Islamic Art in Utah shows the similarities between Muslims & Mormons, beyond "M"

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
By Glen Warchol

Syrian scroll with Arabic caligraphy dating to the Middle Ages

UTAH - "Beauty and belief in Islam" exhibition will be at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art in Provo through Sept. 29. Altogether, this timely exhibit of the nexus of faith, calligraphy, architecture and design gives non-Muslim visitors some idea of the sacredness of the written word to Muslims and its place in Islamic art. A saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad helps explains the outrage over the Quran burning in Afghanistan: "The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyrs." [link]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and BYU always have had warm relations with the Muslim community, Hossain says (Iqbal Hossain, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake). A dozen or more Mormon students visit the Salt Lake mosque every Friday to learn about Islam, and the LDS Church offers meeting rooms in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City to the Islamic community. "There’s a lot of similarities between the Islamic and the Mormon communities, in terms of family values and the fundamental dos and don’ts of life," he says.