As someone who describes herself as,"just an ordinary person,"Tufts' Muslim chaplain Shareda Hosein is pushing the boundaries of what ordinary can be. Working to unify and support the Tufts Muslim community, Hosein is also fighting a battle with the United States Military to become its first female Muslim chaplain.
"In about 13 days I will have 28 years of service in the military,"Hosein said. "I almost called the military another family. I've enjoyed the different duties and assignments and I feel [to become a chaplain would] be a way to give back to the military."
The military has declined to accept Hosein as a chaplain because traditional schools of Islam do not allow Muslim women to lead prayer to groups consisting of both men and women.
"They [the military] required that I be able to do all the duties of my male counterparts, and currently I don't see myself fighting the [Islamic] faith to lead prayer to both men and women,"Hosein said.
Hosein believes that her faith is one that should allow her to assume a chaplaincy in the military, despite what her superiors believe. "The uniqueness of Islam allows prayer to go on no matter who is present, so any male who knows [the prayers] can lead. My struggle has been having the Army see Islam in its own uniqueness and not comparing it to the Judeo-Christian guidelines."
While Hosein has received the support of countless people around her, including members of the Tufts community, she is currently at stalemate with the Army on the issue of becoming a military chaplain.
If the military were to accept Hosein as a chaplain, she would serve only in a reserve capacity. This means that Hosein would maintain her role as the Muslim chaplain at Tufts, a job that keeps her constantly involved with students as an inspiring voice and a source of support.
"My duties here are to support the community at large on the Tufts campus, but more specifically to support the Muslim community, in the respect of providing pastoral counseling or care, to provide religious education, to facilitate services for the students here to ensure that their needs are met on campus, and also to empower the students to be integrated between spiritual life and academic life," Hosein said.
Hosein was attracted to the Tufts chaplaincy for a number of reasons, but working with people has been the most important and rewarding aspect of her career.
"The concept of being able to help people live lives they love and help them sort out whatever needs to be sorted out within their current situation, and being able to talk about God being a central force in helping guide them attracted me to the chaplaincy," she said. "What I enjoy the most is the connectivity with people, the trust that people give me and I give them, and the sharing of humanity with people from all walks of life, all cultures and nationalities."
Hosein has gone to great lengths to connect her work at Tufts with her efforts in the army. She believes that she can bring an additional understanding to military families.
"It's a community that I already know a lot about," she said "I've held many duties and I know what it's like to go through basic training, be mobilized and be away from your family for long periods of time. With that knowledge and insight I have, I could really help the families."
At Tufts, Hosein is also helping students determine the role that religion holds in their college lives. This is an issue that Hosein believes many students struggle with.
"I feel religion is an awkward friend on campus. It's not always introduced to everyone, only selectively to certain people, and can be a quick decision not to be included in activities," she said.
Hosein said she believes that Islam requires special attention from campus chaplaincy because global conflict often places the Islamic faith in a negative light. "I think [Muslim] students are quiet about their faith practices and those that are devout are able to only express it in certain circles."
With this in mind, Hosein has resolved to offer Tufts students as much help as they require to navigate their faith. "I'm here helping students to live their faith and if they're having conflicts with it, to support them," she said.
The Muslim community at Tufts comprises about two percent of the student population. Hosein works closely with the Muslim Students Association (MSA), which she said is her closest link with a large Muslim group on campus.
Currently Hosein is working on several projects to benefit the MSA and other Muslim students.
"On a real pragmatic approach I'm working with dining services to have halal meat (similar to kosher meat for Jews) for students," she said. "The other thing [I'm working on] is definitely to bring more knowledge through means of interfaith events or Islamic awareness week events."
Hosein is also looking beyond the current undergraduate student body to create an even bigger support network. "I'd like to help create a sub-community of the alumni association of Muslim alumni, and bring them together and create that with the intention that those students will support the current Muslim student population at any given time."
Hosein said that while most students and faculty at Tufts are accepting of Islam, knowledge could be greater.
"I've talked in a few different classes about Islam and within the class, if there were thirty people in the class, maybe three or four know a lot, and the rest would know what they read in the newspaper," Hosein said. "The awareness and knowledge is small, but the acceptance is large."
Friday prayer sessions are open to anyone interested, and Hosein strongly encourages students and faculty to seek her out as a way to gain information or answer questions about Islam.
"I'd like to invite the student population to not just see me as the Muslim chaplain but to see me as a resource if they have questions, concerns, complaints or misunderstandings about Islam. I'd love to support them and to help them understand misconceptions and differences, and to help me understand how Islam is represented," she said.
