The Muslim Student Association hopes to dispel misconceptions about Islam

Danielle Reed, a junior from Carlise, Penn., converted from Christianity to Islam three and a half years ago. Before conversion, Reed served in the U.S. Army during the Sept. 11th attacks.  She met a Muslim man, now her fiancé, who helped change her views on Islam.

Changing views about the religion is the main goal of Islam Awareness Week, happening on campus this week.

Reed attended the Importance of Interfaith Dialogue: An Interfaith Banquet presented by the Muslim Student Association (MSA) on Saturday. The banquet was the first event to celebrate Islam Awareness Week. During the event, panelists discussed similarities and interfaith issues among Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The panel consisted of Justin Held, a senior from Plymouth, Minn., who represented the Jewish community, Peter Steimle, a former University student and pastor, who represented the Mormon community, and Abdulbaki Agbas, an associate professor of biochemistry at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, who represented the Muslim community.

“It was really awesome to see different viewpoints,” said Nicole Gilmore, a sophomore from Baxter Springs. “Many times people get so enclosed in their own beliefs without actually considering other points of view. It was good to see other faiths come together and talk about larger issues that are current in today’s society.”

MSA is hosting more events throughout the week in conjunction with Islam awareness week. Event times and locations can be found at calendar.ku.edu. The organization also has an informational table set up in the Kansas Union lobby until Friday.

“Our goal is to open up to the community and let them know that we’re a part of the community as much as everyone else is and show people that we can all co-exist together, and that we do not hate anyone,” said Saima Azad, the secretary for MSA.

With its events and info tables, MSA plans to shed light on stereo types of Muslims and educate people about misconceptions of Islam.

“In America, there are very aggressive views towards Islam and they categorize the extremists,” said Sean Gilmore, a sophomore from Baxter Springs.

Contact at rschlichting@kansan.com .
  • Updated Nov. 10, 2012 at 12:30 am
  • Edited by Whitney Bolden
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002074331223 Vin Sback

    yes, we can trust a muslim brotherhood front group – NOT

  • Arafat

    Was the following discussed?

    It is my understanding (and the results speak for
    themselves) that Islam means submission. Submission of the individual to Allah.
    The submission of the individual’s individuality to Allah. The submission of
    the individual’s curiosity, skepticism, ability to question and differ and
    offer other opinions, to criticize Islam, etc…

    I have read innumerable pieces by ex-Muslims who have said
    the same thing. These people say that to be a good Muslim means to never
    question again – at least as so far as it concerns Islam, Islam’s treatment of
    women, Islam’s supremacist ideology, Islam’s historic roots of anti-Semitism,
    etc…

    Now the proof is in the pudding as far as I am concerned for
    wherever I see Islam I see repression, oppression, the emasculation of the
    individual, the supremacist culture where all “others” are treated as
    inferior. You may find this offensive, but I can tell you without hesitation
    that many ex-Muslims find your opinions either naive or disingenuous or the
    opinions of someone who has been so brainwashed that they cannot see what is
    directly in front of their eyes.

  • http://twitter.com/Mrs_Alhassan Tanya

    Listen @arafat I don’t know what your beef with Muslims is, and it’s sad to have to much hate in your heart. However, I think that before you keep bashing on the Muslims, you should do more research. GO TO THESE EVENTS! GO to a local masjid. GO to the AAAS department at KU. They will be able to give you more ACCURATE information than your ihatemuslims.com or wherever you get your information. You might think I’m completely biased because I am Muslim, but I was not always Muslim. I was originally a Jew, and I started studying Arabic and Islamic studies at KU. Through my studies is how I began to love the Quran and to love Islam. I do not expect you to convert, but what I do want is for you to stop speaking with so much hatred.

    Islam itself does not treat women badly. Women choose to wear the hijab or to cover themselves in a modest way. Tell me this. How is it ok to get caught in the Boom Boom Room at the Hawk having sex better than having Male/Female interactions regulated? Islam calls for regulations, not for restrictions. If it’s ok to be in the boom boom room, then I’m glad I am Muslim.

