{"id":3611,"date":"2014-05-08T06:09:06","date_gmt":"2014-05-08T06:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3611"},"modified":"2014-05-08T06:09:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-08T06:09:06","slug":"us-muslims-want-islamic-classes-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/","title":{"rendered":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeing the cancellation of Islamic subjects as playing into the hands of stereotyping, a Muslim students group in the University of Pittsburg has launched a campaign to bring back the classes that offer students better insights about Islam.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Offer Islam Campaign requests that the University of Pittsburgh offer Islam in a curriculum that represents global citizenship, diversity and equity,\u201d the Muslim Student Association wrote in a petition that was cited by The Pett News on Tuesday, May 5.<\/span>
\u201cThis petition requests that Islamic courses be offered in the history, anthropology, sociology and religious studies departments by spring 2015 [and that] two tenured track professors with Islamic history expertise be hired by fall of 2015.\u201d<\/span>
The problem erupted last March after Pitt University announced the cancellation of four Islamic courses for the upcoming fall semester.<\/span>
The cancelled courses include, the Anthropology of Islam, the Sociology of Islam, Intro to Islamic Civilization and the History of the Ottoman Empire.<\/span>
Announcing the decision, University Vice Chancellor said that the cancelled Islamic classes are categorized as special topic courses that are not \u201cregularly offered each semester\u201d.<\/span>
\u201cFrom a broader point of view the University of Pittsburgh offers approximately 30 courses next fall (fall 2014) that focus on the Middle East region, an example of how the University of Pittsburgh is a leader in how Global Studies are incorporated into our curriculum,\u201d University Vice Chancellor of Communication Ken Service wrote in an email last month.<\/span>
Alternative classes include Christian Muslim Relations, Islamic Art and Islam Politics and Britain from the history, art history and urban studies departments.<\/span>
The alternative classes were not welcomed by MSA students who called for bringing back the original courses.<\/span>
\u201c[The available classes] don\u2019t fulfill what we are asking for by any means. They are supplemental,\u201d Laila Al-Soulaiman, a member of the MSA and a freshman majoring in political science, said.<\/span>
Moreover, MSA students launched the \u201cOffer Islam\u201d campaign which led an online petition that has got more than 753 signatures until earlier this week.<\/span>
Another paper version of the petition has gained more than 250 signatures until Monday, May 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fighting Stereotypes<\/strong><\/span>
Opposing Islam courses cancellation, MSA argued that the classes were essential to defy negative stereotypes of Muslims in US.<\/span>
\u201cThere\u2019s so many Muslims out there. There\u2019s a lot of misconceptions,\u201d Sherean Ali, a junior majoring in biology and member of the MSA, said.<\/span>
\u201cIt will give students a different perspective on things portrayed in the media.\u201d<\/span>
Similar views were echoed by Al-Soulaiman, the freshman of political science faculty.<\/span>
\u201cIn this country, there\u2019s a lot of misinformation and, frankly, a lack of information regarding Islam and its basic teachings,\u201d Al-Soulaiman said.<\/span>
\u201cMuslims in this country face an uphill battle. But on principle, we should have these classes. It\u2019s one of the three largest monotheistic religions in the world.\u201d<\/span>
Since the 9\/11 attacks, US Muslims, estimated between 6-8 million, have complained of discrimination and stereotypes in the society because of their Islamic attires or identities.<\/span>
A US survey has revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith.<\/span>
A Gallup poll also found that the majority of US Muslims are patriot and loyal to their country and are optimistic about their future.<\/span>
Al-Soulaiman asserted that offering Islamic courses are vital for the university’s reputation.<\/span>
\u201cBeing that those four classes are cut, now there\u2019s not a single class dedicated to Islamic thought or history and that\u2019s unacceptable for a world-class research university,\u201d she said.<\/span>
Pitt’s Muslim students, Al-Soulaiman and Ali, said that Islamic classes at Pitt has \u201cstrengthened their faith\u201d.<\/span>
\u201cI am a Muslim, and I am very open about my faith, and being in a community that is open and accepting and knowledgeable of my faith [is] important to me,\u201d Al-Soulaiman said.<\/span>
Non Muslim students has also pointed to the importance of Islamic courses, they help them in fulfilling their academic career.<\/span>
\u201cIf you look at basic statistics, it\u2019s the fastest-growing religion,\u201d Kara Kloss, who does not practice the Islamic faith but joined the campaign because she is studying international relations with a focus on the Middle East.<\/span>
\u201cIt\u2019s a fifth of the people in the world. To exclude the understanding of a fifth of a people in the world is to understand the world a fifth less.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:<\/span> OnIslam<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeing the cancellation of Islamic subjects as playing into the hands of stereotyping, a Muslim students group in the University of Pittsburg has launched a campaign to bring back the classes that offer students better insights about Islam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seeing the cancellation of Islamic subjects as playing into the hands of stereotyping, a Muslim students group in the University of Pittsburg has launched a campaign to bring back the classes that offer students better insights about Islam.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"majed\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\"},\"headline\":\"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":724,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Muslim Minorities\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/08\\\/3611\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"SunniOnline\",\"description\":\"The Official Website of Sunni Community in Iran\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\",\"name\":\"majed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"majed\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/author\\\/majed\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline","og_description":"Seeing the cancellation of Islamic subjects as playing into the hands of stereotyping, a Muslim students group in the University of Pittsburg has launched a campaign to bring back the classes that offer students better insights about Islam.","og_url":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/","og_site_name":"SunniOnline","article_published_time":"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00","author":"majed","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"majed","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/"},"author":{"name":"majed","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be"},"headline":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back","datePublished":"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/"},"wordCount":724,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Muslim Minorities"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/","url":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/","name":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back - SunniOnline","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-05-08T06:09:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/08\/3611\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Muslims Want Islamic Classes Back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#website","url":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/","name":"SunniOnline","description":"The Official Website of Sunni Community in Iran","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be","name":"majed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"majed"},"url":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/author\/majed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}