Jack Stein ’19
On Monday night, all members of the community congregated in St. Andrew’s Chapel to welcome the guest speaker for the night, Imam Earl El-Amin. Imam El-Amin opened up his sermon by thanking Dr. Smith and Dr. Watson; both played a role in bringing him to the school. He also thanked the administration and the students for their amazing hospitality.
An Imam in the Islam religion is a person who leads fellow Muslims in prayer. He became a Muslim in 1977, when he reverted. He always felt something inside him when he used to read the Koran before he reverted.
In his talk, Imam El-Amin spoke about the curiosity of humans. “You need to be curious from the cradle to the grave, from the womb to the tomb. When we lose our curiosity, we lose ourselves,” he said.
Imam Earl El-Amin was born in New Jersey, but he moved to Baltimore when he was a child. He went on to attend Oregon State University, and he currently lives in Baltimore and is involved in several non-profit and interfaith organizations, as well as a few political circles. He also works with the Habitat for Humanity and has spoken to Dr. Watson’s classes at McDaniel College.
When I asked Dr. Watson about Imam El-Amin’s work in Baltimore, he stated, “He is a terrific leader and voice for his community, locally, nationally, and even internationally, and I am proud to call him a friend.”
Imam El-Amin’s comedic stories – which included a meeting with Pope Francis and a renewed definition of hell – made for an entertaining, interesting, and enjoyable chapel service. He left the school by telling the students to keep working, to never give up. “If you ain’t working on something, then nothing ain’t working on you,” he told everyone.
Categories: Today
The Woodberry Oracle 