Q-Cross logo, courtesy.
Life today differs radically from the times during which the three Abrahamic religions first became prevalent and there are many questions of their relevancy. This was the motivation for the recent panel event “Faith Engaging the World” event co-organizer and Q-Cross religious advisor Jenn Tafel said.
The event brought together speakers from a wide range of faith backgrounds discussing an even broader range of topics.
“We had everything from science in relation to religion, to feminism in relation to religion,” Q-Cross vice president and graduate student Mary Sinnamon said.
The diversity of both audience and panelists helped expand students' knowledge of other faiths.
“The audience seemed to be roughly a third Muslim,” Q-Cross president and graduate student Andrew Shutt said. “I’m not as familiar with Islam, and it was very enlightening to hear moderate Muslim views expressed so articulately yet also in such a down to Earth manner.”
Shutt attributed the large number of Muslim students attending the panel event to the presence of the Islamic Center of East Lansing and its spiritual leader, Imam Sohail Chaudhry, and his beliefs and statements on Islam’s compatibility and accessibility for modern, intrigued students.
“In Islam we’ve never had a contradiction between science and religion,” Chaudhry said. “We believe that God is the source of both so there should be no contradiction between the two.”
Because Islam encourages Muslims to question and explore their faith, Chaudhry believes Islam is well suited for today’s youth. Chaudhry’s congregation swells with more than 1,400 congregants at weekly Friday prayers — many of whom are under 30-years-old, Chaudhry said.
In addition to weekly prayer services, the Islamic Center does outreach work with Islamic student organizations on campus and holds seminars aimed at youth. Youth centric topics covered include subjects like technology.
“Technology can be a blessing if you use it the right way,” Chaudhry said.
Something important to panelists was religion’s role as a moralizing force.
“We’re improving technologically and scientifically but I don’t feel the quality of our lives has gone up, actually it’s gone the other way,” Chaudhry said. “We need to make money to live, but is that the whole point of our existence? Religion can play a great part in channeling these economic pursuits in a proper way."
Chaudhry believes when it comes to addressing modern problems, religion will always have a place.
“It’s just part of human nature and no matter how modern we become, how advanced we become, there is a spiritual side we will always have,” Chaudhry said.
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