In a bold step to address the needs of its growing Islamic population, Wesleyan recently appointed Abdullah Antelpi as its first-ever Muslim chaplain. Antelpi will join the resident Catholic, Protestant and Jewish chaplains in an effort to enrich the quality of Islamic practices, as well as further the on-going inter-faith dialogue on campus.
Antelpi’s appointment comes on the heels of a year-long administrative push by Muslim students to increase Islamic worship resources on campus.
Prior to his appointment, the religious outlets available to Muslims at Wesleyan were sparse compared to the other three denominations represented by the other chaplains. Through the cooperation of Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley, the Chaplains Office, and the Muslim Students Association (MSA), Wesleyan has vastly expanded the resources available to Muslim students in the last year.
Born in Turkey, where he still maintains citizenship, Antelpi spent the last twelve years as a teacher in a number of Southeast Asian countries. Living in Malaysia, Thailand and Burma as well as his native country, he worked to teach English as a second language to native speakers.
While working as a teacher, Antelpi also spent a great deal of time involved in various Muslim communities abroad, helping with educational outreach and community-building efforts. Through his religious work, he soon developed a focus on inter-religious instruction and studies. Setting his sights across the Atlantic, Antepli began the search for a suitable institution at which to pursue his inter-faith career. That search led him to the Hartford Seminary, the nation’s only accredited theological school to offer degrees in Muslim chaplaincy.
When Wesleyan approached the Seminary at students’ behest, Antelpi was selected from among their ranks to serve as the campus chaplain. His presence at Wesleyan also helps fulfill part of his field training requirement as a chaplaincy student.
On campus for the past three weeks, Antelpi already marvels at the quality of the campus’ religious culture. “It’s a huge diversity: the general attitude of people’s tolerance and acceptance of different religions and different faiths here is amazing,” he said. “It’s one of the best moralistic societies I’ve ever seen and I’m very glad to be here.”
Given current tension and misconceptions regarding Islam, Antelpi hopes his presence will foster a dialogue and help to educate the community about the true nature of the Muslim faith.
“I will try and present the true essence and true meaning of Islam,“ he said. ”Especially after Sept. 11, and since the first Gulf War, Islam and Muslims are part of this country’s agenda. And unfortunately, Islam is a very unfortunate religion to be misinformed [about] and wrongly known in American society. For non-Muslims, I am ready to share some time with them to explain what Islam really is, in spite of all these media and prejudice and stereotype-producers who have been explaining what Islam [is].”
Prior to Antelpi’s appointment, many Islamic students felt disenfranchised by Wesleyan’s inattention to their religious needs. Among them was Joel Bhuiyan ’06, who was dismayed by the lack of a more cohesive Islamic community on campus.
“When I came here last year, there was no Muslim Students Association” said Bhuiyan. “I really didn’t know any Muslims on campus.
Bhuiyan, after meeting a number of fellow Muslims with similar frustrations in his freshman year, helped to re-establish the Muslim Students Association to provide a safe space for the concerns of Islamic students. Beginning in the fall of 2002, the MSA began collaborating immediately with the administration to try to enhance Muslim support services on campus.
A year and a great deal of work later, a host of new opportunities now abound for Muslims students. Among them is the newly-established ”Turath House“, an Arab-Muslim Middle Eastern program house whose name means ”heritage“ in Arabic. Additionally, an Islamic prayer room has been set aside in the Chaplain’s office, and a campus shuttle now regularly transports students to a local Mosque for worship ceremonies. Students feel, however, that Antelpi’s presence will be of the greatest value to Islamic worshipers at Wesleyan.
”I think [Muslims] will be more comfortable coming to him asking for advice, asking questions they might have had but were afraid to ask anybody else,“ Bhuiyan said. ”He’s here so that people feel comfortable practicing Islam on this campus. I think it’s the best thing we need here on campus, especially after 9/11, when people might be afraid of coming out and speaking about their religion and practicing their faith on campus.“
With an ever-expanding Muslim population on campus, Wesleyan has only recently become attuned to the mounting needs of its Islamic students.
”I think it’s pretty recent that we’re starting recognize the presence of Muslims in the country and also in the University, so there was a desire to take care of them,“ said Catholic Chaplain Louis Manzo.
Antepli will also help to aid the inter-faith dialogue on campus by interacting with the other chaplains and organizing discussion forums. Last Friday, they helped mount a Muslim-Jewish dialogue with the aid of Rabbi Jonathan Magonet and Professor Ibrahim Abu-Rabi. Also, Antelpi will work with Jewish Chaplian David Leipziger to provide a Middle Eastern Halal food cart in the Davenport Campus Center.
Anetlpi will assume the standard duties of campus chaplain as well. He plans to lead weekly Friday prayers for students on a regular basis, as well as working to tutor fellow worshippers in the teachings of the Qur’an and the tracts of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.
Along with the MSA, Antelpi also will be mounting his first major event on campus later in the month with an Iftar feast to celebrate the end of the Islamic fasting period of Ramadan. From 3 until 6 p.m. on the 21st, Muslims and non-Muslims alike will be invited to Downey House to eat, hear returning speaker Professor Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, and enjoy a brief live Sufi musical performance.
”This is really the big event we want to have during Ramadan for Muslims and non-Muslims to come together“ Bhuiyan said.
Antelpi is both excited and energized to be become a part of the Wesleyan community, hoping to provide a fundamental spiritual resource for students.
”The religious need is the basic need of all humans“ he said. ”Everybody has a right to fulfill this need.“
However, in his capacity as an inter-faith facilitator, Antelpi believes his purpose is one not confined merely to the needs of the Islamic campus community. ”Basically, I hope to serve Muslims and non-Muslims,“ he said.
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