Learning About Muslims

Photo of the cover of the CD

Kate Dudding is drawn to giving a voice to people who have made a difference in their community, or in the world. Kate feels that these are important stories to share because, as the wonderful and wise storyteller Carol Birch says,

"Courage and compassion
are contagious."

In the early spring of 2017, Kate finished her fifth CD "Learning About Muslims." This CD is a collection of: traditional Muslim stories and poetry; stories about Muslims in the news; and stories about Muslims Kate met and things she learned at meetings of the Interfaith Story Circle Program (Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY.)

The stories are listed below including the major resources Kate used to create these stories. Click here for the photo credits.

  • Image of Nasruddin Hodja Five Nasruddin Hodja Stories Folk tales attributed to this Muslim imam /Turkish trickster 1200 CE.

    • Beautiful Signs – A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom For Children and Parents. Collected and adapted by Sarah Conover and Freda Crane. Spokane, WA: Eastern Washington University Press, 2004.

    • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin, retrieved 11/26/16.

  • What Melody is the Sweetest A folk tale from Persia.

    • Dov Noy, What Melody is the Sweetest?, Folktales of Israel (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), p. 172.

    • Jane Yolen, editor, What Melody Is The Sweetest?, Favorite Folktales From Around The World (New York: Pantheon Books, 1986), page 413. 

  • Four Poems by Rumi Rumi, a Persian poet and Sufi master in the 1200s CE, was recently the most popular poet in both the U.S. and Afghanistan.

  • One Path to World Peace A personal story about Kate meeting members of Children at the Well Youth Storytellers for Peace and Understanding, a program of the Interfaith Story Circle of the Tri-City Area (Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY.) Kate won the Story Slam at the 2010 National Storytelling Conference in Los Angeles when she told this story.
    		• Photo of Children at the Well students, family and supporters
        Photo Credit: Mars Fotographi.

  • The Tent of Abraham A heartwarming evening at Kate’s local interfaith story circle - click here for the text of this story.

    • Chittister, OSB, Joan, Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti and Rabbi Arthur Waskow. The Tent of Abraham. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006

    • Consultations with Dr. Mussarat Chaudhry and Audrey Seidman, members of the Interfaith Story Circle of the Tri-City Area (Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY.)

  • Sign in front of Islamic Center of the Capital District My Epiphany at a Mosque An evening which changed Kate’s knowledge about Muslims terrorists.

  • A 9/11 Story A true story, told with the permission of Sharifa Din - click here for the text of this story.

  • Photos of the True Believers True Believers Stories of three Muslims who followed their Golden Rule in 2015.

  • Photo of 1st Lt. Mohsin Naqvi The Story of One American Soldier The story of a U.S. Army solder from N.Y. State.

    • "A hero comes home to rest," Times Union, 9/23/08, page A1.

    • “Soldier remember for sacrifice, patriotism”, Schenectady Gazette, 9/23/08.

  • Photo of Heartsong banner A Change of Heart This is the true story of the welcome the Memphis Islamic Center, in Mephis, TN received from its neighbors, the Heartsong Church, a United Methodist congregation, in 2010.

  • Where Am I From? A personal story based on Kate's DNA analysis performed by The Genographic Project, a project of National Geographic - click here for the text of this story.

    • Grateful thanks for their continued support to:
    Jerry Dudding, Elizabeth Ellis and our Clifton Park, NY workshop colleagues, Gert Johnson, Dr. Mussarat Chaudhry, Sharifa Din, Audrey Seidman, Jeannine Laverty, Genghis Khan of GE Global Research, Betty McCanty and Mary Grace Ketner. I couldn’t have created this CD without each of you.

    Copyright Issues - based on Jane Yolen’s.
    Kate writes, "I will be very honored if you want to tell my stories. They are meant to be performed, put about, kept alive. It honors the stories, it honors me, it will spread the truth about Muslims. But as with all copyrighted materials, there are rules. Please honor these rules.

    My four rules:

    1. Always mention my name, as the author, before each telling.
    2. If it is appropriate, have a copy of this CD so your audience can learn where to find the tale for themselves. And if you have a program you hand out, please show the copyright information for each story.
    3. Don’t change my endings.
    4. If you want to record your telling of the story in any way (paper, video, audio, Internet, TV, etc.) you must get permission from me and possibly pay a fee."

     

    Original Stories and Performance by Kate Dudding
    Producer and Engineer: Barry Marshall
    Cover Design: Kate Dudding