USA-TEXAS: ST. EDWARDS' UNIVERSITY MAKES THE GROUND MORE FERTILE FOR AMERICAS' ISLAMIZATION

Islam on campus
Islam is theme of study on St. Edward's campus
By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFSaturday,
October 28, 2006

As St. Edward's University professors try to teach students about Islam this year, they also are hoping for some enlightenment from students.

A conference today, part of a campus-wide effort to learn about Islam, will reveal the results of a recent survey on students' attitudes toward Muslims.

The conference, titled "Living Together," is a joint effort by the university and the Institute for Interfaith Dialog, an organization founded by Turkish Muslims to promote education about Islam.

The survey yielded a few surprises, including some that worried organizers. For example, the majority of Christian participants thought Muslims worshipped Mohammed — which would be decidedly unIslamic to Muslims who regard Mohammed as God's messenger.

But there were also encouraging signs that bode well for the future of interfaith relations, including a high number of responses that showed a belief that Muslims and Christians share many moral values and that they can live together.

Yetkin Yildirim, vice president for the Houston-based institute's Austin chapter, is hoping the effort to learn about Islam will correct some of the misconceptions that emerged in the survey and foster stronger ties between Muslims and non-Muslims on the campus of the Catholic school and beyond.

"This is very important," Yildirim said. "We see from these results that the survey is needed. There are two problems. First, people do not know about others. The second thing is people do not know about their own religion."

The survey asked participants, who included Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and others, how much they had read of the Quran and the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

St. Edward's students are finding many ways to deepen their understanding of Islam this year.

First-year students have read and are discussing the book "What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America" by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a New York City cleric who preaches religious tolerance. The university also commissioned a local playwright to come up with a play about Muslims and is hosting speakers and musicians on campus. Faculty and staff organized a Ramadan fast-breaking meal, expecting about 100 people and drawing twice that number.

Students say they are seeing Muslims in a new light. Professors have embraced the teaching opportunity in class and in discussion groups.

James Puglisi, assistant director of campus ministry, was happy to see the energy spread across campus. Pursuing a global perspective, he said, reflected the mission of the Holy Cross order that founded the university.

He teamed with biology professor Fidelma O'Leary to hold a community iftar, the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan.

O'Leary, who converted to Islam from Catholicism, recounted her first Ramadan experience to those assembled for the Oct. 10 dinner. Abstaining all day from food and water was demanding. She remembered staring down a carton of orange juice in her refrigerator and wanting to give up. Eventually, she said, "I learned that Ramadan is about feeding your soul, not your body."
Simple stories and anecdotes like these helped make the Muslim community more familiar, more accessible to the largely Christian student body.

Austin playwright Steve Moore taught a class on playwriting at St. Edward's last spring. The purpose was to create a play about Muslims. Moore isn't Muslim, but he worked with students to learn about Islam and then craft characters and a story. Moore and the class emerged with "Kneeling Down at Noon," which will run at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre from Nov. 8-19.
Nigel O'Hearn, a sophomore from Austin, said the course opened his eyes to facts about Islam he didn't know.

"We came in with terrorists being our key word," he said, "and you come out . . . thinking how could I have thought that kind of thing?"

Taking on the role of Jamal, a Syrian political writer, pushed O'Hearn's understanding deeper. He began to identify with Muslims. The play became less about the religion of Islam and more about appreciating the humanity in other people.

Moore said that was his goal as a playwright — to humanize Muslims rather than lecture on Islam.

"It's really the story of a few Muslims," he said. "Mostly they're just living lives, and their faith is informing their lives, and we can see how that happens."

The soil to Islamicize the United States of America become more fertile, yet again...

Pertinent Links:

1) Islam on Campus (In all likelihood you will have to create a free account in order to read this story, when I went back to look at it, they wanted me to register as well.)

2) Interfaith Dialogue Flier

3) St. Edward's University

4) The Survey (pdf file of the survey conducted by St. Edward's that is mentioned in the above article)