On Thursday, May 21, over two hundred Jews, Sunni and Shia Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians came together at our event Qawwali and Spiritual Alchemy of Music. The event featured Farid Ayaz and The Abu Muhammad Qawwals, a world-renowned Pakistani ensemble that combines Islamic and Indian music, and Basya Schechter, a famous Jewish singer who fuses Ashkenazic and Sephardic music.

The event celebrated the role of music in creating new cultures and identities and, as one participant said, "I loved seeing so many diverse kinds of people all together enjoying the music!"

The evening also marked the beginning of a new era of friendship, peace, and understanding between the Jewish and Muslim communities in New York City. In fact, to help cultivate this relationship, the Qawwals and Basya came together to create a joint-piece of music praising God in both Arabic and Hebrew and demonstrate, in the word of another participant, "that music and art are universal languages with no boundaries."

Op-Ed by Imam Feisal in The Huffington Post

"...As a universal language, music has a unique ability to gather and unite people. Since tunes and lyrics can directly tap into our hearts, music is often the most powerful vehicle for spiritual communication. In fact, both Islam and Judaism assign music a central role in spiritual devotion..." Continue reading.

Media coverage of the event on Dawn.com

"...What would seem a most unlikely place (a synagogue) to hear the Zikr of Allah, was the venue for an enchanting night of Qawwali..." Continue reading.

Continued coverage of the event on Urdu Voice of America

An overview of the Qawwali and Spiritual Alchemy of Music event in Urdu Voice of America (in Urdu). Click to read.

On Sunday, May 31, twenty-five Muslims and Jews gathered at the beautiful Masjid al-Farah mosque for the second part of the Tefillah-Salah exchange program. Having partaken in a lively Jewish Friday night Shabbat prayer recently at the Romemu Synagogue, the group now experienced the Muslim Maghrib prayer and Dhikr service.

The evening opened with a discussion between Mujaddid, a khatib at Dergah al-Farah, Asma Sadiq, a member of TCI's advisory board, and Naz Ahmed Georgas, TCI's Executive Director, regarding the basic components of the Islamic prayer, or salat. The participants continued to exchange ideas and held a lively discussion over a kosher vegetarian Indian dinner. Finally, the group observed the Maghrib prayers and collectively joined in Dhikr.

This was a first for several of the Jewish participants, who also discussed the similarities between Islam and Judaism and their prayers and liturgy. Several of the participants also stressed the importance of Jews and Muslims meeting one another and cultivating a shared spiritual environment. As one participant noted, the evening was "a wonderful learning experience" and "I hope that we'll be able to have more similar events in the future where we can share our traditions." Indeed, the event is part of a series of planned future meetings in the Tefillah-Salah exchange program. So, stay tuned for the next meeting!

October 2 - 4, 2015 - First Community Church Event (Columbus, OH)

Imam Feisal will participate in several events including giving a lecture on the Introduction to Islam, a workshop on Sufism, and a sermon.

October 20 - 21, 2015 - Montana World Affairs Council Event (Missoula, MT)

Imam Feisal will participate in the Montana World Affairs Council Distinguished Speakers Program.

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