The Muslim Student Association attempted to common misconceptions about Islam at a seminar Wednesday in Dodson Auditorium.
Omar Suleiman of the Jefferson Muslim Association spoke with a peaceful and informative demeanor on Islam to a crowd of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Suleiman is an imam, similar to a priest in the Catholic faith.
Suleiman said he was pleased people came to the symposium to learn more about his religion.
“I commend everyone who is here today, especially the non-Muslims,” Suleiman said. “It says a lot about your character to want to know more about Islam.”
Suleiman, a New Orleans native, told a story about a time when his wife was approached at Walmart and told she should go home if she did not want to dress like an American.
Suleiman retorted that most Muslims would respond with “we are home.”
Suleiman gave the audience a history of Islam in America.
“Muslims were here in 1492. Christopher Columbus wrote … he came across the Moors, the Muslims of this land,” Suleiman said.
Columbus also had two Muslim captains on both the Niña and the Pinta, he said.
Suleiman also pointed out that 7 percent of 9/11 victims were Muslims.
“Muslims were hurt on that day, just as all other people were hurt on that day. The last survivor to be pulled out of the ruins of the World Trade Center, William Rodriguez, is a Muslim,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman also said Muslims were among the emergency first-response teams on 9/11.
“We are not just the guys who serve you slurpies at the Circle K and 7-Eleven,” he joked.
Suleiman said the group’s symposium wasn’t meant to evoke sympathy, but to show how involved Muslims are in the community.
Suleiman accused the media and politicians of trying to incite a “culture war” in America.
“Culture wars create this false conflict that there is this culture of people that is conflicting with our ideas, our values,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman said he feels one reason Muslims are often persecuted is because there are no real political consequences for targeting the Muslim community.
“You might as well attack this small group of people to gain political advantage,” he said.
The imam preached against people like radical Muslims taking verses from the Quran out of context.
“Just because someone is saying he’s doing something in the name of Islam doesn’t mean he’s doing it in the name of Islam,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman added when politicians and the media claim America is at war with Islam, it enables and empowers the radicals and worsens the culture war.
“He was quite straightforward on the issues that we face as Muslims on a daily basis, either at school, media level [or] global level,” said Omar Farooq, chemical engineering sophomore. “I think he was pretty much very precise on the elements of the daily controversial thinking that you hear through media, personal literatures.”
Shoeb Khan, computer engineering senior, said the MSA has a table in Free Speech Plaza on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
He encouraged people to drop by with any “questions, comments or concerns.”
“It is often said that we fear that which we do not know. Islam in this particular way is similar because it has provoked many anxieties in the hearts of many people,” said Hasnain Mujahid, president of the MSA and petroleum engineering senior. “That is the major reason why we are doing this.”
 
 
____
Contact Parker Cramer at [email protected]