"I do not preach tolerance," Imam Yahya Hendi said shortly before delivering the keynote address at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh's Humanity Day.

"'Tolerance' means 'I hate your guts, but I will do my best to tolerate you for a while.' I preach a celebration of our differences. ...

"Faith is not supposed to divide; faith is supposed to unite. I like to say that nations meet at their borders, but religions meet at their hearts, and the heart of any true religion is love and compassion."

It was a message echoed by other speakers at last night's event, with scores of visitors on hand for the traditional Islamic Ramadan dinner.

"Our God said in the Quran that whoever believes in God in the last day and does righteousness, God will reward him," Imam Atef Mahgoub said after chanting scripture in Arabic.

"God made people as flowers, in all different colors to beautify the earth," Sister SaraJameela Martin said, and also quoted the Quran: "I made you in races and tribes that you may know each other.' ...

"As I look around the room I see a sea of humanity," the former Pittsburgh Public Schools administrator said. "But we all have one common denominator: We are humans."

The Islamic center has been hosting Humanity Day for 15 years, inviting members of the community to share a meal and celebrate the common ground shared by major religions. It has always been held during Ramadan, the holiest time of year for Muslims.

According to Muslim doctrine, the Quran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed during the month Ramadan. Devout Muslims observe the month by fasting from sunup to sundown.

That observance was an intrinsic part of yesterday's celebration. Staff members passed out bottles of water and paper cups full of dates -- tradition has it that Mohammed had dates at sundown during Ramadan -- as Sister Martin spoke. No one touched them, however, until Imam Mahgoub began chanting his call for prayers at sundown. A full dinner followed the prayers.

"Ramadan is a time to refocus yourself and your interests, a time to remember the ideals that you are given," Imam Hendi said. "It is the ultimate emancipation for the soul. It liberates us from all our ego, our self-interest, all the things that divide us."

The Rev. John Welch, president of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, agreed with the evening's goal even if he does not celebrate Ramadan himself.

"This is about lifting up humanity," he said. "It's about recognizing and appreciating the significant spiritual moments of other faiths. When we can celebrate each other's spiritual moments, we can truly be united in purpose."

"We do understand God differently as Jews and Christians and Muslims," said the Rev. Donald Green, executive director of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania. "Yet at the same time we can affirm the common need for us to care for all God's children, especially the poor and marginalized."

"Learning about others strengthens your own faith in what you have," said Imam Hendi, who holds a master's degree in Christian studies and a doctorate in Jewish studies and teaches comparative religions.

He said he promotes unity, not uniformity.

"Uniformity means we are all the same. I don't want that to happen, and it cannot happen. If God wanted us all to be one, he would have made us one."

The Rev. Green and Imam Hendi also agreed that extremists in all religions have been too dominant.

"A religion that embraces violence is not a religion I can embrace," Imam Hendi said, noting that Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden "have to be condemned in the strongest possible language."

But he noted that violence has been done and still is done in the names of all religions, and all violence should be condemned.

"We've let the extremes of each of our traditions be the public face of the tradition all too often," the Rev. Green said.

"There are lunatic nuts in every religion," Imam Hendi said.

"Arabs want to point the finger at Americans. Americans want to point the finger at Arabs. Jews want to point the finger at Palestinians and Palestinians at Jews. We all have done wrong. We need to get past all that, and look at all we share."