Sheikh Khalil Abdur Rashid PhD Harvard Commencement Ceremony...

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Harvard College senior Isabella E. Peña ’24 sang the national anthem before Khalil Abdur-Rashid — Harvard’s first full-time Muslim chaplain — and Harvard Hillel Campus Rabbi Getzel Davis gave the ceremony’s opening blessing with a message of peace. This is the first time in Harvard’s history that the University has had two chaplains of different religions as the chaplains of the day.

Click Link:  Sheikh Khalil Abdur Rashid Harvard 2024

Following a land acknowledgement by Abdur-Rashid, Davis led the first prayer, calling for compassion amidst division.

“I bless us today with another way to engage with our sense of separateness — compassion,” Davis said. “Compassion lies not in numbing our alienation or fighting against it. Instead, ‘compassion’, literally ‘suffering together’, comes from recognizing that our own experience of isolation resembles the universal experience of others.”

Abdur-Rashid followed with a similar call for unity.

“Help us remember that we are indeed brothers and sisters of one another; that we are to cultivate and preserve peaceful bonds with each other; and that we are to be mindful and grateful for all the blessings you have graced us with,” he said.

The prayer concluded as both University chaplains said “Shalom Aleichem” and “As-Salaamu Aleikum.”

“May peace be with us all,” Davis and Abdur-Rashid said in unison.

Full Harvard Article:  LIVE UPDATES: More Than 1,000 Stage Walkout at Harvard Commencement...

Transcript of speech:  

Khalil - Land Acknowledgement 

 

“Harvard University is located on the traditional and ancestral land of the Massachusett, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. We pay respect to the people of the Massachusett Tribe, past and present, and honor the land itself, which remains sacred to the Massachusett people.”

 

Getzel - We gather here today to celebrate a momentous occasion, a day filled with joy, pride, and a sense of accomplishment. Often, when we gather en masse together, we notice, ironically, the ways in which we are alone.  

 

We often find ourselves navigating the seas of loneliness and isolation, yearning for connection and understanding.  Too often, we seek community in standing together against.  Against others, against our neighbors, even against injustice fueled by anger.  

 

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov offers us an alternative.  When he describes the experience of alienation and separateness, he uses the metaphor of entering a dark room where all we can perceive is darkness.    With patience and time, he teaches, our eyes adjust and we find that we can in fact see, even by the light of a single candle.  Paradoxically, we see better in darkness than when overwhelmed by a bright glare. Darkness dilates our eyes— it opens us. Our own vulnerability, fears, and losses attune us to a universal human experience.

 

I bless us today with another way to engage with our separateness - compassion.  Compassion lies not in numbing our alienation or fighting against it.   Instead, ‘compassion’, literally ‘suffering together’, comes from recognizing that our own separateness resembles the separateness of others.  It is our vulnerability, not our strength that makes us human.  in our separateness we find You oh Lord, 

 

So, as you all step out into the world, carry with you the knowledge that on one level, you are alone.  The experience of separateness will follow you through life.  Don’t run from it, don’t numb it, don’t waste it.  Let it transform you.  Let it inspire you.  Let its universality call you to compassion, to sacred service, and to love.  

 

Khalil -

Let us Pray - In the Name of our Lord, The Lord of Compassion, the Giver of Merciful Love. We praise You and seek Your help in all matters.

 

You created us as different people, races, tribes, and nations so that we would come to know one another, and to understand that in Your Divine eyes, the most honored of us are the ones most mindful of You! But we have felt alone, so help us feel together; help us to be together; to heal together; to uplift each other together.

 

Help us remember that we are indeed brothers and sisters of one another; that we are to cultivate and preserve peaceful bonds with each other; and that we are to be mindful and grateful for all the blessings You have graced us with.

 

We recall the example of Abraham who courageously faced the blazing fire in isolation. Kindle inside us that same spirit and grant us the courage to weather the storms of hate by cultivating new climates of hope.

 

Lighten for us the burdens that weigh so heavily on our minds and hearts; gift us ease after our hardships; give us ease despite our hardships.

 

Expand our hearts; Gift us fluency in the language of unity; through the dialect of restraint; with the tongue of tolerance; Help us to call others to the path of love and justice using wisdom with courage; conviction with courtesy; gentleness with tenacity.  

 

You have gathered us here, as one community. And despite our differences, our traumas, our loss, and our loneliness, we are indeed together in our need for You and in our hope in You. We ask out of Your loving mercy and grace, that You position us to remember where we came from, who we are, and what role we must play, to do our part, to make this world a better place for us all and for those to come. 

 

Getzel: Amen.  Shalom Aleichem.

Khalil: As-Salaamu Alaikum

 

Together: May Peace // be with // us all

 

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

[Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص]

Kofi Bilal Mahmud Eid AlFitr 1443 A.H.

http://oppressedpeoplesonlineword.ning.com/profiles/blogs/6273430:B...

Kofi Bilal Mahmud

Executive Director

Oppressed Peoples Online Word 

Your Voice Since 2010

The Voice Of The Voiceless...A People Without A Voice Can Not Be Heard!

Periodically we at OPOW have to make an evaluation on our being able to sustain this effort of bringing  you stories that many of you enjoy.  We do not take adds, nor do we charge a subscription.  Much or most of our operating expense is covered by a few individuals who have been very generous over the past 13 years.

Much of our content is supplied by volunteers and myself.   With that being said, we need your support to continue this effort.  No amount is too small or too large.  Please consider becoming a much needed supporter of OPOW today.  In advance, from all of us at OPOW,  we thank you for your continued support.  

Bilal Mahmud

Executive Director OPOW

Support OPOW:  OPOW Needs Your Support - Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice...

The Voice Of The Voiceless... A People Without A Voice Can Not Be Heard...

Make Your Pledge To OPOW, The Voice Of The Voiceless

 

Paypal send to:[e-mail]1 

Shaban 1445 A.H.$1.00 per day can make a difference..

Or Cashapp: $bilal1370

Zelle: [e-mail]

Mail: Little Deep Creek LLC
P.O. Box 1241
Conley, Ga. 30288

Oppressed Peoples Online Word 

Your Voice Since 2010

Support OPOW Today...An Appeal From The Executive Director Bilal Ma...

Thank you from all of us here at OPOW

Chip In To Help OPOW Make A Difference

Visit Us On Facebook:  (2) Facebook

OPOW Above The Fold