UP student Sarielle Luger (l) stands with Tanya Reza, Director of Muslim American Society's Youth division in New York, who spoke to the UP students at Heschel about the challenges Muslim youth in the United States face today in seeking to balance their religious and American identities. Tanya spoke from personal experience about difficulties she encountered during her college years, experiences that have led her to work with and on behalf of other Muslim youth in New York.

Students listening to Rabbi Andy Bachman speak about Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope. It was the first time Al-Iman students had ever been inside a synagogue.




Rabbi Bachman showing a Torah scroll in front the chapel's Ark. UP Co-Educator Zakiya Muwwakkil and Al-Iman student Huda Almohaisen observe from the side.




UP students asking questions about the torah scroll and how it is made from entirely organic materials with no metal components.




Al Iman students Sara Junnun, Munira Sultana, and Asma Naz pose for a friendly photo in front of the Bay Ridge Mosque. UP Co-Educators Zakiya Muwwakkil and Andy Shugerman stand in the background with other UP students.




Ramla Hussain from Al-Iman (left)and Adina Marz-Arpadi (right) from Heschel take a photo together in the Mosque.




Asma Naz from Al-Iman showing Heschel female students the ritual of washing (Wudu'a) before performing prayers.




Unity Program students gather together for a last group field trip photo in front of the Bay Ridge Mosque in Brooklyn.

Dr. Shaykh Ibrahim Adbul-Malik, who teaches religion courses at Fairleigh Dickinson University, presented to the Unity Program students on comparing sacred texts from Judaism and Islam. He discussed the similarities and differences between the Muslim and Jewish views about the figures of Sarah and Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac. Shaykh Ibrahim also explained how Islam relates to other figures who preceded Muhammad, including many Hebrew prophets, as prophets of Islam.

After meeting with the Al-Iman students a couple more times since our initial introduction, I feel differently about who I represent. I initially felt that I would first be perceived as a “member of the other religion”, rather than as an individual, and I still feel that they initially thought of me in that sense. At that point, they simply did not know me well enough to think otherwise. I thought that once they got past that they would see me as a Jew of a certain sort (a tallit- and tefillin-wearing Conservative, Ashkenazi Jew), and after that they would see me just as a unique Jew who practices in a way that feels comfortable. I don’t think that the last two steps really happened in our relationship. I simply went from being “a Jewish kid” to “Sarielle, who knows a lot about Judaism because she practices it”.

The biggest barrier between the two groups during the meetings was the cultural divide. I couldn’t understand how they could be so sheltered, how they could have opinions (specifically about their practice of religion) that were unadulterated by western culture, or how they could live only within their community. Mostly, I was confused by the fact that two similar religious groups in the same culture would end up being so different from each other. During the classes that followed our initial meeting, we learned more about the Muslim-American population, mostly from various guest speakers. I discovered that the reason for the differences in the cultures of the communities could be traced back to the fact that the immigrant-based Muslim population (as opposed to the African-American Muslim community) was still relatively young. My Muslim peers were first- or second-generation Americans at most, as opposed to a fourth generation American Jew (like me). When I learned that, it was as if everything suddenly made sense, and I was able to see past the cultural differences and to better understand my Muslim peers.

Sarielle Luger

The Ka’aba is the black-draped block of granite in the center of Mecca where Ibrahim is believed to have tried to sacrifice Ismail. It is supposed to be where the aspirations and loyalties of all Muslims come together and the final destination on the traditional Islamic journey to Mecca. It is covered with a black cloth with gold embroidery and represents the holiest place in Islam.

If I was a Muslim and undertook the Hajj, I think the most meaningful part of the experience would be the ihram because it would be very peaceful and calming to be equal in the eyes of God. Furthermore, I think the power in numbers and the fact that we all would be wearing the same thing and there for the same purpose would have an extremely unifying effect on my being. I would feel as though I was a part of a bigger whole, which would give me great comfort in the questions I have about my existence. After all, we all exist on this earth together and are struggling to get by despite our differences.

-Robyn Spector