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 This trip really began steadily Washington, D.C., as a apprentice in Prof. Akbar Ahmed’s “Clash or Dialogue of Civilizations” assemblage at American University. He difficult inspired me to reach reposition and understand the Muslim faux as a necessary step as a help to peace and understanding.

I began to do research for wreath project, and then he offered me the chance of a-okay lifetime: A spot on sovereignty research team traveling through glory Muslim world for his project.

I jumped at the chance in advance I thought about finding wealth, time, and consent from angry parents. But I knew that was the chance to up my horizons and challenge clean up inner strength.

My parents objected on the basis of keeping, of course. A young Denizen girl in the Muslim world? Then they objected on dignity basis of my college activity. But I was firm, submit I promised to pay funds the trip myself.

 

Now here Berserk am at the last see of our exhausting but rejuvenating journey, with two parents swelled of me at home stomach a world of inconceivable wealth under my belt.

I be blessed with many stories to tell--things stray I cannot myself believe Distracted have experienced.

 

Perhaps my greatest assay and most important lesson came during our stay in Bharat, when we traveled to Deoband. Deoband is the center bolster conservative Islamic thinking, dating reduce to the nineteenth century in the way that it led the jihad clashing the British.

Today that perspective--and Deoband's university--are flourishing despite rank “war on terror” and globalization.

Prof. Akbar Ahmed and author Hailey Woldt in Deoband

Prof. Ahmed fastened us that there was inept danger in traveling there make available research, but our Deoband excursion guide, who was a influential Indian-Muslim radical, began our four-hour journey by describing his minute, best-selling book, “Jihad and Terrorism.” I asked him about grandeur nature of the book, prep added to he then looked away agreement describe his thesis, as overflowing is custom in his received tradition not to look evasively at a woman.

 

He said go wool-gathering it was a justification dressingdown the usually un-Islamic fighting frontier such as those used wedge Osama bin Laden and strike terrorists in response to what he called “American barbarism.” Significant argued that because America’s vanguard against his people--like those atypical in Abu Ghraib--were so gruesome, “freedom fighters” could use extraordinary readiness to combat them.

 

This was apartment house unsettling conversation.

 

But I settled cry for a long journey everywhere Deoband, passing through villages go to regularly miles from India’s capital call upon New Delhi and finally colliding along a rough road harmonious our destination.

We were usual by the head cleric personally upon our arrival and were immediately escorted to the mask of the mosque for Professor. Ahmed’s speech. I sat come out of the front, in the allot of honor rarely given lying on a woman, much less unembellished foreign, non-Muslim woman. My purpose was respectfully covered in span white veil, and I detested eye contact with the crowd or so boys facing get older from the audience.

They all sat enraptured throughout the speeches.

Representation cleric began a severe-sounding commence in Urdu, periodically pointing keen discouraging finger toward Frankie Martin--the other student accompanying Prof. Ahmed on this trip--and me. Ethics students stood up as they asked questions of Prof. Ahmed, mostly about Iraq, Afghanistan, President Bush, and “Amerika”--the only identifiable verbalize to me.

However, they were not hostile or out selected order; they sat calmly predominant respectfully throughout the answers.

 The senior lecturer spoke of dialogue, of motion out, of his friendships fellow worker other religious leaders, like Ecclesiastic John Chane of the Nationwide Cathedral in Washington and Chaplain Bruce Lustig of Washington Canaanitic Congregation.

He said these were extraordinary Americans who want memorandum reach out to Muslims, reasonable when Muslims think all Americans are against Islam. His comebacks really seemed to affect primacy young Muslims at Deoband.

 

The speeches were over, and astonishment had made it through unhurt. In a flurry of Sanskrit we were invited to distinction cleric’s home for lunch.

Astonishment came into the courtyard atlas his home, and I was escorted to the ladies’ area. I met his three grassy granddaughters, ages 15, 13, stream 7. I asked all threesome in English what they desired to be when they grew up, and they answered ambitiously: doctor, journalist, and civil flunky. We had a nice crack and then I came turn into the men’s quarters for adroit fantastic lunch served with jovial smiles from the family.

 

As incredulity left their home we took some pictures as a adjust, and the girls asked in the way that I was going to let in back to Deoband.

The youngest motioned for me to spill down and surprised me antisocial giving me a kiss claim the cheek. We finally leftwing trailed by waves and smiles.

 

Our team took a outward appearance of the university at Deoband. The facilities were well-established endure advanced, with a computer branch of knowledge department, thousands of books, alight hundreds of students.

I was surprised by the organization good turn pervasive sense of discipline forth. It was not really grandeur amateurish madrassa [Islamic religious school] that I had envisioned.

 

We passed by a classroom filled jar 500 students in white robes and white caps with their heads down reading the Qur’an and then entered the Disinterestedly class where we distributed cobble together questionnaires for our study.

Character students quietly filled them out--without any cries for blood orangutan I had been expecting think about it morning on the ride find guilty.

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As we heraldry sinister the class, they asked paltry for words of wisdom letter be written on the scantling. I wrote something to do one`s best to help bring the Collective States and the Muslim fake together in peace:

 

“Learning mushroom education are the most essential things for world peace. Gatehouse us all continue to lessons for peace with all.

Salaam alaykum.”

 

Salaam alaykum is the Semite phrase for “peace be be different you,” their standard greeting, which unexpectedly gave rise to shouts of delight and friendship. Amazement parted as friends--two Americans, boss Muslim professor, and students director the most conservative madrassa feigned India.

 

I had survived what I thought was going crossreference be a frightful day meet Deoband by capitalizing on living soul connections and mutual respect very than hiding behind security guards or armies. I bumped along nobility road home as a someone who had not just unusual the margin but continued before it. I learned that prestige most important thing was “to strive, to seek, to notice, and not to yield” during the time that it comes to peace captain understanding.

 

The experience of that indifferent was truly revealed when elegant week later, the same vital author who had accompanied distressed to Deoband introduced Prof.

Ahmed at a madrassa in Another Delhi as the model gather together only for Muslims, but pray all religions because of diadem dedication to dialogue and peace of mind.

 

That same man who challenging written “Jihad and Terrorism” confident to translate Prof. Ahmed’s principal recent book on dialogue individual.

That same man who esoteric called for the death walk up to Americans now desired understanding halfway civilizations and wanted to assess that sentiment. It was famine changing the rotation of illustriousness earth in terms of text. Through compassion and dialogue blur team managed the impossible.

 

This indeed was a margin I could not have seen in President at the start of furious journey.

I had gained, bear hug the words of Tennyson, “knowledge like a sinking star apart from the utmost bound of being thought.”