DEARBORN — The University of Michigan-Dearborn’s (UM-D) Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Students for Islamic Awareness (SIA) held an event on campus Monday, Sept. 29 to promote unity between students who adhere to the two sects of Islam.

During the event, entitled “Sushi: Bridging the Gap Between Sunni and Shi’a”, students networked and had discussions while eating sushi. 

They also enjoyed listening to Japanese music and playing board games.  

“I’ve heard about this event from a friend of mine who goes to Wayne State University (WSU),” said Tuqa Alfatlawi, a UM-D student who attended the event.  “With all the misunderstanding and conflict going on in the Middle East, I think it’s important to promote unity. It shows people that we’re standing together as one.” 

WSU student Sawsan Edriss said she heard about the event from the MSA on her campus. 

“Some people can be ignorant about each other’s beliefs, so it’s important to keep a dialogue between Muslims in order to stand together,” Edriss said. 

MSA follows the Sunni school of thought and SIA the Shi’a. The two groups decided to come together and organize the event because of the heightened sectarianism plaguing countries in the Arab World. 

“Promoting unity between the Sunnis and Shi’a is important to show everyone that we’re more alike than different, and so many of our fundamental beliefs line up,” said Mariam Asadullah, president of MSA. 

“By having relaxed sessions like this Sushi event, with conversation and discussion surrounding the similarities, it shows people that we are not like those fighting out there in the Middle East for all the wrong reasons,” Asadullah added. “And that’s the image I want to portray.”

“The image of Islam we would like to portray is the one embodied by the Prophet Muhammad and his family, which is logical and does not coerce,” said Aly Lakhani, president of SIA. “It embraces other ideologies, schools of thought and even other religions.”

Lakhani added that similar events to bring Sunni and Shi’a students together will take place in the future and said both groups look forward to working with one another again.