Interfaith community hosts virtual memorial for professor's father
The Oklahoma City interfaith community recently came together to celebrate the life of a local professor's father.
The virtual memorial service honored the life Mohammad Ali Mattio, a prominent retired physician who died March in India. Mattio's daughter, Nyla Ali Khan, is a metro-area resident and a regular participant of local interfaith events and activities. She is an author, adjunct professor at Rose State College and a member of the Governor's International
Team.
The memorial, titled “A Life's Purpose: Interfaith Dialogue and Memory of Dr. Mohammad Ali Mattio,” was coordinated by the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma in partnership with Respect Diversity Foundation and the Women's Interfaith Group.
Noel Jacobs, a metro-area psychologist and Episcopalian, is the Interfaith Alliance's vice president, and he was one of the event's participants.
“The Interfaith Alliance and The Respect Diversity Foundation, of which I'm a part, were both honored to help organize and structure the event, as a way to memorialize the life and work of Dr. Mohammad Ali Matto and describe the ways faith communities understand life, death, legacy and the purpose of interfaith connection to each other,” he said.
The other 16 participants in the virtual memorial represented the Christian, Muslim, Zorastrianism, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faith traditions.
Khan said she was pleased when her interfaith friends came together to honor her father. Khan was born in New Delhi, India, and her family is based in Jammu and Kashmir,
India. She was raised in Kashmir.
“The bridges we built today, and the sincerity and camaraderie with which our interfaith community helped me memorialize my father ensures me that the spirits of our loved ones will not sink into oblivion, and our lives will continue to be guided by their wise counsel,” she said during the virtual event.
“My father was a devout Muslim and always believed that we are all connected by the common bond of humanity. My friends of diverse faith traditions crystallized that today.”