Last month, interfaith leaders from across the country convened in Washington, D.C. for an anti-bullying summit. Learn more about their findings and what the interfaith community is doing to combat bullying at the link below. All bullying – but particularly faith-based bullying – is a challenge. At Cordoba House, we believe that interfaith education is important for children to help teach kindness, empathy, and understanding.
Imam Feisal and Cordoba House at the L’Chaim Prize
Imam Feisal and Cordoba House took part in the annual L’Chaim Prize presentation in January. Rabbi Erica Gerson and her husband, Mark Gerson, a businessman and entrepreneur, founded the prize and give $500,000 each year to different Christian medical missions selected by a panel of local and American medical professionals, who assess where the money is most badly needed. A group of imams, Protestant ministers, rabbis, Catholic priests, and other people of faith gathered at a restaurant that is about as all-American as it comes — the New York Yankees’ Steakhouse — to show interfaith support for the cause. This year’s prize winner was Dr. Russ White, the chief surgeon of Tenwek Hospital in rural Kenya, who has led efforts to fight heart disease across East Africa.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that interfaith support was “a sign of the times,” which demonstrates that “most people are good.” He added: “If the news depicted and reported on the amount of good things going on in the world… it would vastly outnumber the news that is discordant.”
An Act of Compassion and Mercy at an Arkansas Mosque
In a beautiful act of compassion and forgiveness following an act of hate, an Arkansas mosque decided to pay the fine of the man who vandalized their building. According to one community member, “We heard he was having financial problems. Now, if you don’t pay your fine, that’s automatic six years in jail. Well, we didn’t want him to go to jail for six years.” We salute this community for living and demonstrating Muslim values of compassion and mercy!
How U.S. Mosques Address Mental Health
Mental health is a concern for every group and community and, psychological and emotional well-being is important in the American Muslim community, too. American mosques are taking a proactive approach to safeguarding their members’ mental health and providing counseling services, even convening a conference on the issue next month. Learn more about how U.S. mosques are address their communities’ mental health needs at the link below.
Muslims and Christians Come Together to Better Their Community
Members of the Muslim and Methodist community in Greenville, South Carolina came together to help the city’s less fortunate. One participant notes that the service day helped participants get to know new people they may not have ever met otherwise, saying “We just have to get out of our comfort zone… out of our bubble… Meet people who have different looks, different religions and you know what, we find out they are just like us and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
