U.S. women tell Italians about sharing Islam with Christians

Published: 2007-12-10

ROME (CNS) -- Muslims living in predominantly Christian countries need to reach out to educate their neighbors about their faith and to join others in building more open and just societies, said two young American Muslim women. As part of a two-week speaking tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Zeenat Rahman and Aalaa Abuzaakouk spoke Dec. 10 to a group in Rome that included young Italian Muslims full of questions about how to promote acceptance in Italian society. The meeting with Catholic and Muslim students and a separate meeting with the press were coordinated by the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. For many Muslims in the United States, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks brought the realization that most of their neighbors had no idea about what Islam taught or how the vast majority of Muslims lived, the young American women said. After the terrorist attacks, "I felt the importance of engaging with civil society and letting people know that Islam is not a violent religion," said Abuzaakouk, who grew up in northern Virginia, attended a Muslim school for 13 years, then graduated from Jesuit-run Georgetown University in Washington.

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