Middle East club discusses Islam
The Middle East club met Oct. 5 to try to dispel some of the many misunderstandings associated with Islam.
“There are a lot of misunderstandings,” said the club’s president, Allia Abu-Ramaileh. “Our goal is to gain a better understanding of Middle Eastern politics, religions and culture.”
Abu-Ramaileh is an American Muslim. Her father is from Palestine and her mother is from Utah. She said she got involved in with the club after it was founded last year by students in political science. She said she saw it as an opportunity to help others bridge the gap between American and Middle Eastern culture, a gap she was raised in. The club welcomes those with or without a background in either culture.
“If we have a mixture of those who grew up in the Middle East and those who are interested in it, that’s the best combination to learn from each other,” she said. “We try to get a good representation of everyone.”
After a brief introduction explaining how clear Islam can be to those who look into it, Tuesday’s discussion kicked off with an introduction to the five pillars of Islam, and moved to an hour-long question and answer session covering topics ranging from the religion’s history to scientific evidences found in the Quran. Questions were so numerous that the discussion eventually had to be cut short due to time constraints. The panel fielding the questions consisted of a student couple from Kuwait, a convert to Islam who was raised in Utah, and USU’s Arabic professor. Past discussion topics have included the role of women in Islam and Muslims in the media.
In addition to discussions, Abu-Ramaileh said the club regularly plans other activities including fashion shows, barbecues, and dances in order to spread awareness and deepen understanding of Middle Eastern culture.
“It was a really good start (to the year),” said Arabic professor Abdulkafi Albirini. “There were about 40 people, so there is some interest.”
Bradford Hall, head of the languages, philosophy and speech communication department, said he has noticed a shift in student interests towards the Middle East.
“We just added Arabic this year,” he said, “and we would certainly hope for expansion.” He said Arabic is especially important because it is labeled as a “strategic” language by the defense department. Hall said while other “strategic” languages such as Russian are tight in enrollment and funding, Arabic is looking to expand.
Professor Albirini explains that there are currently two sections of Arabic 1010.
“I teach 65 students,” he says. “There were actually 22 students who were on a waiting list and couldn’t get into the class. We could have easily offered another section if we could afford it.”
He said students in the club and class are “respectful, enthusiastic and receptive,” qualities necessary for the Middle Eastern programs to thrive.
“I could use all of the positive adjectives,” he said.
“For us to grow and flourish, support from the community and student body is important,” he said. “It’s an important language and culture for the United States because it occupies a huge area.”
The Middle East club meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Old Main 121.
–mike.burnham@aggiemail.usu.edu