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ISNA PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
On February 7, 2008 Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director and Mohamed Elsanousi, Director of Communications and Community Outreach were invited to the 56th Annual National Prayer Breakfast. ISNA was the only national Muslim organization that was invited to and attended this major event. Attended by 4,000 people representing 155 nations, the National Prayer Breakfast began as a Congressional prayer circle in 1951 and has grown to be a major world event attended by every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Bush in his remarks stated, “When we lift our hearts to God, we're all equal in His sight. We're all equally precious; we're all equally dependent on His grace. It's fitting that we gather each year to approach our Creator in fellowship -- and to thank Him for the many blessings He has bestowed upon our families and our nation. It is fitting that we gather in prayer, because we recognize a prayerful nation is a stronger nation.” (White House)
The major speech of the event was delivered by Ward Brehm a businessman who heads the US Government Agency, U.S. African Development Foundation to help small businesses in Africa. He said in his speech, “I will forever be indebted to the people of Africa. Africa awakened me when I didn’t even know I was asleep.” (Voice of America)
Dr. Sayyid Syeed remarked, “We appreciate the fact that Americans of different political affiliations and coming form different faiths and denominations come together to acknowledge their Creator as the ultimate benefactor and the supreme power. This has such a humbling effect on all of us as Americans. This tradition has begun as a sincere initiative of our leaders who were Christians and therefore the language and the milieu is overly Christian. We appreciate the openness to accommodate references to other religious traditions and we believe there is ample scope for all religious people to claim this as a representative religious event in the future. It is the respect for religious diversity in America that gives our society a unique strength and our national events become more powerful and prayers become more effective as we empower people of all faiths. We see a tremendous potential in the National Prayer Breakfast and a great message to the rest of the world.”
After the breakfast there ISNA representatives attended a round table meeting held with interfaith representatives of six cities; Detroit, Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. This meeting focused on a discussion of the
Uniting to Protect event, which was sponsored by ISNA in November of 2007. Through this initial meeting with interfaith leaders there is a hope that events similar to the major event in November can be replicated in cities throughout the country.
Lastly, Dr. Syeed and Mr. Elsanousi attended a luncheon held in conjunction with the Prayer Breakfast. This event also trumped a turnout of around 4000 people. The event was addressed by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington DC. The cardinal mentioned ISNA in his presentation and highlighted the involvement ISNA has within the interfaith community for peace and reconciliation.