    Islam does not preach anti-semitism. The only reason that argument is brought up is because of Israel/Palestine. EVEN SO, the conflict is between the Israeli ZIONISTS against the Palestinian Christians, Muslims, and Druze. There are some Jews who don’t agree with Israeli apartheid. Before Israel was established, the Jews and the Muslims were chill with each other. Jews lived in “Muslim” nations such as Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, etc. During Al Andalus times (Spain in 700′s ish and afterwards) the concept of CONVIVENCIA, or living together in harmony, was very prevalent between the Muslims and the Jews. They protected each other from the inquisition-ers. Anyways, the Quran says that we must respect everyone of the monotheistic faiths. People of the book “ahl al kitaab” Jew, Christian, Muslim.

    Islam does mean submission to Allah. It does not mean that you do not have freedoms to think or criticize. If you knew anything about Muslim scholars, they disagree with each other because they have the free will to do so. If ex-Muslims believe that way.. then that’s their deal. They are no longer Muslims because of their beliefs. To question your beliefs is normal because Allah gave you free will to think and to choose. It’s your choice to choose if you stay with the religion or not. I hope that they do eventually come back, but if they don’t, that’s their deal.

    • Arafat

      Universal Human Rights

      With regard to human rights, the American founding fathers
      rightly believed that equality, free speech, and religious freedom, are
      universal and inalienable. Such rights are granted by God, not by government.
      Consequently they cannot be abridged or revoked by government. This view is
      rejected by Islamists.

      In defiance of the U.N.’s 1948 Universal Declaration of
      Human Rights,[22] Islamists recognize only those rights which are narrowly
      granted under Shariah law by the Quran and the Hadith (the traditional account
      of the life and sayings of Mohammed, written many years after his death.). This
      alternative view of human rights was clearly set forth in the 1990 Cairo
      Declaration, endorsed by all 57 member Organization of Islamic Cooperation.[23]
      In Shariah compliant cultures, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, inequalities
      between men and women, or Muslims and non-Muslims, are the rule rather than the
      exception. Women, Christians, Jews, polytheists and especially atheists are
      regarded as socially, legally, and even mentally inferior to Muslim men.[24]

      While Christianity and Judaism teach that all people should
      be treated with kindness and respect because they are created in God’s image
      (see Matthew 5:43-44, 1 John 4:20), the Quran forbids friendship with
      unbelievers (Quran 5:51)[25] and considers it unlawful even to give them
      charity (zakat).[26] Non-Muslims are forced to embrace Islam or be reduced to
      dhimmis – second-class citizens. Under Shariah law, dhimmitude is a form of
      subjugation, which limits the social, religious, legal, and economic rights of
      non-believers, and imposes a special tax burden on them as a penalty for
      rejecting Islam.

      • http://twitter.com/Mrs_Alhassan Tanya

        First, I’m so glad that you’re actually quoting a site about Islamic EXTREMISM.

        http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3425/islam-extremism

        It would be like me quoting Fred Phelps or that Brother Jeb guy on Christianity or quoting the Zionists on Judaism. So please, keep hitting me with your “credible” sources. Seriously dude…just go to the mosque, AAAS Department at KU (it’s in Bailey Hall) or the Religious Studies Department (In Smith) which, if you’re concerned that they’re all biased, they’re not. Some of them are not Muslims. Go to these events. Ask them these questions. Tell them your views, and you will be surprised on how much you have been misguided. Even if you don’t buy everything I say, you should at least stop the hate. Life is too short to be mean!

        I’m glad that you quote Jewish and Christian texts. Because turns out Islam actually agrees with the ten commandments. Moses and Jesus were a few of the Prophets listed in the Quran. In Islam, all of the Prophets from the Torah and the Bible are in the Quran. Fun fact for you, Jesus and Mary are mentioned in the Quran more than they are mentioned in the Bible.

        If you read 5:51 and the verses before it, you would actually know the context of this verse. http://quran.com/5 5:46 talks about how Allah sent down the Word to Jesus, the son of Mary. and how there were revelations before him (Such as Moses and the commandments) 5:47 says “And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient” …Meaning those who do not listen to the Commandments, Jesus, or the Quran (which were all God’s word) are the ones who disbelieve. THOSE are the non believers. 5:48-50 is Allah addressing the Prophet. When the Prophet was trying to reveal the message of God to Jews and the Christians, they denied him. (Sounds familiar? Yeah, because EVERYONE doubted Jesus when he was trying to reveal the word of God and EVERYONE doubted Moses).5:51 says do not take the Jews and Christians as allies, BECAUSE they were denying the Prophet. THIS VERSE was addressing the Prophet. Remember the verses in the bible and the torah? God said do not associate with them because they do not believe you. This verse was revealed when the Prophet was trying to get people to listen to him and they were actually leading battles against him. So cool. Way to address the similar struggles that the three main Prophets of the Abrahamic faiths have had to go through.

