On Sunday November 14, I attended a Zoom call with members of the Focolare Movement and the American Society of Muslims. The meeting was also attended by members of the Nur Allah Islamic Center. People from Sweden, Italy, the United States, Ireland, and other countries attended the meeting. The meeting was a celebration of the meeting of the founders of the two organizations, Chiara Lubich and Imam W. Deen Mohammed, and the continued importance of the respect of other religions.
The meeting began with a reading of the opening sura of the Qur’an by Bilal Hassan. He then played a video of Muslims praying in Shea Stadium after the 9/11 attacks. Short videos about Chiara Lubich and W. Deen Mohammed were also played. In their videos, they also spoke of the importance of accepting other religions. The current Focolare president, Margaret Karram, then spoke and introduced an all-woman band who played a video of a song from their concert. After the music video, people in the zoom call were invited to share some of their thoughts on the importance of the two communities’ relationship. In the end, a video reenacted by kids depicted the meeting of Chiara Lubich and W. Deen Mohammed, and a video from Pope John Paul II and W. Deen Mohammed’s meeting was played. A closing prayer was said and then people continued to share their experiences on the zoom call.
I found this meeting to be very enjoyable. Everyone enjoyed their time on the meeting and was very friendly. These two groups mostly only talked about the importance of religious freedom and respecting other religions. This is very true today while there is still a lot of prejudices against Muslims. Everyone seemed to allude to the fact that the world would be a better place with more religious harmony.
I got to learn more about the American Society of Muslims and Islam in the United States, and I got to learn more about the Focolare Movement. There were members of the Focolare group at the parent’s banquet, but I did not know very much about the group until this meeting. The movement was started by Chiara Lubich in Trent, Italy in 1943. The group is mostly Roman Catholic, and Chiara Lubich is on her way to sainthood. The organization “promotes unity and universal brotherhood”, according to their website.
The American Society of Muslims was founded by W. Deen Mohammed. W. Deen Mohammed was the son of Elijah Muhammad, the second leader of the Nation of Islam. After his father died, he rejected many of the views of his father and the Nation of Islam. He tried to move the organization more towards mainstream Islam. His goal with the American Society of Islam was to establish an Islamic community in America.