Know Thy Neighbors

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Putting Religion Into Daily Practice

On Wednesday, December 18  Know Thy Neighbors’, a Muslim-Christian interfaith collaboration between WNYMuslims and St. Joseph University Parish, had its’ third and second last session of the 4-lecture series, Putting Religion into Daily Practice at the Jaffarya Center, East Amherst. It was indeed another learning experience for everyone.

The event conducted by Ms. Farina Mirza, Community Outreach Coordinator, WNYMuslims in the absence of Prof. Faizan Haq, who was representing WNYMuslims at the International Congress of Muslim Communities being held at Ankara, Turkey.

The program started with the Quranic recitation with its translation by the Imam of the Jaffarya Center followed by a welcome speech of the President of the Jaffarya Center Dr. Syed Tanweer Haider. Later on, the following panelists were introduced to the audience:

Ms. Diane Greenaway, CSW, an active member of the St. Joseph University Parish,  Social Justice Committee, Racial Justice Taskforce, Ecology and Environment Committee, VOICE Buffalo.

 Mr. Rob Mietlicki, Immigration Lawyer and Chairperson of the St. Joseph University Parish Refugee and Immigration Committee, Chairperson of the Human Trafficking Awareness Committee.

Ms. Sana Iqbal, Government Affairs Coordinator, WNYMuslims and a Pre-Med Student at UB

Mr. Adnan Abdulsaid Iraqi, Imam @ Jaffarya Center

Then Ms. Mirza invited to the podium the first speaker of the evening, Ms.Greenaway to proceed further the program, she focused mainly upon her journey that how she became a practicing Christian. She emphasized upon the idea that it’s not enough to change oneself but rather act on changing the world with love towards the betterment. Afterward, Mr. Mietlicki was handed over the microphone and expressed his idea about Christian practices in daily life. He pondered upon the concept of humanity, he believes that practicing religion is not enough, serving humanity is more or equally important. That brought to the end of the Christian point of view about the topic and Ms. Iqbal was given the charge of the program to discuss the Islamic ideology towards the topic, she started by explaining that how 5 daily mandatory prayers, fasting in Ramadhan and discretionary prayers and fasting throughout the year help Muslims in character building. She also spoke about the freedom of women and how a Muslim woman can be trendy and fashionable while practicing Islam and being modest at the same time. And last but not least Mr. Adnan Abdulsaid Iraqi, Imam of the Jaffarya Center joined the conversation and focused his speech upon ‘Niyyat’ (intention), he elaborated upon the idea that our pure and honest intentions may lead to the forgiveness of our sins. That brought to the end of the speeches of the panelists from both sides.

In accordance with the format of the program the floor was open for the Q & A session, in which the audience actively participated.

We highly appreciate the presence of all the attendees for being there despite extreme weather conditions, indeed we are extremely thankful from the bottom of our hearts. We hope that we’ll get the same response in our next and final session of the 4-lecture series, scheduled for Wed. Jan. 29, 2020, which will be about Our Sacred Text, being held at  SJU Parish.

We would also like to express our special gratitude towards Dr. Jaffery, Mr. Tahir Jaffery at the Jaffarya Center along with their President Dr. Syed Tanveer Haider, without their kind support this event wouldn’t have been possible. Jazak Allah Khair.