Catholic students visit mosque, learn
about Islam
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 29, 2006
Dearborn – In a week during which Catholic-Muslim relations were under some strain, about a hundred local Catholic schoolchildren visited an area mosque to learn about the beliefs and practice of Islam.
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Photo by Larry Peplin
The Michigan Catholic
Wearing headscarves and leggings to comply with Muslim modesty, students from St. Paul Elementary School, Grosse Pointe Farms, prepare to enter the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn – the largest mosque in America — Sept. 21. | The timing of the visit was a coincidence, since the students in grades six, seven and eight at St. Paul Elementary School in Grosse Pointe Farms had been planning the mosque visit since spring, but it came at a good time to illustrate the good relations between the local Catholic and Muslim communities, said Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny, pastor of St. Paul on the Lake Parish and archdiocesan ecumenical and interfaith adviser.
The students visited the Islamic Center of America – the largest mosque in America – on Altar Road, off of Ford Road west of Southfield Road in Dearborn Sept. 21. The girls wore headscarves and leggings or some other covering for their legs, to comply with Muslim standards of modesty.
Najah Bazzy, adviser to the Young Muslim Association, gave a presentation on Islam, and answered the students' questions. Bazzy explained the architecture of the mosque, Muslim prayer practices, the significance of making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a person's life, and the rules for fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
She strongly distanced herself and fellow Muslims of the Islamic Center of America from Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaida terrorist movement.
Then the St. Paul's children stayed, as observers, when students from the Mosque's pre-kindergarten to grade 8 school, the Muslim-American Youth Academy, filed into the mosque for their midday prayers.
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Photo by Larry Peplin | The Michigan Catholic
Students from St. Paul Elementary School in Grosse Pointe Farms listen as Najah Bazzy, adviser to the Young Muslim Association, explains the basics of the Islamic faith. | The Catholic students listened as Imam Hassan Qazwini led the prayers and the Muslim children responded.
Called to the front of the mosque after the prayers were over, Msgr. Halfpenny said, "These kinds of visits help us to build bridges of understanding, and I want to thank you for this invitation, and for walking across this bridge with us."
Mary Miller, principal of St. Paul School, said, "We look forward to hosting the Muslim students at St. Paul's after the first of the year."
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