Imam Sami Abdul Aziz and Vjosa Qerimi

Imam/Chaplain Sami A. Aziz is a public educator and spiritual peacemaker. Imam Aziz has been on an educational campaign to fight against ignorance, hate, and fear of Muslims. He has visited institutions across Connecticut to spread the message of peace, which is the core of Islam. More on his campaign can be found at CommonGroundServices.org, a non-profit aimed at uniting hearts through education, of which he is the Founder and President. He has traveled to over 100 locations in New England visiting churches, libraries, schools, universities and more to educate on Islam, Refugee Cultural Competency, Islamophobia, Interfaith dialogue and related topics. He is the Muslim Chaplain at Wesleyan University and an Assistant Imam at Bloomfield Muslim Community Center. In the virtual world he is an Imam for PrayerSpark.com, a global interfaith prayer service as well as the founder and/or maintainer of many Facebook pages including; Philly Muslims, Connecticut Muslims, to name a few. He is a graduate of the Master’s in Islamic Chaplaincy program at Hartford Seminary. 

Imam Aziz believes strongly in establishing peace and justice between all people regardless of color, race, ethnicity or religion. He often refers to the following verse from the Quran for guidance: “O you who have believed, be constantly upright with equity (with others), witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or (your) parents and nearest kin. In case (the person) is rich or poor, then God is the Best Patron for both. So do not ever follow prejudice, so as to do justice; and in case you twist or veer away, then surely God has been Ever-Cognizant of whatever you do.” ~Quran Chapter 4 Verse 13

Vjosa Qerimi is originally Albanian from Kosovo. She lived her life in Kosovo where she majored in English. Vjosa is fluent in 3 languages and currently studying Arabic as her 4th. While still in Kosovo she worked at a NATO Base with the US Military where she made a lot of connections that brought her to the States 4 years ago. Here she's volunteered for The Salvation Army and worked for an Islamic School in Windsor, CT. She's currently the vice-president of Common Ground Services, an organization she and her husband founded to create peace between Muslims and the rest of the people of America.