Inside the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial chapel, built where Islamic extremists attacked the building nearly 15 years ago, sounds of the Muslim call to prayer softly welcome passersby at around 2:00 p.m. each day.
The prayer service is led by Dawud Agbere, one of five Muslim Army chaplains or imams. Since being stationed at the Pentagon, Agbere leads afternoon prayer to give fellow Muslims a chance to connect with their creator.
Abdul Zaid, an IT contractor who works in the building, credits Agbere with “running interference” to make the prayer service available. He calls Agbere a spiritual leader who cares, consoling his fellow Pentagon employees during times of grief and occasionally taking them for cookies or ice cream in times of celebration.
Agbere will be the first to say he’s not a typical U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. Born and raised in the West African nation of Ghana, Agbere won the U.S. Diversity Visa lottery, which randomly selects immigrants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.
“When you are growing up in Ghana — in Africa, not just in Ghana — America is the land of prosperity,” he said.
“When I saw the Navy was hiring people, I said, ‘That’s where I belong,'” Agbere said.
He went to boot camp with the Navy until he discovered he could not become an officer without U.S. citizenship. Rather than make him wait, his superiors allowed him to switch to the Army, which did not have the same restriction.
His Army career has taken him to war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a fluent Arabic speaker and oftentimes the only Muslim in his unit, Agbere says he works to “bridge the gap” between cultures. He said many in the allied armies he worked with “never fathomed” they’d see a Muslim in the U.S. Army.
Only a small fraction — less than 3,600 — of the U.S. Army active duty and reservists self-identify as Muslim. Despite Agbere’s ever-present optimism, his minority status has not always been a positive experience. When he deployed to Iraq, for example, one of Agbere’s military leaders was extremely apprehensive of him even before they met.
“Definitely some of these things are based on ignorance, and I always see this as an opportunity to teach people,” he said.
Courtesy: VoA