{"id":3645,"date":"2014-05-18T06:07:29","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T06:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3645"},"modified":"2014-05-18T06:07:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-18T06:07:29","slug":"us-muslims-share-islam-with-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/05\/18\/3645\/","title":{"rendered":"US Muslims Share Islam with Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"images\/stories\/news3\/uSMuslims.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"305\" height=\"166\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px;\" \/>A Muslim students\u2019 group at Western Washington University have held various events on campus this week as part of Islamic Awareness Week on campus, educating their colleagues about Islam and correcting misconception about the Islamic culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <!--more-->  <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThe goal of [Islam Awareness Week] is to touch on a lot of misconceptions and misrepresentation of Muslims and Islam,\u201d Western junior Nafeesa Imtiaz, Muslim Students Association club president and bicultural anthropology major, told The Western Front on Friday, May 16.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cOftentimes students and community members don\u2019t really have any idea what Islam is.\u201d<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The events, held ove the weekend, included hosting guest speakers to address misperceptions students may have about Islam.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hosted annually by WWU MSA, the week was launched last Monday, May 12, to correct misconceptions about Islam.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As expected, the issue of Islamic headscarf, or hijab, for women was put to discussion.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThe purpose of it is not to oppress a woman,\u201d Imtiaz said. \u201cPersonally, I think wearing the hijab is very liberating.\u201d<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For Imtiaz herself, wearing the hijab is a form of modesty which allows her to present herself to her friends, community and family based solely on her character and personality.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Stereotypes of Muslims being violent were also addressed during the week by Western senior Danyal Lotfi, a MSA public relations coordinator and political science major.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cBeing called a terrorist is a very common experience for Muslim people, especially Muslim teenagers who are in middle school and high school. I\u2019ve heard this story all too often,\u201d Lotfi said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clearing up inaccurate perceptions about Muslims is something Lotfi, as a Muslim, feels very strongly about, he said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The week events were concluded on Friday with a dinner ceremony that gathered different students and guests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Media Misconceptions<\/strong> <\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Islam awareness week was a way to combat ignorance and educate Western students about Islam.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cSometimes our knowledge of Islam is based solely on media,\u201d Imtiaz said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cSo we want to touch on that and answer any questions or address any misconceptions people have.\u201d<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The MSA students were also leading a role in uniting students from all religions and backgrounds.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A sharp example was the appointment of a non-Muslim, Western junior Cody Brower, a political science and Spanish double major, as a PR coordinator for the MSA.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Brower, who has many friends who are Muslim and has seen his friends experience other\u2019s ignorance about Islam, encourages students to educate themselves about Islam.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The meetings and events put on by the MSA are meant to spread awareness and are inclusive for anyone who attends them.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe don\u2019t discriminate against anyone, and we always keep our events very general,\u201d Imtiaz said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe try not to get too specific about religion where someone would feel uncomfortable or where someone would not understand what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to an estimated Muslim minority of six to eight million.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A recent survey found that American Muslims are the most moderate around the world.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It also showed that US Muslims generally express strong commitment to their faith and tend not to see an inherent conflict between being devout and living in a modern society.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Source:<em><strong> OnIslam<\/strong> <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Muslim students\u2019 group at Western Washington University have held various events on campus this week as part of Islamic Awareness Week on campus, educating their colleagues about Islam and correcting misconception about the Islamic culture.<\/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-3645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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