Muslim club aims to dispel stereotypes
In order to dispel false views of the Prophet Muhammad, USU’s Saudi Student Association and Muslim Student Association collaborated in organizing a panel to students with information on Islam Tuesday night.
Saudi Club President Ammar Nasser said the reason the panel was organized was to fight against false stereotypes about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
“Before you say anything, you have to search,” he said in reference to false information about the Prophet Muhammad.
The panel began with Ali Al-Shakhs, a USU student and member of the Saudi Student Association, giving a short biography of Muhammad, which covered the Prophet’s life from his childhood to his death as the prophet.
Imam of the Salt Lake City Mosque, Anwar Arafat, then gave a presentation of the basics of Islam and how Muhammad influenced the religion.
Arafat said the Prophet Muhammad didn’t bring any message that was really new.
“The message is very simple,” Arafat said. “His message was to worship the Creator, and not the creation. That’s the same message that Abraham came with. That’s the same message that all the prophets came with. Even Jesus, peace be upon him, as well.”
Arafat listed some important inventions that have become integrated into Western society that were originally discovered by Muslims.
“Shampoo is Muslim invention, and it was invented mainly because Islam commands cleanliness,” Arafat said. “In fact, the Prophet himself states that cleanliness is a half of your faith. It’s physical and it’s spiritual.”
Arafat said the belief that Muslims abuse and repress women is false.
“The mother has a bigger role than the father,” he said. “A man comes up to the Prophet and he says, ‘Oh messenger of God, tell me, who is the most important person for me to befriend, for me to have a relationship with?’ The Prophet said, ‘Your mother.'”
Arafat said Muhammad taught paradise is found through the mothers because they bring up children.
“Yet unfortunately, the stereotype is that Muslims don’t care for their women, that they don’t care for their mothers or their wives,” he said.
Arafat said the Prophet Muhammad told the people the best follower was the one who was the best to his wife. When he saw a man abusing his wife, the Prophet said, “Whoever does this is not from amongst us.”
Arafat said the abuse of women is more prevalent Western societies than in any Middle Eastern society.
“Unfortunately when you go and watch a movie, all you see is a Muslim wife-beater or a Muslim terrorist who’s shouting,” he said.
Arafat explained that in Islam, God is beyond image and form. He has no gender and no race – therefore, there can be no racism and prejudice in Islam.
Muslim Student Association president Mayran Muhammad said the purpose of the panel was to show how the Prophet Muhammad not only influenced culture and religion within the Arabian Peninsula, but how he influenced society across the world. She said the purpose of the Muslim Student Association is not only to unite Muslims at Utah State, but to do charity work and promote Islam and its principles to other students around campus.
“There’s a lot of negative stigmas throughout the media and we just want to clear up the air and let everybody know that’s not who we really are,” Muhammad said. “We really are your classmates. We’re friends.”
Nasser said the Saudi Student Association is focused more around the culture and people of Saudi Arabia while the Muslim Student Association focuses on the Islamic religion. However, both clubs share a common goal in promoting the truth about Islam and Muslims.
Ginger Udy, a non-Muslim student at USU, said being involved with Muslims on campus has been an uplifting and enlightening experience.
“Being friends with them and learning about their culture and their religion has really helped enrich my life and I’m very grateful for their friendship,” she said.
– sara.mcquivey@gmail.com