Updated 23 May 2012

By Rafah Ali

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. The sentiment of this saying was echoed in unison by the multicultural attendees at an annual Mother’s Day Interfaith event.  Regardless of race, religion, age, or gender, they came to honor mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers on Sunday, May 6, 2012,  at the Rose Center in the City of  Westminster, CA.  For the past three years, members of the Los Angles Jamaat have initiated an annual Interfaith Mother’s Day event to share a meal with people of different faiths and foster conversations to enhance understanding amongst faiths.  

Ably engaged by the youthful Master of Ceremonies, Musarrat Bata, the gathering reflected the full diversity of American culture with a  crowd of some 300 people of many faiths, languages and ethnicities, young and old.   Honoring the strength motherhood was a uniting factor for the audience. 

The celebration began with reflections from the scriptures by the faith leaders followed by the National Anthem by Diana Nguyen. In his opening remarks, Dr Hasnain Walji set the scene by observing that  “the love and compassion a mother has for her child never ceases to amaze me.   We learn from our mothers how compassion has the power to be present for another.  Suffering with another in the present moment is what distinguishes compassion from empathy, sympathy or pity.”  Citing an example from the Prophet of Islam he stated “we find a beautiful example of the comparison between the  compassion of a mother and that  of God.  Prophet Muhammad  (PBUH) once asked his companions about a woman who was passionately hugging her child, "Do you think that this woman would ever throw her child into the fire?" His companions replied, "Never!" The prophet responded, "Allah is more merciful to his servants than that mother could ever be to her child." aptly enunciating the Compassionate nature of our Creator.

Many notable dignitaries graced the occasion by their presence. Amongst them was Habib M Habib, the Secretary General of NASIMCO, who had specially flown in from Seattle for the event.   Rev. Bill Miller, Rev.  Denis Short Rabbi Goldfarb, and Shaikh Falah, joined leaders from the Zainabia Islamic Center, Babul Ilm, Jafaria Islamic Society, Huseini Islamic Center and the  The Safinah group. 

Guests of all faiths were welcome to this event, but the three Abrahamic religions each had an articulate panelist to represent them.  Responding to Hanna Chandoo, the ever so engaging moderator, Rabbi Goldfarb, Malia Chapman, and Shabnam Dewji shared reflective conversations about compassion form the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, respectively. The audience was both inspired and enlightened as they learned more about the striking similarities between different faith perspectives on the concept of Compassion. 
 

"I was intrigued by the concept of different faiths coming together for a common cause. I have always been interested in the Muslim religion; after 9/11, I've tried to keep all the bad press in perspective by learning more about the faith. This event revealed the common thread of love for every man towards another man--which is apparent in every faith. It definitely reinforced of my knowledge of the three faiths,” opined attendee Harry Krueger.

The Huseini Sunday School children, ages 5-6, performed a song showing their appreciation to their mothers. Laughter was heard throughout the audience as the children sang, “Mommy, Mommy, I love you Mommy, no chores for you today”,  and the children’s heartfelt song, drew applause and awe from the audience.

 “I was really excited to see how they represented the different cultures so well. But the kindness I saw between different faiths was remarkable; I sat at a table where I knew nobody, and I have so many new friends from this event,” said attendee Paula Lorene

“As a father, I think Mother's Day can't be celebrated enough. I enjoyed the topic of compassion, and I think that it went well with the interfaith part. It makes sense that we focus on the things we agree on, like Mother's Day and compassion; it's silly to focus on the differences. The event was a good forum to bridge gaps between different faiths,” said attendee Jeff LeBaron.

Hanna Chandoo and Zain Mehdi presented their community service experience outside the country under the theme of Compassion in Action by the Youth.   Chandoo displayed touching glimpses of an orphanage in Tanzania, whereas Mehdi shared his recent volunteering experience at a medical facility in Peru. Both shared  that the compassion, warmth, and kindness shown to them made their journey an unforgettable experience.

Reflecting the same spirit of service one could not but help admire the energetic youth volunteers bustling around, helping sign attendees in, usher, serve food, or photograph the event under the approving gaze of organizers Khalil Dewji, and Seema Ali and Hasnain Walji. 

The purpose of this event, according to the organizers, was to unite the community by honoring mothers. The event was also put together to increase community interaction; the randomized seating enabled a free flow of conversation between strangers and facilitated new relationships. From the presentations, many people found misconceptions in their previous thoughts, and were inspired by the experience.   All in all, the event served not only as a recognition to the mothers, but a reminder that their hard work, often unnoticed, never stops; the event served  to reminds us to appreciate our mothers every day.

The event ended on a high note with the attendees reaffirming the values of love and compassion by signing the International Charter of Compassion proposed by Karen Armstrong and Bishop Tutu, thus joining 80,351 signatories around the globe.