April 8, 2020 by Tasneem Sultan An organism invisible to the naked eye is threatening humanity’s very existence. As the COVID- 19 virus rapidly spreads throughout the world, we are becoming anxious and stressed by the possibility of being infected and losing our loved ones. This pandemic is taking us to an unprecedented national and global
March 24, 2020 by Raimy Khalife-Hamdan The world has erupted with fears, with tears, with mistrust. In an ironically collaborative way, every country on this globe is experiencing the same non-human, non-discriminatory beast: COVID-19. And who knows how long this internationally collective battle will last? Chinese cardiologists have been collaborating with American ones. The U.S. has sought the....
December 31, 2019 by Raimy Khalife-Hamdan Recently, in Monsey, New York, there was another heartbreaking anti-Semetic act against Hasidic Jews. For most of us, when we read about these horrible incidents, these events shock us, tear at our hearts, and force tears into our eyes. And yet, it is important to note that these incidents accumulate in our past, adding onto a history of pain, violence, and intolerance...
November 22, 2019 by Zain Sultan La Convivencia will be hosting its 2nd annual Holiday Day of Service event on December 7, 2019. As part of its mission, La Convivencia aims to bring diverse members of the local community together to help families in need. But where does this idea of community service come from, and why should we partake in it?
July 26, 2019 by Raimy Khalife-Hamdan I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Oxford Consortium on Human Rights at Oxford University this July. This year’s focus was on migration and human movement— and what a relevant topic today, in a world where earth, location, and humans blend together. I have been thinking about human rights, and wondering...
July 8, 2019 by Brandi Hebert The genesis of this blog series emerged from a course at United Lutheran Seminary on Justice and Judgement. Approximately 25 students from across the United States gathered together to explore this subject theologically and within the context of Christian scripture. The hypothesis that the students engaged was the question, “Is God nonviolent?” This is an important question...
May 29, by Tasneem Sultan In the summer of 2018, I went with my family on an inspiring trip to Spain, the land of coexistence and mutual understanding between Muslims, Jews, Christians and many other ethnicities during the Medieval times...
April 17, 2019 by Noor Amanullah On Sunday, March 24 over 150 community members joined the La Convivencia team for a day of conversation, solidarity, and reflection at the 2nd Annual Social Justice and Interfaith Conference at the Princeton University Friend Center. . Before the commencement of the conference, attendees and local faith leaders held a moment of silence in a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks only a week prior...
March 17, 2019 by Noor Amanullah Perhaps unsurprisingly to most, a Muslim identity is almost always served with a side of Islamophobia and conversations concerning terrorism. From a young age, I have been no stranger to hate. I have, however, also been engulfed in love, and have been blessed to live where I do, in an era when although hate seems rampant, love multiplies every day...
Febuary 25, 2019 by Raimy Khalife-Hamdan All People are a single nation - Qu’ran Religion is the core of humanity. The actual percentage of non-religious humans is miniscule to the immense history of human civilization. Even before literacy, humans have practiced religion to explain mysterious phenomenon. Historically, Muslims, Jews, and Christians have lived and worked together in coexistence in Western Asia and North Africa...
December 23, 2018 by Bilal Sultan Spain was an intriguing experience to say the least. There are many historic sites there that hold the stories of Islamic Medieval Spain. This period is also known as La Convivencia, which means coexistence, a time of peace and harmony between people of different religions and cultures (especially Muslims, Jews, and Christian), cultural exchange and scientific exploration...
November 30, 2017 by Tasneem Sultan It was a cold and windy day, but the Mall was quite busy as holiday season is just beginning. My son and I were in a store browsing books when suddenly a tall man walking behind us came in front of us and started to shout Islamophobic rhetoric: “You Muslims want Sharia Law,” followed by similar accusations...
August 27, 2017 by Bilal Sultan Facing the future sounds scary. We do not know what will happen and for all we know, it could be disaster or utopia. But the future is what we live for. It is the most important thing in our lives, despite how unpredictable it is...
July 6, 2017 by Jay Tyson 221 years ago, the Founders of our nation wrote a document that has echoed across the world and down through the generations since that time. Among the principles it proclaimed was that the main purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When the Constitution was written, about a decade later, it amplified this theme by listing some of those rights in the first 10 amendments, called the Bill of Rights. One was the right to follow the religion of one's choice...
