An evening of interfaith bonding

Muslim Society brings together students of different religions

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The teenagers sat together on the floor of the Islamic center, some speaking lightheartedly about their experiences with religion and faith. Others were engrossed in a more serious theological discussion.

The setting was the Long Island Muslim Society, on East Meadow Avenue, on June 22, and the scene was a youth interfaith session hosted by a local student, Ayyan Zubair, who, six days later, graduated from East Meadow High School.

While the majority of the attendees were from East Meadow, they had a variety of religious upbringings: Jewish, Catholic, Presbyterian, Hindu, Buddhist. Some were agnostic. The rest were Muslim.

All wanted to learn.

More than 60 students attended the session, intended for non-Muslims to ask questions they might have about Islam. Because it was the fifth night of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month, they also had the opportunity to watch congregants take part in their evening prayer and break their daily fast.

The timing of the event was crucial, said Zubair, who wanted it not only to serve as an end-of-year celebration for him and many of his classmates, but also to clear up any misconceptions they might have about Islam in light of recent events around the world that have divided people of different faiths. “Most people on Long Island, they don’t really have an understanding of what Islam really is,” he explained. “The only interpretation and viewpoint they get is what’s on the news.”

That media coverage includes images of terrorist acts by the Islamic State, or ISIS, and Al Qaeda, and Zubair told his peers that such organizations preach the opposite of what Islam is supposed to be, noting that ISIS is responsible for killing more Muslims than non-Muslims. He added that their existence has created a sense not only of “Islamophobia,” but of anti-Semitism and racism worldwide.

“We, as the future of the world, need to provide a grass-roots effort to try and change this,” Zubair said to the more than five dozen attendees at the beginning of the session. “Why not focus on what brings us together, rather than what divides us?”

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