In the meditation that I led on the first night, I talked about putting people of different races, different religions, different clothes and different ages together. First, to focus on the differences between us and then to focus on the similarities, that we are all human beings, we're all subject to birth, aging, disease and death. By seeing the similarities between human beings rather than focusing of the differences, we start to see human beings with more equanimity, which will hopefully lead us to more compassion.
Perhaps we may have to separate some of the views Muslims hold from the people themselves. If we have aversions towards some of the wrong views, or what we consider wrong views of some of these people, it may be easier to understand that they are human beings and they were being conditioned like everybody else here. They come into the world as infants, just like all of you. They get conditioned by their society and by their religion to think certain ways and do certain things. By understanding the similarities and seeing that they are all human beings, caught in the cycle of Samsara - birth, aging, disease and death - it helps us to let go of aversion and use more wise discrimination.