Interfaith Dialog Center

    Founded by Turkish-American Muslims of North Jersey in 2003, Interfaith Dialog Center (IDC) is a non-profit organization that endeavors to promote respect and mutual understanding among all faiths and cultures through partnership with other religious and interreligious organizations, and organizing educational activities such as seminars, lectures and discussion panels.

    IDC started its activities by organizing short educational seminars at the conference room of Rutherford Public Library. IDC continued its operations at 545 Interstate Place, Carlstadt, New Jersey. Now IDC has an office in Newark at 17 Academy Street Suite 701.

IDC is a non-profit, tax exempt (501(c) (3)) organization.


WHAT THEY HAVE SAID ABOUT IDC...




    Our Mission

    Interfaith dialogue is one of the major medicines to overcome humanity's common ills that arise from unbelief. Our world's durability depends, to a great extent, on the promotion of interfaith dialogue. We also believe that establishment of dialog environments is a means to appreciate diverse opinions and eliminate the stereotypes often assigned to 'others'.

    In that respect, IDC educates non-Muslims about Islam and Muslims about other faiths to establish mutual understanding and tolerance. To achieve this end, we invite and encourage sharing of various perspectives, partner with other religious and interreligious organizations and organize educational activities such as seminars, lectures and discussion panels, all of which inspire and illuminate us in our endeavor to fulfill our mission.

    Our Aims and Principles

o To spread the interreligious dialog at the grassroots level through meetings with diverse participation,
o To provide a medium where followers of different religions may meet each other and understand the issues by finding consensus among them,
o To spread common values of faiths in order to contribute to the world peace,
o To cooperate with similar local and international organizations and work closely with them in the boundaries of its constitution,
o Religions, languages and ethnicities exist so that we come together and learn from, not fight, each other,
o We share values to promote; we share problems to solve,
o Coexistence of civilizations is possible only through dialogue in this age of globalization,
o The pillars of dialogue are love, tolerance, compassion and forgiving,
o Love is the essence of existence.
          o Tolerance is our binding spirit.
          o Compassion and forgiving are inclusive aspects of a harmonious society, in which individual will flourish, community will arise,
o Diversity is our richness. Diversity without dialogue causes hostility, dialogue without diversity brings distortion.

"Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, idolater, worshipper of fire,
Come even you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Come, and come yet again.
Ours is not a caravan of despair."
-RUMI