Catholics, Muslims pray for life

By Sylvia L. White
The Catholic Sun

Catholic and Muslim students prayed for life together outside a Phoenix Planned Parenthood April 7.

Students from the Arizona Cultural Academy joined Xavier College Preparatory students in rosary prayer.

“I was really impressed. It was the best one we had all year,” said Katherine Andersen, a Xavier student who coordinates the pro-life club rosary prayer. “Having the Muslim school out there showed it is not just a Catholic issue, but something that every religion has to stand up for."

While the Muslim students did not pray the rosary, Malik Shaw, a teacher at the Arizona Cultural Academy, said there was little difference between the Catholic and Muslim view of abortion.

“All life is sacred,” Shaw said. The Catholic view that “every life is precious is the same as ours.”

The Arizona Cultural Academy’s mission includes promoting moral values based on the authentic teachings of Islam and teaching interfaith tolerance and respect.

Shaw said the school often participates in community service activities and they like to work with other faith-based organizations. The goal of joining the Xavier students outside Planned Parenthood, as with other activities they participate in, is to raise awareness to make society better.

Shaw said they are working to incorporate more action to follow discussion of social issues.

Israa Al-Sayyed, a sophomore at the academy, said the group was praying to “to prevent abortion.”

She said the youth can show “there is a better choice.” They discuss it at school, but Al-Sayyed wants to do more.

Gavin Ahern, one of the Xavier group’s moderators, has been trying to get the two schools together for some time now.