In May, Fordham’s Office of Mission Integration appointed Ammar Abdul Rahman to the newly created position of director of Muslim life and campus imam.
Abdul Rahman has deep ties to the Bronx. He serves as deputy imam at Masjid Al-Haram USA, a mosque in the borough’s Bedford Park neighborhood. He’s also affiliated with the Gambian Youth Organization, which was how he came to attend the Fordham Center for Community Engaged Learning’s annual back-to-school festival on Fordham Road last year. When he learned that Fordham was creating a role for a Muslim chaplain, the University’s commitment to the Bronx played a major role in his decision to apply.
“But what really made me want to join Fordham is the fact that it’s a Jesuit institution that focuses on faith and spirituality,” he said.
“The commitment to community service and creating a diverse faith community for students was very important to me.”
What are your hopes for your first year?
I’d like to build a community where Muslims and non-Muslims alike feel comfortable and empowered to explore different faiths and ask questions. One of my immediate goals is to answer questions and dismantle stereotypes about Muslims.
There’s so much that needs to take place to educate people about what Islam is. Islam is not something that one person gets to define; it’s a holistic way of life that is defined in the Quran and through the Hadeeth, which is a collection of traditions containing the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad with accounts of his daily practice. While different schools of thought will give different interpretations, at the end of the day, God has given each individual an intellect to be able to deduce conclusions from those interpretations
I want to make it clear that Islam is something that is for everyone, from students who are at different levels of faith to non-Muslims who can inquire and learn more about the practice and perhaps take a lesson or two to apply to their own lives.
What do you see as your larger role at the University?
My role is to add to whatever existing voices there are here from a Muslim perspective and to promote a relentless effort to engage students with their faith and their spirituality. One of the things that makes Fordham amazing and unique is the fact that faith and spirituality are taken really seriously. It provides an environment where students don’t feel awkward for being someone who has faith. I’m also going to provide basic chaplaincy services, including counseling and pastoral care.
You worked for the Interfaith Center of New York before you came to Fordham. Why is interfaith dialogue so important to you?
There’s so much polarization in our world today. It’s either black or white. Either you’re Republican or Democrat, you support Israel, or you support Palestine, and there’s nothing in between. All these topics really polarize our communities. I find that, especially within the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there’s a tie that binds and provides us with a framework within which we can work toward harmony and peaceful coexistence.
There is a mosque in the Bronx where the imam is from Senegal. Last summer, asylum seekers from Senegal were rushing there because that was where they felt at home.
The mosque did not have the capacity to feed them, so the imam reached out to us. We got a Mormon church to donate $10,000 worth of food. We couldn’t find anywhere to cook it, though, so at an event, one of my colleagues asked a Buddhist monk if they had a commercial kitchen. So we took food that we got from a Mormon church to a Buddhist temple and shared it at a mosque for Muslim migrants. That’s why a dialogue between faiths is important to me. Regardless of people’s faith, we believe that they’re the creation of God, and they have the dignity that God has given them.
Muslim Life Events:
Beginning next week, Abdul Rahman will lead a weekly Jumu’ah prayer on both campuses from 1 – 1:30 pm. on Fridays. He will also lead a weekly Halaqa (circle) where participants will discuss topics relevant to contemporary Muslims’ lives. These will take place on Mondays at the Rose Hill campus and on Thursdays at the Lincoln Center campus. For more information, visit Muslim Life at Fordham or contact Abdul Rahman at [email protected].
