Posted on March 16, 2022
Written by Organization for Islamic Learning

OIL is proud to present our Ramadan lecture series for April 2022. Entitled, “Trekking for Unity,” the three-night talk and discussion by award-winning journalist Anisa Mehdi will explore the Abraham Path: what it is, and how walking it is a journey akin to the other spiritual journeys we undertake as Muslims and humans.

The talks will be held virtually (on OIL’s YouTube channel) on April 20–22, from 6–7pm each evening, corresponding to the holy nights of Ramadan 19, 20 and 21.

 

About the lecture Series:

This lecture series explores how walking the Abraham Path in the Middle East is a metaphysical exercise as much as it is a physical one. A multi-day trek in Palestine and neighbouring countries allows for greater mutual understanding between the curious explorers and the locals they meet, while requiring from its participants all the same elements we strive to nurture in ourselves during Ramadan: discipline, dedication, connection and reflection. Broadcast journalist and interfaith advocate Anisa Mehdi presents this living mirror of our own spiritual journey.

 

What is the Abraham Path Initiative? 

The API is visionary and hopeful project: the development of walking trails approximating the travels of Abraham and his family in Mesopotamia, who shared hospitality with people they met along the way.

The initiative is an international nonprofit registered in the United States that invests with partners on-the-ground to achieve shared goals for a fruitful future. Together with local colleagues we have built trails and encouraged their ongoing maintenance, improvement and extension. We have trained guides that are now training a new generation of trekking experts from the coast of the Red Sea to the Jordan Valley, and from the plains of southern Turkey to the mountains of northern Iraq. The success of these trails and news about them bolster a growing experiential tourism sector that brings jobs and income to rural families and communities. Stories shared by those that journey here weave a tapestry of appreciation that transcends preconceived notions about the reality of this region. The Abraham Path Initiative hopes that tourism might counter terrorism and that hospitality may temper hostility. API programs — the Abraham Path Experiences, our Fellows, and regional partnerships — are in pursuit of what makes sense for our times, no matter how it may turn out. (Source: www.abrahampath.org).

Read about the progress API has been making in, and the vision it has for, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in this article published in The New York Times Magazine on 20 April 2022.

 

About Anisa Mehdi

Anisa is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, columnist and consultant specializing in global affairs, religion and culture.

Her pioneering work as a producer and reporter in mainstream American news media spans 30 years. She began her career at Eyewitness News in Boston and moved on to the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes where she worked with Dan Rather, Morley Safer and Meredith Vieira. Additional broadcast credits include PBS Frontline, ABC Nightline, and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

An Arab-American Muslim in mainstream media, Anisa helped broaden the scope of reporting on the Middle East and its religious communities by contributing perspective and nuance to myriad stories before and after 9/11. Her acclaimed National Geographic documentary “Inside Mecca” profiles three individuals making the Hajj in 2003. She directed the Hajj episode for PBS’s 2014 series, “Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler.” (Source: about.anisamehdi.com).

 

Discover more about Anisa, her lectures and documentaries:

  • View clips of Anisa Mehdi’s talks.
  • PBS’s “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly” (1998): Anisa’s original Hajj documentary done in three parts: watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Part 3 won an award from the American Documentary Film Festival.
  • “Muslims” (2002): Produced for NPR’s Frontline. Watch this (divided into parts) on YouTube.
  • “Inside Mecca” (2003): This National Geographic special was co-written and directed by Anisa Mehdi. Click here to watch.
  •  “Sacred Journeys” (2014): Sacred Journeys: The Hajj was part four of a six-part PBS series that explored different religious pilgrimages. You may be able to watch it here (if available in your territory).