Creating Dialogue for Interfaith Conversations

The segment starts at 2:40

 

Creating Dialogue for Interfaith Conversations after Ohio State Tragedy

The aftermath of the recent stabbing at Ohio State University, brought investigators questioning the motivation behind Abdul Razak Ali Artan’s violent outburst.

According to an article by CNN.com, Artan had reached a “boiling point” because of reports of human rights abuses in Myanmar. Throughout his Facebook page, he posted that America should “stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah.”

“By Allah, we will not let you sleep unless you give peace to the Muslims,” he wrote, according to the article. “You will not celebrate or enjoy any holiday.”

In all, 11 people were injured by Artan’s attack. Artan had felt in the past that he could not fully express his faith openly

“I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media,” he told Ohio State’s student newspaper, The Lantern.

“Events of 9/11 did create a barrier in many people’s minds,” Dr. Surinder Bhardwaj, Professor Emeritus of Geography at Kent State.

There are dialogues going on to provide open communication between people of different cultures and faiths in Northeast Ohio. Most of the dialogues that Bhardwaj has experienced are through the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent (ISAK) and the Akron Area Interfaith Council.

Bhardwaj was the president of Akron Area Interfaith Council and explains that instead of just one side expressing negative they are promoting dialogue.

These dialogues with, at different times Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Jews in attendance are, “to understand each other’s issues, pain, difficulties within our community. Not just within our area, but the world,” said Bhardwaj.

“Let us promote what is our common good, we all want to make our lives better,” Bhardwaj said.

Bhardwaj thinks there is “a tremendous opportunity of faith faiths to create a wonderful engagement when they go back to their country and they bring those thoughts back with them.”

He believes that “it all starts from respect, each faith has its own path, but there is a common [path] where each of us can flourish altogether.”

“Most Muslims of the world are not terrorists, most are regular people trying to make a better life for themselves,” said Bhardwaj.

Hailah is a 25-year-old student who is learning English as a second language at Kent State University.

“This is my first year in America,” she said. According to Hailah, she has not experienced the feeling of being alienated by Western culture.

“We have to read about other’s culture and be open-minded to accept them,” she said. “You have to be able to accept everyone’s beliefs.”