Mohammed Al Samawi Inspires Students Across Campus

According to the United Nations’ most recent estimates, the current world population sits roughly at 7.7 billion people. Interestingly enough, studies show that within the average person’s lifetime, we will only meet about 80,000 of those 7.7 billion people, and most of those people we won’t even remember.

Now in a populace of such hefty size, there are bound to be hordes of people who disagree with each other, who don’t understand each other, and who believe in fundamentally different things. Yet if simply having different philosophies of life was strong enough to divide humanity irreparably, then we would have surely died out long ago.

Instead, mankind has constantly proved that having drastically diverse viewpoints does not have to hinder works of kindness, cooperation, and peace. Much of this can be achieved merely by being willing to hear the story of people who are different than you, learning about their perspectives, their experiences and reasoning; and, in the end, offer respect and understanding over who is right or wrong.

It is for that purpose that McMurry University brought famed writer and interfaith activist, Mohammed Al Samawi, to speak to both the community of Abilene as well as McMurry’s freshman class.

Al Samawi is a refugee from Yemen who escaped from his war-torn country through the help of his friends, specifically people of different backgrounds, faiths, and ethnicities. He wrote about his experiences in his book The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America which revealed how Samawi’s interfaith work acted as an unexpected aid to saving his life.

What Al Samawi went through is something that many people at McMurry would have never experienced, making him an ideal voice to bring to the university. “A few years ago Dr. Eboo Patel came to campus and spoke about interfaith dialogue. He made us [the university] realize how many of these freshman came into college not having known many people different from them; but, when they go out into the workplace, then they will interact with people of different beliefs, ethnicities, etc.,” said Sociology professor Dr. Jori Sechrist. “McMurry hopes to provide opportunities for these sort of interactions. One of the things I really liked about Al Samawi’s book is that it engages so many different world views and demonstrates the positive things that can come from interacting with people who don’t necessarily believe the same things you do.”

Sechrist hopes that McMurry can bring in a speaker such as Al Samawi to inspire students on our campus in several ways. By bringing in speakers of different faiths and backgrounds, students will be more prepared to engage in a diverse world after graduation.

Dr. Mark Waters, professor of religion, stated similarly that, “Having speakers like Mohammed helps us to examine the world from a different perspective, which is important so that we are better equipped to work with people different from us. In addition, I would hope that Mohammed’s visit can help to make some students to be more open-minded, to inspire students to become activists, and, of course, just to learn.” Both professors worked behind-the-scenes in bringing Mohammed Al Samawi to McMurry University, along with many other faculty and staff. Student involvement was crucial as well, as the members of McMurry’s Interfaith group, Better Together Alliance, facilitated Al Samawi’s visit.

McMurry wanted the entire freshman class to receive a copy of Al Samawi’s book, so that they could have a shared experience and an easily accessible opportunity to explore the point-of-view of someone dissimilar.

Mohammed spoke three times during his visit to McMurry. His first talk, “Building Bridges: Interfaith Dialogue Across the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Communities,” shared the story of his escape and self-discovery to the general public of Abilene. The following day he shared his story once again, but with words specifically aimed at McMurry’s freshman class. Called “Collaboration and Teamwork to Accomplish the Impossible,” Mohammed’s testimony was meant for the ears of the burgeoning, young college students, perhaps those that have not met someone very different to them, and who could walk away from this encounter with new thoughts spinning in their heads. Lastly, Mohammed held a Q&A session during chapel where he discussed his thoughts on immigration as someone who sought asylum here in America.

During his presentations, Mohammed told the tale of himself as a young Yemenese man, who had never met a Jewish or Christian person, but was willing and eager to learn about cultures and religions that he didn’t fully understand. It is because of Al Samawi’s initiative to seek understanding across boundaries and histories stained with violence and hatred that led to him being saved from death by those very same people he used to know few good things about.

Although he began his foray into interfaith work with little knowledge and many awkward interactions, he soon found himself forming bonds with people he was taught to hate. Unfortunately, when Al Samawi tried to spread his love for interfaith, his life was threatened, and he was forced to flee in order to protect his family. Danger didn’t leave his side when he eventually found himself trapped in his own apartment and his fellow Shi’ite Muslims being hunted down and slaughtered by extremist groups. Desperate, Al Samawi reached out on Facebook to the people he had connected with through interfaith.

Thankfully, they were ready to help, and thus followed many trials and tribulations as people across the world tried to get Al Samawi to safety, despite the multitude of obstacles in the way. Mohammed eventually left behind his home. The last image he saw was his country in flames because of air strikes.

When he finally touched down on American soil with no luggage, dirty clothes, and a business class ticket, he ate his first American meal at KFC, and from then on began to spread his testimony across the nation to anyone who would hear.

Throughout Mohammed’s escape from Yemen, he received help from people from different parts of the world who didn’t even know Mohammed was, but their combined efforts resulted in his safety and the spreading of his story to thousands of people. It is a powerful demonstration of how even the most contrasting differences amongst people do not have to keep them from becoming close, from working together, and creating something more than the divisions that could potentially keep them apart.

Although the events that occurred during his escape were harrowing and horrific to think about, Mohammed Al Samawi still felt that he needed to tell his story. He said that he wrote his book in order to teach four lessons.

Primarily, there’s no shame in being different. It is what defines you from everyone else. Al Samawi resented a disability he had that affected his right arm and leg and excluded him from playing with the other children, but that disability had its own advantages, such as becoming a reason to connect with people with disabilities thousands of miles away.

Second, the small things matter. The little things Al Samawi’s friends were doing to help resulted in an amazing operation that rescued him from danger. Third, not everything you learn from your university or church is the absolute truth. Go out and learn for yourself and experience it firsthand. Al Samawi did exactly that when he was young and, as a result, formed irreplaceable relationships.

Lastly, Mohammed wanted his book to spread awareness on the war and violence happening in Yemen. The people there still suffer to this day, including Al Samawi’ s own family who have been without electricity for years.

Mohammed Al Samawi, since his arrival in the United States, has been able to spread his story across the nation by speaking at dinners, universities, and various other organizations. Unfortunately, his words were not always met with welcoming arms, and he has had his fair share of unpleasant occurrences with people who did not understand or agree with his message.

However, he has also had many great incidents where people have reflected on his words and were both touched and inspired by his story. Hopefully, the students of McMurry will become motivated as well, whether it is to reconsider their own prejudices as Mohammed did, or to rise up and become their own interfaith activists.

Regardless, McMurry is an institution that seeks to broaden the minds of their students, so that they can be the best they can be, and it is why McMurry will continue to bring people from all over the world to tell their stories, in hopes that those stories will light a fire in a promising mind.

Now in a populace of such hefty size, there are bound to be hordes of people who disagree with each other, who don’t understand each other, who believe in fundamentally different things, and yet if simply having different philosophies of life was strong enough to divide humanity irreparably, then we would have surely died out long ago.

It is for that purpose that McMurry University brought famed writer and interfaith activist, Mohammed Al Samawi, to speak to both the community of Abilene as well as McMurry’s freshman class.

Al Samawi is a refugee from Yemen who escaped from his war-torn country through the help of his friends, specifically people of different backgrounds, faiths, and ethnicities. Al Samawi wrote about his experiences in his book The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America which revealed how Samawi’s interfaith work acted as an unexpected aid to saving his life.