Being a Muslim on campus has never been too difficult for senior business major Nadia Hasan, especially considering the University’s continuing support of Muslim students.
Nonetheless, Hasan said there are still a number of stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Islam.
“Stereotypes dominate people’s minds because they don’t know any better,” she said, adding that this can make things especially hard for the estimated 40 to 50 Muslim students on campus.
The Muslim Student Association hopes to correct some of these myths and misunderstandings through its “Islam in America” series. The event will include a number of lectures, panel discussions and a cultural event and is intended to “educate the community about different issues in Islam,” Hasan said.
The event started Friday with a panel discussion titled “Growing up Muslim.” The panelists included four students from Iraq, Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey. The discussion was well-attended, Hasan said.
“I was trying to give people a perspective on what it means to be Muslim and what it entails,” Hasan said before the event.
The next event, to be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Wesley Foundation Center, will be a panel discussion titled “Christ in Islam and Christianity.” The panel includes Tamam Adi, director of the Islamic Cultural Center in Eugene; Daniel Bryant, senior minister at First Christian Church; and Timothy Gianotti, a University religious studies professor. Minister Jeremy Hajdu-Paulen of the Wesley Foundation will moderate.
Talal al-Rahbi, a University graduate student from Oman and a MSA member, helped organize the event. He said he was inspired after an organized discussion at Northwest Christian College about the movie “The Passion of the Christ.”
“From the discussion I realized that a lot of Christians do not know the importance of Christ in Islam and that Muslims believe in Christ,” al-Rahbi said. “The intent is not a debate but more giving understanding to Jesus’ message of peace and the importance of his teachings in both religions.”
Adi said that the misunderstanding goes even further.
“We often hear in the media something like Muslims consider Christians infidels … we don’t consider them infidels, we consider them believers,” he said. “The other misconception is that we worship a different god … but Allah just means God.”
Wednesday’s event, a lecture entitled “Women and Human Rights in Islam,” will take place at 6 p.m. at 142 Knight Law Center. Nadira Najieb, a community activist from Portland, will lecture along with Anita Weiss, a University international studies professor.
“There is a stereotype that women in Islam are oppressed,” Hasan said, adding that this is frequently a cultural tenet. “But Islam the religion does not advocate oppressing women.”
The final event in the series is titled “Muslim Night: A Glimpse of Culture,” and will take place April 27 in the Knight Library Browsing Room at 7 p.m.
Mona al-Zubair, a graduate student at the University, helped organize the event. She said the event will include food and music with an Asian and Middle Eastern flair. There will also be a cultural display with a collage of various cultural items from around the Islamic world. Al-Zubair will have small rugs and Arabic calligraphy on display from her native Saudi Arabia.
“Each (member) has something from their home,” she said. “It kind of represents their culture.”
Al-Zubair added that one of the purposes of the event is to show the diversity of the Islamic world.
“It shows the diversity of our background because we come from different countries,” she said. “It’s not just for the students. It’s for us to learn about each other and how our cultures are different.”
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