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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

2 religions come together for a day of worship

On Friday, IU Muslim Student Union and IU Hillel will partner for a day filled with activities, conversation and learning from each other in a religious context. In “TGIF: The ways we coexist,” participants will have the opportunity to attend both Islamic and Jewish services, visit places of worship, play games and bond over food and shared customs.

“We wanted to show the similarities that our two religions shared, and we wanted to create a forum that allowed an open discussion,” Carrie Seleman, president of ?Hillel, said.

The idea of the joint event started when the Muslim Student Union approached Hillel to co-sponsor a panel on Israel. Unfortunately it was too short notice, but this opened the door to discussing other possible events for the future.

Both organizations were interested in the idea of an interfaith day. The tensions between the two religions could possibly decrease if people were exposed to the true similarities between the two religions, Seleman said.

MSU representative Fariha Hossain said she views the event as a rekindling of a ?relationship.

In the past, both the Muslim Student Union and IU Hillel have hosted events when unity has been needed, but no events have happened in the recent past.

“It’s a good way to start to understand each other, grounded around our religious connection,” ?Hossain said.

The event starts at 3 p.m. in the Oak Room of the ?Indiana Memorial Union with a Jumuah service open to all. Then the day continues with a breakout session and interfaith discussion about the similarities and different aspects of the Islamic service in contrast to the customs and traditions of a Jewish service.

Following the discussion, participants will be given a tour of the Mosque and given time to ask questions.

After the tour, the event will move to Hillel for a tour and another round of ?questions.

Shabbat services will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Hillel, with a free Shabbat dinner open to the public as an end to the program.

Both organizations will present a traditional service to portray the customs of the respective religions. This will hopefully show the participants what is truly unique in each worship. For the Jumuah service, members of the Muslim Student Union will help lead the service. To begin Hillel’s Shabbat service, a cappella group Hooshir will lead the group in prayer.

The event’s mission is to have people that would normally not come together and facilitate a conversation.

Having the Palestine versus Israel conflict still very prevalent in today’s society presents an immediate tension between both religions, Hossain said. She said she believes the beliefs and opinions from this conflict can get in the way of friendship.

Hossain said she thinks the tension is not due to religious reasons whatsoever. It is only connected to historical discrepancies.

“It’s a time for us to push past the religion barrier,” Seleman said.

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