Interfaith and Finding New Friends in Morocco

Hello, friends.

A new year, a lot of changes in my thinking--it has been quite a start to 2016. Even though it has taken me severely too long to share my thoughts on an important trip I took in December, I thought it was still relevant to share my thoughts since it was such an important interfaith and intercultural experience.

But first, I would like to wish all a belated Happy Valentine's Day. Let's all spread some more love out there--as much as we possibly can.

So, back to the topic at hand. Some of you may have known that in mid-December I headed off to Rabat, the capital of Morocco for a five-day interfaith conference with 100 young people, ages 18-35, representing 74 countries and a number of religions. Can you imagine? That many young people, from so many amazing and diverse places, who are all passionate about interfaith, gathering in one place to live and learn together. If it sounds magical, it kind of was. The program is called ACWAY, which stands for "A Common Word Among the Youth." (You can read more about the program here: acway.org) It is based off an earlier initiative that started in 2007, which was a letter signed by many Muslim leaders addressed to people of the Christian faith, advocating peace between the two religions. My program, ACWAY, expanded this idea specifically to youth, and to members of many religions and those who do not follow a religion.

The ACWAY conference in mid-December was my first time in Africa--and my first time in a predominantly Muslim country. I have never been to a conference quite like this before. We were together almost all day for five days, and left Rabat truly caring about each other more than I would have thought possible. Maybe it was because we were all around the same age and so could understand each other, maybe it was the fact that we all truly hold a passion for interfaith and intercultural relations, or maybe it was just something special about this group, but it was a truly moving experience.

In this photo we have Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh friends celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah

(in the lobby of our hotel in Morocco)

While it was meant to be an interfaith conference specifically, there was surprisingly less discussion of religion during the organized sessions than I would have imagined (though we did that on our own). So what was really critical for my own development was the intercultural aspect. To hear about folks from Africa, or the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, or really everywhere, all of whom had moving, and sometimes tragic, stories to share was an amazing and humbling experience. Their willingness to share these stories, really the fact that all of us were willing to share so openly and so quickly with near-strangers, is what really made the conference a success. I learned about my new friends who had fled war, or who had had loved ones die in conflict. Even as I shared my own interfaith experiences and background, I could not help but feel so fortunate to have never had to live through such real danger and conflict. It was very inspiring to see how these young folks persevered through and beyond such circumstances.

Even while we did not focus on religion as explicitly as we expected, I still learned quite a bit more about Islam from my new friends. Despite being so involved in interfaith relations, I previously had very few close personal contacts who practice the Muslim faith, so this was critically important for my own religious understanding. In Morocco I was able to not only meet and befriend many adherents of this religion, but also see how Muslim practice can differ based on the culture and country of its adherents. We talked about physical contact between the genders, drinking alcohol, polygamy (I did not realize just how much this is done in practice...), and so much more. Even in moments of levity (a group of 17 of us dancing the final night in a club at the bottom of a ship) we were still having intense discussions (no, really, I promise, most Jews do drink alcohol). Discussions subsequent to the conference have only helped me learn even more about Islam and other cultures.

At dinner one night in Morocco with some new friends

So now the idea is that we will all run two interfaith/intercultural projects in our home communities in the six months following the conference. I have been working on some preliminary thoughts, but if anyone has a stroke of brilliance about interfaith-type projects, please feel free to share in the comments.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

ACWAY is a project of Right Start Foundation International, generously supported by KAICIID Dialogue Centre.