The Daughters of Abraham is an interfaith book group that consists of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Christian, and
Muslim women. Its mission is to overcome stereotypes and to foster mutual respect and understanding among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women.
The first group was founded in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
, United States, in 2002. Groups then formed in Cambridge,
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located partia ...
(at
Boston College), and
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
.
Mission
The purpose is to increase respect for all of the
Abrahamic religions
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran.
Jewish tradition ...
by reading books that teach about faith traditions and the practice of the respective faiths. The group members are committed to building relationships with each other. Daughters of Abraham is not a dialogue group, but a book group focused on discussions of books that explore the three faith traditions.
Membership
Any Jewish, Christian or Muslim woman who shares the Daughters' purpose can join.
Founding
The Daughters of Abraham was the inspiration of
Edie Howe. She attended an interfaith service on the evening of
September 11, 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
and sat with Jewish, Christian and Muslim women. Looking around, she wondered what she could do to respond to the tragic events of that day. She decided to form a book group of women from the three Abrahamic faiths. This first group has been meeting since September 2002.
Meaning of name
In all three of the religious traditions, Abraham is revered as the first
monotheist
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfor ...
. In this sense, he is the "father" and the members can be thought of as his "daughters." Even though they are "daughters" of different "mothers,"
Sarah and
Hagar
Hagar, of uncertain origin; ar, هَاجَر, Hājar; grc, Ἁγάρ, Hagár; la, Agar is a biblical woman. According to the Book of Genesis, she was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to h ...
,
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
is the father of all three religions. By naming themselves Abraham's daughters, the group members are saying that there is more holding them together than separating them.
Meetings
Group members listen and speak respectfully to one another, do not monopolize the conversation, and speak from personal experience rather than making sweeping statements.
Members suggest books at the meetings. Periodically, they review all the suggestions, then by consensus, choose the books that will be read. If anyone strongly objects to reading a particular book, it is not read.
Media coverage of the Daughters of Abraham
Christian Science Monitor(November 2005)
*
ABC News Now
ABC News Live (a.k.a. ABCNL) is an American streaming video news channel for breaking news, live events, newscasts, and longer-form reports and documentaries operated by ABC News since 2018. The channel is available through various streaming de ...
"Top Priority" (December 2005)
PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly(October 2006)
Boston Globe(October 2006)
(Spring 2007)
External links
* {{Official, http://www.daughtersofabraham.com/
Women's religious organizations
Interfaith organizations
Christian–Islamic–Jewish interfaith dialogue
Religious organizations established in 2002