As a child growing up Catholic, Sheikh Ali Abdur-Rashid was expected to accept certain beliefs and to not ask questions. He says the church felt spooky with its liturgies in Latin, and the idea that the priest behind the curtain sat in the same position as Jesus never made sense to him. The trinity was another concept for which he had yet to hear a rational explanation – so he went searching. In that time, Abdur-Rashid witnessed the spiritual transformation of a family friend who had embraced Islam.

It was not long before he had received his first copy of the Qur’an. Abdur-Rashid says he read it voraciously, and it cleared up many of the questions he’d had throughout his Christian upbringing. He soon embraced Islam amongst an ethnically and religiously mixed group of Muslims. It was through this experience that Abdur-Rashid first learned about the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

Glossary

masjid- an Islamically sanctified area designated for Muslim congregational prayers

Shafa’i- one of the schools of jurisprudence within the Sunni branch of Islam

qunoot- supplication made in certain prayers while standing

Fajr prayer- one of the five daily prayers in Islam, performed before dawn

Du’a Kumayl- also known as the Du’a of Prophet Khidr (a.s.), this prayer was dictated by Imam ‘Ali (a.s.) to his close companion, Kumayl

mujtahid- Shi’i Muslim scholar/cleric qualified to independently extrapolate Islamic law

Featured Image: Parker Street Masjid. Buffalo, NY