{"id":120472,"date":"2026-02-02T20:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120472\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T20:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:28:11","slug":"staten-island-muslim-community-hosts-first-islamic-peace-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120472\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island Muslim community hosts first Islamic Peace Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, NY \u2014 Members of the Staten Island Interfaith community celebrated peace, solidarity and heritage at the first-ever Islamic Peace Academy.<\/p>\n

This new initiative, which took place on Saturday in Westerleigh at the new Muslim Community Center on Broadway, was created in partnership with the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center and Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international peace organization that is affiliated with the United Nations. <\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we might see today, there may be differences in our culture, ethnicity, race and religion. Even within religion we may have differences of opinion, but these things do not change the facts of what all the religious scriptures talk about, every scripture is peace,\u201d shared Andre Fadhel, the general director of the New York Branch of the World Alliance of Religion\u2019s Peace Office.<\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. Andre Fadhel, the general director of the New York Branch of the World Alliance of Religion\u2019s Peace Office, discussed the main goal of peace and unity.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. The event began with a reading from Qur\u2019an by community leader Dr. Sabry Bahlool, which centered around peace and unity.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

The event began with a reading from Qur\u2019an by community leader Dr. Sabry Bahlool, which centered around peace and unity. This was followed by speakers from the Islamic community, who shared their hopes of solidarity and communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur prophet instructs us that a true believer is one who cannot go to sleep while his neighbor is hungry,\u201d said Mazen Ahmed, the imam of the Muslim Community Center of Staten Island. \u201cIn another verse and another saying, our prophet says if you prepare a soup then increase the water and share with your neighbors that are in need.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tahir Kukaj, the vice president and imam of the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, focused his speech on his hopes for further connection with local elected officials. <\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. Mazen Ahmed, the Imam of the Muslim Community Center of Staten Island, emphasized community care across all faiths.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. Tahir Kukaj, the Vice President and Imam of the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, focused his speech on his hopes for further connection with local elected officials.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

\u201cGood connections are important,\u201d the imam who also serves as a New York Police Department chaplain stated. ” Peace is not just absence of war. Peace is rather the system that justice is being served. In our system, in this great nation of ours, justice is being served through connections and actions.” <\/p>\n

The religious leaders were joined by multiple local elected officials, who shared words of unity and support prior to a celebratory meal. <\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. David Carr, a Republican representing parts of Staten Island, shared his support and hopes for building new bridges with the growing Staten Island Muslim community.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

State Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo and City Councilmember David Carr, both Republicans representing parts of Staten Island, shared their support and hopes for building new bridges with the growing Staten Island Muslim community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see some people here today with very different religions. Whether you\u2019re Jewish, whether you\u2019re Muslim, whether you\u2019re Christian, whether you\u2019re Catholic or Buddhist or Hindu, every religion seems to be centered around peace,\u201d stated Pirozzolo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will do our best to make sure that this government in this city and this state serves you the way it\u2019s supposed to be serving,\u201d said Carr. \u201cWe have the opportunities to build trust and collaboration and to really come together.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, a Democrat representing the North Shore of Staten Island, offered her support for the Muslim community in their upcoming holidays.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, a Democrat who represents the North Shore and South Brooklyn, shared her willingness to help the community with any issues they may face.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, a Democrat representing the North Shore, offered her support for the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time of year has always brought us together and every year together we celebrate the great holiday,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really hope to celebrate many of our iftars together and celebrate Ramadan as we\u2019re coming up on the high holy day.\u201d <\/p>\n

State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, a Democrat who represents the North Shore and South Brooklyn, also shared her willingness to help the community with any issues they may face. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know what most people want for their own family, is what I want for mine, for you to feel safe where you live, and you want to be able to afford where you live,\u201d she shared. \u201cI just wanted to stop in and say hello and let you know that I am here. I look forward to getting together with all of you and getting to know you better.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values. Abdallah Salem, the Religious Director and Imam of the Muslim Community Center, opened the event.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com\"MuslimReligious leaders and local politicians gathered Saturday at the new Muslim Community Center to celebrate solidarity and shared values.Nicolette Cavallaro|Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com<\/p>\n

Fadhel concluded the evening by presenting an honorary certificate to Abdallah Salem, the religious director and imam of the Muslim Community Center, which recognized the center\u2019s commitment to harmony and peace amongst the Interfaith community. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, NY \u2014 Members of the Staten Island Interfaith community celebrated peace, solidarity and heritage at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-120472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}