‘Understanding Islam’ forum held at CCSN

Eric Leake

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

Aslam Abdullah ended an Islamic panelist discussion Monday evening with a little humor while addressing the question of Islam's role in America and terrorism.

Abdullah said that whenever he speaks and wherever he goes people ask if Muslims are responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"My response to them is that we may be responsible for 7-11," Abdullah said, joking but also speaking to the participation of Muslims in American society.

"We must understand that 9/11 was as tragic for us as for other Americans," Abdullah said. He is an author and editor of Muslim newspapers in Los Angeles and Detroit.

"If this country has accepted Catholicism, Mormonism, and Jews, then certainly Islam also has a place," he said.

The "Towards Understanding Islam" forum at the Henderson Campus of the Community College of Southern Nevada included seven multi-ethnic Islamic panelists. It was sponsored by the college and the CCSN Sociology Club.

Panelists spent the two-hour discussion addressing questions submitted by college sociology classes and attempting to divorce what they consider true Islam from that of terrorists and the popular media.

The panel was asked about Sept. 11, Islam's relation to other religions, Islam's position on violence, the contributions of Muslims to American society, and the status of Muslim women.

Fateen Saifullah, imam of the Masjid As-Sabur and Masjid Al-Haque mosques in Las Vegas, said Sept. 11 forced an honest reassessment that in many ways has been good for the country and Muslims, but not easy.

"Before Muslims were looking and excited and hopeful of being included in mainstream society," Saifullah said. "After 9/11 there was some fear, there was some concern."

He said American Muslims are often faced with a dilemma when their allegiances to America and to Islam are seemingly at odds.

Abdullah made the distinction between Islam and the Middle East. The large majority of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and not in the Middle East, he said.

"Societies are being crushed, not because the religion demands it," Abdullah said of the Middle East. He said the region's rulers use religion to oppress their people and control resources.

Abdullah said there is hope that the nation and Muslims will benefit from their inclusion in a pluralistic society by learning to respect and care for others.

"We cannot divide the suffering of humanities on the basis of race, religion," he said. "We cannot only cry when an American dies."

More than 230 people attended the forum, many of them college sociology students for class credit.

"I think it kind of opened people's minds to what the religion is all about. A lot of people, including myself, didn't really know much about it," said sociology student Stephen Schweyen, 24.

He said he was surprised to learn more about the role of women in Islamic society.

"It sounds like they do have rules but that they're not as rigid as I thought," he said.

Panelist Houda Afifi, a homemaker and education student at CCSN, said that Islam considers both men and women equal but with differing roles.

"The ignorance about Islam is almost total. But the area where the vacuum of knowledge has been filled with the most information is possibly the status of women," Afifi said.

She said women are respected by Islam and even said -- to the obvious displeasure of some of the other panelists -- that there are not many instances of rape in Islamic society in part because women there do not wear provocative clothing.

Student Callie Payne, 22, said she enjoyed watching the various male panelists' nonverbal responses to Afifi as at least one put his head in his hands.

Payne and her friend Christopher Papa, 27, learned of the similarities between Islam, Christianity, and Judiasm. Papa said he was beginning to understand the Muslim view and even the conditions surrounding Sept. 11.

"If you study it you can understand 9/11," Papa said. "Though it's not justifiable in any way."

The other panelists were civil engineer Mohamed Said Rouas, retired Army Sgt. Abu Kathir, environmental scientist Aziz Eddebbrah, and educational director Tony Eddebbrah.

The forum was moderated by CCSN Prof. Carlo DeFazio and Web cast to several universities across the country and even in London. The panel video can be viewed on-line at www.ccsn.nevada.edu/video.