        Also, dhimmis… you do realize that non-Muslims are protected throughout their countries. Jizya was an old concept, but it was a tax that the non-Muslims would pay, and they were GUARANTEED the same protections. All the “dhimmis” are asked to do is to obey the laws. You choose to live in a country, you choose to obey their laws. Simple as that.

        Human rights. Hmm interesting because the “extremists and Islamists” that you’re quoting is Sayyid Qutb, which most scholars actually disagree with. So way to quote the “Crusaders” of the Muslim world.

        Interesting that you bring up the burka. Refer to Fadwa El Guindi, a very legit anthropologist. She studies dress in Muslim Societies. She writes about the “veil of masculinity. Her book is Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance (1859739296 ISBN) Muslim men do veil and they are modest too, they just do it in different ways. Men are not “badly behaved beings”, but they do have a different notion of how to behave or a different notion of what is appropriate. Veiling is a religious choice. Women decide that veiling is part of being more pious, modest, and religious. The Burka is by choice. Especially if you look at women in Afghanistan, Yes, there are the Taliban crazies, however the women still choose. they chose to wear it because it’s part of their daily routine. As much as the “West” tries to “liberate” them, they are fine with wearing the veils because it’s become part of them. It serves as a space marker, a divider,and so much more. With the burka a woman has CONTROL over who sees her. She has control over how much she gets to show.She gives off the, “DON’T MESS WITH ME” with her burka. Besides, simplizing a burka to just black veils is absolutely ignorant. You do realize that they are decorated too? They’ll have intricate sewing and cute embroideries and other shiny girly stuff. Veiling (whether hijab or burka or niqab) gives women agency because they are able to decide who gets to see their body, who gets to see their beauty, and who gets to see her sexuality. She is in control of her sexuality. I don’t want to wear shorts. I don’t want people looking at my legs.

        Nudity is offensive. I’m more offended by seeing a guy’s bare butt and a woman’s nipple than by seeing someone cover it up with cloth. Nudity should be a home matter, not something being forwarded in a text message because of a drunken Saturday night incident.

        Seriously though. Stop the hate. Spread love. Or just stop talking.

        • Arafat

          Come on, now.

          In recent years Muslims have killed upwards of 5,000
          Buddhists in southern Thailand.

          In recent years Muslims have committed genocide in Sudan
          against black Africans, Christians and Animists.

          In recent years the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Hindus from
          their native homelands in Pakistan and Bangladesh has picked up speed.

          In recent years the ethnic cleansing of the Bahia of Iran
          has accelerated and the genocide of gays throughout the Muslim world is
          ongoing.

          The Chaldean, Coptic, Armenian and Assyrian Christians are
          under threat. The Kurds are being wiped out. Shi’ites are killing Sunnis and
          Sunnis are killing Shi’ites.

          Muslims are killing Chinese in NW China and Russians in
          southern Russia. They waged a war in what was once Yugoslavia too.

          Quit trying to muddy the waters and pretending Islam means
          peace. Words have meaning and the reality on the ground – and Islam’s long
          history of violent conquest – belie your obfuscating words.

          • InfidelAlliance

            It is nothing less than

            THE ISLAMIC WORLD WAR

            ~ The Infidel Alliance

          • http://twitter.com/Mrs_Alhassan Tanya

            Muslims are being cleansed out (GENOCIDE!) in Myanmar, Bosnia, Palestine, India, Syria, and more. Armenian genocide= Armenians and Turkish people killing each other.. Ireland=Catholics and Protestants killing each other now. Americans killed the Japanese (Hiroshima anyone?) and the settlers killed the Native Americans. Hitler killed the Jews. Russian Tsarist empire killed 1.5 million people. Rwanda was a genocide BETWEEN Rwandans (Hutus and Tutsis) and the main difference was their noses! Al Andalus times, the inquisition happened. Jews, Muslims, and even some Christians were massacred, even though they were living in peace.

            Basically. EVERYONE is/has been killing EVERYONE. Does this mean that everyone is bad? No. I’m glad that you recognize that there are lives being lost.

