Jews and Muslims Share Stories of Immigration

Reflections on our Jewish-Muslim Text Study on Immigration 

“So many talk about it. JCUA and JMCBI DO it. Bringing the people together and learning about each other’s experiences and traditions is very moving and shows how much we have in common.” 

–Ray Grossman, Text Study Participant, February, 2012 

Being a stranger in a strange land is an experience that is familiar to Jews and Muslims in the United States. In the text study on Feb. 23, Jews and Muslims gathered at the beautiful Dollop Café to explore what our traditions tell us about immigration. The discussion was facilitated by Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan (the Muslim Chaplain at De Paul University) and Asaf Bar-Tura (Associate Director of Programs at the JCUA and Ph.D. Candidate at Loyola University Chicago).

We began by reflecting on our own connection to immigration in our personal lives and histories. One participant said that though her family had been in the U.S. for three generations, she still caught herself speaking in patterns similar to her grandmother from Europe. Another woman shared that she had grown up in the U.S. with her family’s memories of their homeland, and stepping into her parents’ home is like a trip to Pakistan. We learned that migration is tied to memories, to what was left behind, and passed on from generation to generation.

When We Truly Know One Another

Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan is a  founding member and past president of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. He holds a bachelor’s in African-American Studies from DePaul University and is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. Imam Ryan has been working as an attorney for children in Chicago’s  foster care system for more than 10 years, and serves as Muslim chaplain at DePaul University. He has also been actively involved in Iftar in the Synagogue, an annual event of JCUA’s Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative.

Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan

By Imam Abdul-Malik Ryan

Are human beings basically all the same? Are we different? Are our differences merely superficial and unimportant or are they real and significant? If they are significant, what do they mean? What is their origin and what are we supposed to do when faced with difference, should we ignore it? Should we celebrate it? Should we fight about it?

The Qur’an’s answer to this question is pretty clear. In the 49th Surah (chapter) of the Qur’an, God says “O Humanity!  We have created you from a male and female and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may know one another.” The ayah (verse) starts by telling us that all humans do indeed share the same origin and are literally part of the same human family.