DEARBORN – Students from southeast Michigan visited the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn last Thursday, part of a new program to educate them on religious diversity and interfaith relations.
“I’m in my mid-40s, and these past few months have been the first times that even I’ve spent significant time in mosques,” said Wendy Miller Gamer, program director for Interfaith Leadership Council of Metro Detroit, spearheads the program, Press And Guide reported Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, I tell the students how lucky they are — to be teenagers — and to be able to spend a whole day learning in this mosque,” she expressed.
The “Religious Diversity Journeys”, a special program for a greater knowledge and understanding of Detroit’s diverse faiths, was launched four years ago.
The faith-based organization was created and operated by religious leaders from different faiths, who serve their communities by educating the public about religions.
According to Gamer, 1,500 7th graders and 600 parents have participated in the program.
Islam was the main focus of the program’s stop in Dearborn, which was attended by students who attend both public and private schools.
During the program, students learned about the history and traditions of Islam, and also discussed the negative effects of prejudices surrounding Muslims.
Diversity
At Thursday’s event, around 150 7th-grade students also took part in an hour-long question-and-answer session with Sheikh Ibrahim Kazerooni of the Islamic Center of America, and were served Middle Eastern cuisine for lunch.
“I don’t really interact with Muslims and the Islamic faith regularly. But, throughout the morning, I learned about many different aspects of Islam that I never knew about before,” Jordyn Knox, 13, clarified.
Knox, who attended the diversity program with her fellow classmates from Hilbert Middle School in Redford, was mostly interested in knowing the reason behind Muslim women wearing hijabs.
“Learning that there is so much to it and that it’s not just for modesty, but how important it is to them and why they wear it, was interesting,” she said.
“I’ll tell my friends that some of the things they hear about Muslims aren’t always true, especially on TV.”
Additionally, Muslim students have also benefited from this eye-opening program. Meiah Agemy and Hawraa Kazerooni, both 12, attended the program as young Muslims.
Both girls study at the Muslim American Youth Academy, which is a kindergarten through 8th-grade school affiliated with the Islamic Center of America and located next door.
While experiencing dealing with students from other faiths, Agemy said: “Even though there are differences in beliefs, we are all human, which to her means that we are inherently the same.”
Kazerooni described her day as “a new experience. I’m being exposed to different schools and things that I’m not used to; especially how much people actually don’t know about our religion.”
“Many students visiting today didn’t know some of the basic things about my religion and it surprised me,” she said.
Sheri Schiff, an education committee member at Interfaith Leadership Council, explained that in Michigan, 7th-grade students are required to start learning about different world religions.
“By the benchmarks of the Michigan Board of Education, 7th graders learn about world religions. The diversity program started with five school districts and a small group of volunteers,” he said.