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By Behnaz Abolmaali
Source: The Daily Texan
Media Credit: Peter Franklin
Mohammed-Umer Esmail, educational director and religious consultant at the North Austin Muslim Community Center, leads prayer at the Muslim solidarity event on the Main Mall, Friday |
Muslim student organizations held a sit-in on the Main Mall Friday night to denounce the recent sectarian violence in Iraq and the destruction of religious sites. Verses from the Quran echoed around the Tower as Muslims opened the event with a traditional group prayer.
"Our brothers and sisters in Iraq today face the brink of civil war," said Azhar Sheraze, general secretary for the Society for Islamic Awareness, a UT student organization. Sheraze, a mechanical engineering sophomore, told the more than 150 Muslims who attended the event that, given the escalated sectarian strife in Iraq, tolerance and Muslim unity have become "a requirement of our time."
Religious leaders and Muslim students recited verses from the Quran, read original poetry and delivered pleas for Shiite and Sunni Muslims to look beyond ideological differences and denounce violence in Iraq and elsewhere.
Abbas Bandali, an area Muslim who works with interfaith organizations in Austin, said that extremists have brought Islam to the forefront of American suspicion since Sept. 11 and have exploited the religion for their own ends. Other speakers reflected on the historical and religious significance of sites in Iraq destroyed in recent violence.
The Al Askari Mosque in Sammara, Iraq, which was destroyed in an attack on Feb. 22, holds the remains of the 10th and 11th Shiite imams, revered leaders who were both descendants of the prophet Muhammad, and is one of the most important sites for the Shiite faith.
Government senior Aiman Janmohamed, editor of the UT literary magazine Muslim Voices, read a story in which she compared the civil strife in Iraq to the tribal conflict faced by the prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago in his journey to act as an arbiter in Medina. She then told the audience that by taking small steps to promote understanding and better the lives of others, they can attack injustice.
"The violence that plagues our fellow brothers and sisters in Iraq today is not much different from the position of the Medinas in our prophet's time," Janmohamed said. "It is our duty, then, to uphold his mission of peace and justice."
The event, sponsored by the Muslim Students Association, the Society for Islamic Awareness and the Pakistani Students Association, drew Muslims from area mosques and community organizations.
Media Credit: Peter Franklin
Farhana Kassamali, Kashif Bandali, age 4, and Sabiha Bandali listen to speakers at a Muslim solidarity event on the Main Mall, Friday. Participants took their shoes off before entering the area covered by rugs, which was used for prayer.
"I'm here, because I believe in this," said Sabiha Bandali, an Austin Muslim and UT alumna who came to the event with her husband, Abbas Bandali, and their two children. "I believe by coming together, by addressing our commonalities, our bonds, we can then set aside our differences and face the greater challenge of promoting peace."
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Society for Islamic Awareness 