A photo of Ali Kadri with an Imam praying at a Mormon church in Brisbane after having been invited to the Christmas program by his Mormon friend Michael Bennallack went viral and was seen around the world.
NPR, an American non-profit media outlet that serves as a syndicator to over 900 radio stations, interviewed Ali Kadri and Michael Bennallack about how Kadri came to visit Bennallack’s place of worship. From the NPR interview: “I'm actually Ali's personal trainer, and after a couple of weeks of us doing weights at the gym together we realized, 'Wow, we have a lot in common,' and we actually started meeting up outside of the gym and just having chats over lunch and he invited me to attend his mosque which I did, and then I extended the invitation in return and yeah, that's kind of how it all happened.”
And how did Kadri describe his experience? “I was first of all in awe of the place, it's an amazing church, it's an amazing building. And the sincerity of people who visit this place, the dedication, would be similar to somebody who would be a Muslim and have the sincerity to their own worship or place of worship. At the end of the day, what matters is the sincerity towards your faith and other human beings. And it's common ... across all faiths.”
Both Kadri and Bennallack were pleased that the story of Kadri’s visit with its positive interfaith message was seen by so many during a time of tension and misunderstanding surrounding Islam. You can listen to the whole interview here.