VOICES: How I practice Islam has changed since Oct. 7

Youssef A Elzein, PE is a local civil engineer and an Arab American Community Activist. (CONTRIBUTED)

Credit: Justin Spivey

Credit: Justin Spivey

Youssef A Elzein, PE is a local civil engineer and an Arab American Community Activist. (CONTRIBUTED)

A few months passed after Oct. 7 and the grief did not stop. My tears dried, but my heart remains shattered.

I practice my Islamic faith in private, but lately I started feeling a need to seek our imams’ sermons and to hear them pray, to listen to their recitation of verses from the holy Quran as they reflect on the war in Gaza. Their prayers have been my way to shed tears over the victims of this heinous war. I want to be in their presence, just to share my feelings and to cry on their shoulders.

Recently, I’ve also found soulfulness being in the presence of good friends, such as my friend Stephanie Van Hoose, an indigenous Native American and Mohawk spiritual leader who gives me connection to the earth. Her words of comfort make me believe in a better world. I seek soulfulness with my dear friend John Wagner, a retired Methodist minister, who I have known since 2016 while advocating on behalf of the Palestinian people, and these days I seek his spiritual support.

- Youssef A. Elzein

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