Exploring spirituality and rivers in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity

Rivers of Life - Exploring spirituality and rivers in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity

What’s the symbolism of water and rivers; what can it teach us and how can we live better lives through engaging with the richness of those symbols? Speakers from the three faiths reflect on how important rivers and water are for their traditions.

Muzammal Hussain is a founder of Wisdom in Nature. He has been involved with grassroots ecological work for almost 20 years and is one of the pioneers amongst Muslims in the UK. Muzammal is drawn to what he describes as the ‘Restoration of Wholeness’ – creating the conditions and mutually beneficial relationships such that the earth and communities can regenerate, becoming both productive, beautiful, and whole.

This calling drew Muzammal to permaculture, an approach that invites giving space to observe and sense a system – whether a potential growing space, a group or a community – before then implementing a design that is supported by nature, rather than one that fights against it.

Sachi Patel is Hindu chaplain to SOAS and KCL. He holds an MPhil in Classical Indian Religion from SOAS and a PhD in Theology from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on the intersection between politics and religion in 18th-century India.

Born in London, Dr Patel lived as a Hindu monk for 10 years in both the UK and India. He is deeply committed to fostering an inclusive, compassionate environment at SOAS, with a particular passion for interfaith relations.

Charlotte Sleigh is an Anglican priest, a scholar and practitioner in the science humanities. She is always curious about the connections that science makes with history, literature, art and – increasingly – theology. She has taught at the universities of Cambridge, UCLA, Kent and UCL, where she is presently a professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies. She is a former president of the British Society for the History of Science and current research consultant to the ECLAS project (Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science).

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher St John's Waterloo