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“Oceans of Mercy: African American Sufi Muslims
in the San Francisco Bay Area,” a documentary
by Dr. Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé , SKSM Vice
President for Academic Affairs, and his doctoral student
David Dezern. "Best Documentary" award at
the 2004 New Way Film and Faith Festival sponsored by
the Center for the Arts, Religion and Education at the
Graduate Theological Union.
“The result (of the film) is an honest, sincere
and often funny account of what faith and Sufism means
to six African-American Muslims in Oakland.”
– The Oakland Tribune
Over a period of five months in 2002, Farajajé
and Dezern followed six African American members of
Masjid Al Iman, where Farajajé is a member of
one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most diverse
religious communities. Here in this storefront mosque
Afghans recite in Arabic the Dhikr Allah, the
remembrance of Allah, alongside Egyptians, Koreans,
Filipinos and African Americans.
The film’s interview subjects range in age from
an 8-year-old boy to a middle-aged woman, who explain
the meaning in their lives of this mystical branch of
the Muslim faith.
“The documentary was designed to place in the
public eye a segment of the Muslim experience that’s
not on people’s radar screens,” Farajajé
said.
To schedule a showing of “Oceans of Mercy,”
or purchase a DVD-format copy for $20, contact
David Dezern, Director of Faculty Services.
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