          • Arafat

            Tanya, your information is completely wrong. Here are some examples of just how wrong you
            are.

            1)
            There is
            no Palestine and never was a country named Palestine, but that is beside the
            point. The Muslim demographic population
            in Israel is growing at a rapid rate. It
            is NOT declining or being ethnically cleansed.
            Meanwhile there are very few Jews left living in the Muslim Middle East
            or in Muslim North Africa. Your facts
            are lies masquerading as truth.

            2)
            In India the Muslim demographic population is
            the fastest growing demographic group.
            Meanwhile in the Hindu ancient homelands of Pakistan and Bangladesh the
            Hindus are being completely wiped out. This
            is the exact inverse of what you’ve insinuated.

            3)
            Turkey’s population is now 99% Muslim. Yes, that is 99%! The once large Armenian demographic has all
            but been eliminated by Muslims. Over 0ne
            million Armenians were viscously killed by Muslims in-and-around 1917 with the
            Armenian elderly forced to march during Winter months until they dropped from
            exhaustion and were then killed or abandoned in the snow.

            In no other religion are people encouraged to spread their
            faith through violent Jihad other than in Islam. Mohammed led 60 battles often against
            helpless caravans and/or villages. Your
            prophet set the example that Muslims have followed for 1,400 years. Today in Mali, Islamists are in the process of
            creating another Sudan with gang-rape, murder and forced refugees becoming
            commonplace. Yours is a violent, aggressive,
            all-consuming religion and the facts on the ground prove this is so. And the ironic thing is that Muslims killing
            Muslims is so common that the Muslim death toll in Afghanistan, Pakistan and
            Iraq does not even total the number of Muslims killed by their own
            co-religionists in the Iran/Iraq War; and every single day we read about
            Muslims blowing up their fellow Muslims.
            No group kills more Muslims (much less non-Muslims) more efficiently
            than Muslims.

  • Arafat

    Tanya, you might want to reconsider your logic.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Burka is not a freely worn garment given the clear stigma
    Muslim women, who do not wear the burka or even the veil, are subject to in
    Muslim communities.

    If it is such a free choice how is it Muslim men are not covered
    in a ton of black fabric or cotton veils to cover their masculinity? Are Muslim men not sexual beings?

    The burka is as much a political statement as a naked woman walking in the streets to advocate public nudity as a right which
    should be accepted by the rest of society. One of subservience to men’s dogma not independence.

    Nudism is a cultural and political movement advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public. It may also
    refer to a lifestyle based on personal, family and/or social
    nudism.

    Society in general has decided public nudism can be very confronting, inappropriate, and even regarded as
    obscene by some.

    Although nudism is often practiced in a person’s home or
    garden, either alone or with members of the family public and in restricted venues public nudity is a behavior which society in general have deemed should be
    restricted and subject to judicial penalty.

    The burka is much more of an obscenity than nudity. For where nudism seeks to expand the societal bounds and diminish prejudice the burka politically advocates a denigrating ,
    subservient role in society for women.

    The burka reinforces the notion women are not only to blame for men’s behavior towards them in regards sexual assaults but
    also women’s aspirations should be necessarily be different
    and subservient to a man’s definition of what a woman’s life should be.

    The public wearing of the burka is a categorical political act which seeks to advance the notion of the acceptance of the subservience and restriction of women’s opportunities
    in life relative to men which is absolutely obscene and must therefore be subject to judicial penalty.

    Everything we do is political. A woman deciding to wear shorts given human history is a political statement in itself.
    For it can be deemed as simply a relatively freely decided
    fashion statement.

    The Burka is an antitheist of this and very much a political
    statement of subjugation and in no way can be regarded as a fashion statement or a modern principle. No matter how many times and subtle colorful variations get dragged down the catwalk.

  • InfidelAlliance

    When Muhammed, the moral standard bearer and ‘holy prophet’ of Islam said “I have been made victorious with terror”- Bukhari (52:220), he was:

    A) lying, like moral standard bearers and holy prophets are supposed to do, or

    B) just joking, like some kind of 7th century Meccan Seinfeld, or

    C) he was stating the truth and admitting that the moral standard bearer and holy prophet of Islam was a self admitted terrorist

    The correct answer is: C

    ~ The Infidel Alliance