October 17, 2014

This past Saturday, Haris Tarin, Director of the Washington D.C. MPAC office, spoke at a banquet in Plainfield, Indiana honoring 17-year-old Haris Suleman and his father, Babar Suleman,

SEE: “Banquet Honors Plainfield Teen Pilot, Father” (WTHR)

ALSO SEE: “Teen Pilot, Father Remembered at Plainfield Banquet” (IndyStar)

The father and son duo attempted to circumnavigate the globe in 30 days to raise money and awareness for quality education for underprivileged children around the world. The journey that began this past summer tragically ended when their single-engine airplane crashed in the Pacific Ocean, killing Haris. Babar's body has not been found and officials have considered him missing.

The banquet raised money for Seeds of Learning, which will use the funds to construct schools for impoverished children in Pakistan. Tarin keynoted the banquet and spoke about the legacy of Babar's and Haris' vision for better education and what we, as an American Muslim community, can learn from their voyage. While it may seem that Babar and Haris were not able to complete their mission due to their tragic accident, Tarin said that they had indeed completed their mission because they so bravely and dedicatedly answered the call of the first commandment of the Qur'an, to read (i.e. education, knowledge, etc.)

“As an American Muslim community, we have extraordinary individuals like Babar and Haris who do so much,” said Tarin. “We’re here to celebrate that, recognize it and make sure that the rest of America hears the story of Babar and Haris.”

Tarin spoke about the crucial lessons we can take away from Babar's and Haris' journey. Firstly, through their mission to get young people educated, we can learn from their commitment to service, which is essential to being a Muslim. Secondly, their creativity and innovative spirit is what made Islam so successful. The spirit of innovation in Muslim history and Muslim civilization lived on through Babar and Haris. And, lastly, their vision, commitment and confidence to provide quality education for underprivileged children is a valuable lesson for us to be better engaged with the needs of our communities. Tarin noted that if we learn and effectively implement these three lessons we can successfully change the perception of Muslims as well as improve the portrayals of Islam and Muslims within our communities.