said.

Reaz Mehdi, a spokesman for the school’s Muslim Students Association, called Mr. Hendi “a huge advocate for us on campus.” He said Mr. Hendi’s celebrity helps bring Georgetown national recognition — and possibly more Muslim students.

Working in the District also has put Mr. Hendi in touch with politicians. In 2000, President Clinton invited him to read from the Koran at a White House ceremony marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month marked by daily fasting.

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Mr. Hendi was among the Muslim leaders who met with President Bush to provide perspective on American Muslims’ reactions and attitudes. Mr. Hendi said he has met with Mr. Bush at least three times since then, including a 2003 discussion at the Afghan Embassy shortly before the war in Iraq where “I spoke about how war in Iraq is not the solution politically or even religiously.

“I also spoke about how it does not enhance our national interest,” he said.

In 2004, Mr. Hendi gave a benediction at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

He said he also has traveled with the State Department to Muslim nations on diplomatic missions.

Muqtedar Khan, an associate professor and director of Islamic studies at the University of Delaware, said Mr. Hendi “has been on the forefront of advancing Muslim-Jewish dialogue and Muslim-Christian dialogue. And I think he has been on the forefront of being an example of an enlightened and moderate Muslim in the United States.”

Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in the District, calls Mr. Hendi as “a major fixture in the interfaith dialogue here in Washington.”

In Frederick, Mr. Hendi has created the annual Hanukkah-Hajj-Christmas celebration that last year drew about 350 people to a conference center “to celebrate differences.” He’s aiming for 700 participants this year.

Mr. Hendi, a married father of four, said his work has made him a target for threats by Muslims and non-Muslims who disapprove of efforts to increase interfaith understanding. But he is determined to continue traveling near and far to spread his message.

“Remember that it does not matter how long you live,” he said. “What matters is what you live for.”