MULE
By TAYLOR ANDERSON
Reporter
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — To educate students and faculty about Islam, the Muslim Students Association, as well as the Saudi Students Club and the UCM Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity, hosted a student-led program, Discover Islam and Muslims Wednesday, March 15.
At the event, those in attendance explored eight different topics regarding Islam, such as the five pillars of Islam or Muslim women leaders, by observing posters and interacting with Muslim students. Attendees were also served traditional Islamic food while they visited.
“We decided to do this to educate students and professors here at UCM about our religion, Islam,” said Ibrahim Alagwo, president of the Saudi Students Club. “This is a good chance for them to learn about Islam, and if they have any questions, we are here to answer them.”
Ramsha Akhtar, president of the Muslim Student Association, said connecting students of different faiths was the driving force behind creating the program.
“The main purpose is to bridge the gap between Islam and other religions,” Akhtar said. “It was an effort on our part to reduce the stereotypes about Muslims that are portrayed in the media.”
After constantly seeing negative perceptions of Muslims online, Alagwo said he hoped the event would encourage others to change the way they view the religion and its followers.
“Since I’ve come (to the United States), I’ve seen lots of people who don’t have the right idea about Islam,” Alagwo said. “When I ask them where they get their information, they say they got it from social media. We are trying to change people’s mind by showing them the right way of Islam.”
In addition to the Discover Islam and Muslims program, the Muslim Student Association also puts on various events throughout the year to foster understanding of Islam and support others in the community.
“We do different events, and usually my goal is four events per semester,” Akhtar said. “Each event will represent a different aspect of Islam. Sometimes we do fun things, like Henna tattoos, but then we will also do something serious like a fundraiser. We do a lot of fundraising for the women’s shelter in Warrensburg. We try to make something positive out of the event to teach other people about Islam.”
Akhtar said despite the judgements about her religion, she wants others to feel comfortable discussing it with her, and believes the program promotes just that.
“I want to open up the opportunity to have future dialogue,” Akhtar said. “I want people to know that they can approach us, because most people are afraid because they have those negative stereotypes in their heads. This is just to give them a push to go ahead and ask those questions that they have.”
Why is there a Saudi Students’ Club?
Because the Saudi educational system is run by the Wahhabist clerical establishment. This means it is a sex-segregated, rote-oriented system with an undue emphasis on religion.
The result: Saudi Arabia is heavily dependent on expat labor, even for their oil economy.
The Saudi government is now sending their young people abroad because they have no universities of real standing to train their youth in the entire country.
Islam stultifies education and progress.
“Attendees were also served traditional Islamic food while they visited.”
No such thing. There is traditional CULTURAL food where Islam is the dominant religion. Islam is spread across many countries and cultures and food preferences vary. The hot, humid jungles of Indonesia have differing food-types than the arid wastelands of Saudi Arabia.
The bias within the presenters is natural. My bias is derived by decades of reading and observations of a multitude of news sources. In general, I declare:
“Islam is far more than a religion. It is also a way of life, a set of customs and if not constrained by outside forces an economic AND governmental system. Islam is not compatible with the Western way of life. It is our right and DUTY to preserve our Western way of life.”
If our education system would spend half as much time and energy teaching our youth about our country’s founding and the sacrifices our founding fathers and mothers made to ensure our country’s birth as what is spent on indoctrinating our youth on the lies the Muslims are spreading, perhaps the misguided protests would end.