IIIT Holds Friends of IIIT Iftar and AlBarzinji Memorial Lecture

On Tuesday, June 6, over a hundred Muslim and non-Muslim guests gathered at IIIT for its annual Friends of IIIT Iftar and Memorial Lecture which was dedicated this year to the late Dr. Jamal al-Barzinji, who passed away in September 2015.

Friends of Dr. Jamal and members of his family shared their thoughts on his legacy and reflected on is life and work.

At the beginning of the program, Dr. Hisham Altalib, President of IIIT, shared aspects of his lifelong journey with Dr. Jamal and reflected on the legacy of Dr. Jamal, his contributions in different fields from education, to publications and research, to business, to politics and charitable activities. He reflected on Dr. Jamal’s exceptional character and leadership style, qualities that distinguished him even from his peers within IIIT.

The keynote speaker of the event was Professor Charles Butterworth who shared thoughts on Dr. Jamal Barzinji as a public intellectual, interfaith leader, and philanthropist.

IIIT ran a video on the life and work of Dr. Jamal that included testimonies of several of his friends, close associates and family members.

After the video presentations, several distinguished guests who participated in the event shared their thoughts on the legacy of Dr. Jamal and their friendships with him. These included Dr. Douglas Johnston, President of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy; Alex Kronemer, prominent producer and President of Unity Production Foundation; Rabbi Jerry Serotta, Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.; and Suhab al-Barzinji, son of Dr. Jamal.

The program concluded with remarks and duaa by Imam Mohamed Magid, Imam of the ADAMS Center.

More pictures on Flickr