By Ali Khatai
Multifaith Ambassador
This post is part of our series on "College Campuses and Worldviews" Check out more by following the "College Campuses and Worldviews" tag.
My name is Ali Khatai, and I’m a sophomore International student majoring in Computer science and Physics. I am also one of the Multifaith Ambassadors. I was born and raised in Pakistan, and I identify as a Shia Muslim. As Pakistan is an Islamic country, all the people I knew throughout my life in Pakistan were also Muslims, and I had little to no interaction with people from other faiths and worldviews. Even though Pakistan does have small populations of other religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Sikhism, I was never able to connect with anyone belonging from these faiths. This meant that I had very little knowledge and exposure to worldviews other than my own, and to be honest I never really tried to actively learn about beliefs and practices outside Islam. This all started changing when I came to America for college mainly because our campus is filled with students and faculty from so many different worldviews and backgrounds.
Now, I was getting to meet and talk to a whole lot of new people, but I still wasn’t making an effort to get to know and understand them and their beliefs. As a Muslim, I started by joining the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and before going to my first MSA meeting I honestly thought that most of the people there would also be Muslim, but, to my surprise, there were many non-muslim students present as well. It was amazing to see all these people being interested in Islamic culture. In these meetings, I got to talk to these people and learn about their beliefs as well. After going to a bunch of MSA meetings and getting to know many of the people who hang around the chapel, I was encouraged to come to the weekly ReligiousiTEA meetings. It was at these meetings where I started learning about different worldviews and perspectives, and where I started actively engaging in interfaith dialogue. It was so meaningful and incredible to listen to others talk about their worldviews, which included ones I hadn’t even heard of before such as Paganism and Pantheism. I was able to learn what role religion plays in many people’s personal lives, and their stories and perspectives also helped me to better understand myself and my own beliefs.
I didn’t just get to learn, but I also got to tell others about Islam and many of its traditions, and having people be so interested in learning about my beliefs felt extremely welcoming and rewarding. These discussions have given me a newfound respect for people from all beliefs and backgrounds. I have learned new things about many worldviews, even my own, and at the same time getting rid of any misconceptions I might have had about someone else’s beliefs. I think interfaith dialogue helps people come together, realize common values, and understand differences which ultimately promotes unity, understanding, and tolerance. All this has made me realize the importance that interfaith has in our lives.
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