June 5, 2014

On Saturday, MPAC and the Bilal Islamic Center held a “Let’s Be Honest” forum which centered on youth and their relationship to their faith, identity and mosque. It is not an uncommon problem for mosques and Islamic centers these days. Youth are not attending the mosque or connecting with their community as much.

“I've had the blessing and challenge of traveling to different mosques across the U.S. and I keep finding that there is this crisis of confidence among our youth,” said Edina Lekovic, MPAC’s Director of Policy and Programming. “They're acting one way in the mosque, another way at home and another way at school and it creates this Bermuda Triangle where their personality is lost somewhere in the middle.”

The panel, which was moderated by MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati, also included Imam Talib Abdullah of Masjid Bilal, musician Mikal Majeed, counselor Sabah Muhammad-Tahir, and educator Alayyi Alim.  

In the past two years, MPAC has held nearly a dozen “Let’s Be Honest” forums around the country to foster candid discussions surrounding taboos topics such as gender, race, pre-marital relationships, mental health, sectarian divide, sexuality, and substance abuse.