Imam Mamadou Toure, a Muslim scholar from Portland, will speak Sunday at Nativity Lutheran Church in Bend.

A Portland imam — a Muslim spiritual teacher — will visit Bend on Sunday to discuss the universality of religion and its role in interfaith relations.

Imam Mamadou Toure, a Senegal native who serves the Bilal Mosque in Beaverton, is the founder of the Portland-based Institute of Islamic and Interfaith Studies, a nonprofit group that seeks to promote understanding and respect among all races, cultures and religions. On Sunday, he will be the guest of Interfaith Ministries of Central Oregon and Nativity Lutheran Church in Bend (see “If You Go” on Page B7).

Toure, 42, has lived in the U.S. off and on for 17 years. He believes all world religions share basic tenets and that by focusing on their similarities, people of differing faiths can forge bonds and set aside violence.

“When we do this, this is when God is satisfied with all of us, not when we are fighting and warring,” he said by phone.

Toure will deliver a sermon called “In Search of the Sacred: The Challenges of Religion” that will discuss the responsibilities of men and women of God to act against societal ills such as homelessness, domestic violence and intolerance.

He said religions have three components: theology, ritual and ethics. Most religions differ in theology and ritual, but match in ethics, he said.

“This dimension is where we meet,” he said. “The next step is how do we relate, how do we address society’s problems?”

Later Sunday, Toure will conduct a community forum that will include his discussion on the “Seven Principles of Holiness,” which are commonalities between religions. The forum will include a question-and-answer session with the public.

Toure expects to address questions about Ramadan, Islam’s holy month, ending Friday, celebrating the revelation of the Quran. The observance of Ramadan includes fasting during daylight hours, so no refreshments will be served at Toure’s appearances.

Marlis Beier, a member of Interfaith Ministries of Central Oregon and of the Jewish Community of Central Oregon, said Toure, a seventh-generation imam, is a skilled spiritual teacher whose presence and teaching of peace are transformative. She looks forward to presenting a new face of Islam to the community.

“America now is in a state of fear and mistrust of the religion of Islam and Muslims in general,” Beier said. “The radical, extremist, violent Muslims have hijacked the image and understanding of Islam in our country and town. (Toure) is a man seeking interfaith understanding and peace. He is also an amazing spiritual teacher, helping each of us understand a way to find a relationship with the divine as a universal personal quest and through the Islamic faith, in particular.”

Toure says that all religions seek a connection with God, and it is through this commonality that Jews and Muslims, or Christians and Muslims, or Jews and Christians, can find solidarity.

“At the core of religion is an intimate encounter with God,” he said. “Everything else is a means to that end.”

Toure believes that the Jewish scholar the Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Yisrael Ben Eliezer), the founder of Hasidic Judaism, is a role model when it comes to discovering that intimate relationship with God.

“As a Muslim, to be inspired and guided in what I do by the Baal Shem Tov is at the heart of the universal principles of religion,” Toure said.

If You Go

What: Presentations by Imam Mamadou Toure

When: 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday for sermon “In Search of the Sacred: The Challenges of Religion”; 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday for community forum “Seven Principles of Holiness”

Where: Nativity Lutheran Church, 60850 S.E. Brosterhaus Road, Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: 389-6474