Islamic Misconceptions

On 11 April 2008, I went to a presentation on the “Misconceptions of Islam” at the Kansas State union. I figured why not, I’m in college to learn and it is an excellent place to gather smart people and have smart conversations. That’s what I thought at least.

The speaker started off with, “First off, I will speak only about Islam, but not Muslims. Muslims are people and they make decisions and choices that may or may not follow Islamic law.” And it seemed to go downhill from there.

I admit that I’m moderately ignorant about the actual practice of Islam.  I’ve had friends that were Muslim and one of the Soldiers in my command was Muslim as well, but I never really asked them much about it nor talked to them at great length about religion in general.  I even read the biography of Malcolm X when I was in high school (it was about the same time that the Spike Lee released the movie “X”).  But I am always eager to learn more and make sure that I understand better where other people are coming from.

Here’s where this presentation went awry.  To me, the speaker, Shiekh Shakir Alani, was very arrogant.  He would not talk about Islamic extremist when there was an innocent question asked.  Instead he pointed out that there were Christian extremist groups and that extremists were not solely Islamic.  Not like we didn’t know that there are extremist Christians as well as zealots in any other religion.  But how many other extremists are highjacking planes and flying them into the World Trade Center?

I’m not sure that Shiekh Alani actually did anything to correct any misconceptions about Islam. He talked about the fundamentals of Islam and about Shari’ah law, but did little to actually attack some of the misconceptions surrounding Islam.  If he had asked the audience to give him some of their perceptions of Islam, and then given a good argument on how those perceptions were false, then maybe he would not have come across as arrogant.

Maybe he would have seemed less arrogant, but he did not do the title (The Common Misconceptions about Islam) any justice.  At least that’s my humble opinion.

Check out this article. This is the article that was in the school paper the following Monday.

Iraqi speaker strives to educate audience, eliminate common misunderstandings of Islam

By: Veronika Novoselova

Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: Lisle Alderton Shiekh Shakir Alani spoke Friday in the K-State Student Union’s Big Twelve room on righting peoples’ misconceptions about Muslims.

Shiekh Shakir Alani made an attempt to eliminate misunderstandings of and educate others about Islam during his speech titled “The Common Misconceptions About Islam” on Friday in the K-State Student Union’s Big 12 room.

The event was organized by the Muslim Student Association of K-State, and the talk was open to students and Manhattan residents.

Alani, who is originally from Iraq, has a doctorate degree in engineering and also has completed a degree in Shari’ah law, a fundamental Islamic law of governing.

The speaker emphasized that he is discussing Islam and not Muslims, who sometimes misrepresent Islam, he said.

“I’m not in a position to defend Muslims,” Alani said. “They are human beings, who are subject to mistakes, to violence, just like other people in society.”

During a two-hour lecture followed by a question-and-answer session, the speaker explained the basics of Islam. He touched upon topics that evoked discussion, like connections between Islam and other religions, its history, prayers and practices, human rights, men’s and women’s clothing, food, marriage and more.

He gave a brief overview of Shari’ah law and described it as a “balanced system between a person and society.”

Alani told the audience that Islam is not a violent, aggressive or dangerous religion. From the other side, he also explained that it is not a passive religion – people are supposed to fight to protect themselves, their land and their way of life.

“Harming the neighbor is definitely outside the circles of Islam; it doesn’t fit,” Alani said. “The Quran says, ‘If you killed one soul without a reason, you have killed the whole humanity. If you saved one soul you saved the whole humanity.’”

For mutual intercultural understanding, Alani said it is important to understand that Islam is not a terrorist religion and the term ‘holy war’ is inaccurate.

Moreover, he said the Islam religion believes people who commit suicide, including suicide bombers, are sent to to Hell, not to Heaven like the media often portrays, he said.

“None of these 19 people who made an attack on September 11 belonged to any Muslim community; none of them attended a mosque. Only a few know this fact. But since then, our communities have to pay a very heavy price,” he said.

Alani admitted that the number of people who choose Islam is growing in America and Europe and that it is not a threat to non-Muslim countries.

“We can respect each other regardless of what we believe,” Alani said.

For whatever reason visitors attended this event, the general response was that the event was helpful and raised awareness about Islam.

“I had some questions, so I was pleased to be here and clear some misconceptions I had,” said Herve Oyenan, graduate student in computer science.

He said he has many Muslim friends and this lecture helped to understand their beliefs better.

“I am an American who didn’t know anything about Muslims or Islam before I spent some time in another country and got to know them better,” said Judy Roe, research associate in agronomy.

“I’m trying to understand why Americans don’t know what Islam is really about. The more I can learn about Islam, the more I can transmit to other people in this country.”