September 11, 2008

Berkley Center/Muslim Student Association Ramadan Iftaar Dinner 2008

Every year the Berkley Center co-sponsors an Iftaar dinner with the Muslim Students Association. Faculty and students come together to break the fast of Ramadan and enjoy fellowship and conversation with one or more featured speakers. In 2008 Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, President of the Center of the Study of Islam & Democracy, shared some reflections of Islam in America seven years after September 11, and Imam Yahya Hendi, Georgetown's Muslim chaplain, underscored the continued importance of interfaith dialogue.

Imam Yayha Hendi is Muslim Chaplain at Georgetown University, which was the first American university to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. As chaplain, Imam Hendi leads Qiyamul-lail and Friday prayers, counsels students on their academic, religious, and social issues, and offers retreats for both Muslim and non-Muslim students. A consistent advocate for interfaith dialogue and interreligious relations, Imam Hendi was one of the first American Muslim leaders to meet with President Bush after the 11 September attacks.  He has also written numerous publications on many topics, including women in Islam, women and gender relations in Islam, the coming of the Messiah, and religion and Islam in the United States. In addition to his duties at Georgetown, he serves as the Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick, MD, the Muslim Chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center, and the spokesperson of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of North America.  He holds a Master's degree in Comparative Religions from Hartford Seminary, CT and is currently working on his PhD in Comparative Religion at Georgetown.

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