by Imad Enchassi | Aug 25, 2021 | Opinion
I am a refugee. On Oct. 23,1983, I held hope, in the form of a plane ticket, in my hand. This paper was what was going to help me flee Beirut and get to the United States. That same morning, a yellow Mercedes truck entered the parking lot of Beirut International...
by Imad Enchassi | Aug 19, 2021 | Opinion
The Qur’an declares that “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:256). For the last three months, I have been in Lebanon, doing relief work and visiting family. I spent my summer in the same refugee camp, Sabra and Shatila, that I grew up in. My mother still lives...
by Imad Enchassi | Jul 8, 2021 | Opinion
Preaching is difficult in an empty sanctuary. It’s even more difficult to get used to speaking to a screen and looking into a camera instead of faces. Seminary did not have a class on how to minister in a pandemic. Finding ways to connect to our faith communities...
by Imad Enchassi | Jul 1, 2021 | Opinion
A young Jewish girl timidly walked up to the mosque and asked to speak with the imam. I was dressed in gym clothes and a cap doing yard work around the Islamic center. I guess I did not look the part. “I am the imam,” I said, laughing. She handed me an envelope with...
by Imad Enchassi | Feb 18, 2021 | Opinion
The Azan, the call to prayer, is heard five times a day in the Muslim world. The person calling out faces each direction, north, south, east and west, declaring the supremacy of God Almighty. The story of the Azan still brings chills to my spine, for it began with a...
