NEW YORK (RNS) — Fahad Kiani knows he is making history by participating in the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses around the city. Over the past few weeks, Kiani, a graduate of the City University of New York, has demonstrated at his alma mater and at Columbia University. But while the heightened police presence and the 24-hour tent encampments dominate news headlines, Kiani found hope when a fellow protester decided to become Muslim just outside Columbia’s gates one night last week.After reaffirming the young man’s decision, Kiani, 34, found two Muslim witnesses among the protesting crowd and, with bystanders looking on, they together recited the shahada prayer to accept Islam. “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah,” the young man, with a kaffiyeh wrapped around his head, repeated back. Afterward, the two shook hands and embraced.
“It was the best experience of my night,” Kiani, a Pakistani American, said. “That really kind of turned it around from all of the wild hatred I’m seeing around me.”
As some campuses around the country enter a fourth week of student protests against the Israel-Hamas war and demanding that their universities divest financially from Israel, Muslim protesters express a sense of both religious solidarity and cautious unease at the w …
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“It was the best experience of my night,” Kiani, a Pakistani American, said. “That really kind of turned it around from all of the wild hatred I’m seeing around me.”
As some campuses around the country enter a fourth week of student protests against the Israel-Hamas war and demanding that their universities divest financially from Israel, Muslim protesters express a sense of both religious solidarity and cautious unease at the w …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]