PREPARING MUSLIM STUDENTS COMING TO THE US

obmar · PREPARING MUSLIM STUDENTS COMING TO THE US

PREPARING MUSLIM STUDENTS COMING TO THE US*
By
Ani Bin Arope

WELCOME TO THE US..

Muslim students entering the US for the first time must be prepared to be singled out and peppered with all sorts of questions. Even with all the right visas for entry as a student they must have a numbered street address complete with postal code etc. Stating the name of the University is not enough. The man/woman in blue has the power and authority to deny them entry. Make sure the students have a phone number to call in case they are denied entry. I know this as I was recently given a hard time and nearly denied entry until I got the right street address and postal code numbers of the place I was going to.

We Muslims in the United States are seen by some as rigid fanatical followers of a cult, worshipping a false God. We are being painted with a broad brush of mistrust, hatred or sometimes pity.

OFTEN ASKED QUESTIONS

An often asked question of a Muslim student on an US university campus is ‘What sort of a Muslim are you? Are you an Extremist, Moderate or Fundamentalist? My answer to that would be ‘I am a Muslim,’ period. The people I meet on the campuses are varied. Some are a little facetious whereas some are genuinely interested to understand what the core beliefs in Islam and what the basic terms of the faith are.
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Excerpts from a Luncheon talk by Ani Arope at Indiana University, 20th. May 2007 to Student Advisors from Muslim countries

I tell them that ‘Islam’ at its core means peaceful worship of, a submission to, One Almighty God. Those who believe in and practice Islam are known as Muslims. If I am asked to enunciate my creed I would say, ‘I believe in One Almighty God, the Creator and Cherisher of the whole Universe. To Him Alone, do I worship and to Him Alone do I seek help.” According to my creed, He is the Initiator of all creations. He has no partners or intermediaries and nobody shares in His power.

In Islam, the Almighty is referred to by His proper name, Allah. Muslims prefer not to use the word ‘God’ but instead use the name ‘Allah’, which we believe to be the unique name of the One Almighty.
The word ‘God’ can easily be changed to ‘gods’, ‘goddesses’ and so on. But for purposes of my discourse this morning, the terms God, The Almighty and Allah will be used interchangeably. We believe in the absolute wisdom of the Almighty and His power over all creations.

Islam makes it clear that all people are created equal in the sight of God. The Holy Prophet Mohammad (May peace be upon him) once said that we are all from Adam and Adam was created from dust. No individual is superior to another except in faith and piety. In Islam, human diversity is a sign of the magnificence of God. Thus we are not in a position to question about the diversity in this world or to arrogantly claim that we are superior over others. In the same breath, we are not inferior to others.

We Muslims believe that the Almighty God is unique and unchanging. He is the same God that was worshipped by Adam right through Prophet Zacharias. His divine laws and guidance have been the same throughout time. All the prophets sent throughout the world and to communities, preached the same themes ‘Peaceful submission to God and follow His guidance’.

THE MUSLIM PERCEPTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Muslim students are often asked why we reject Christ. This is usually brought about when we feel uncomfortable when we see a crucifix transfixed on a wall in our rooms. Why should this be? After all Jesus is an honorable prophet and messenger of God. Make it clear that we Muslims do not reject Jesus Christ. His teachings are just as relevant as Abraham, Moses and Mohammad. (May peace be upon them). The story of the birth of Jesus is well documented in the Qur’an in the chapter named ‘after the Blessed Virgin Mary. The announcement by the Angel Gabriel, the birth of Christ and the miracle of the Baby speaking and other miracles performed by the grace and power of God, are all documented. Central to the teachings of Christ is the belief there is only One God, the Creator of all that is. The aim of his lifestyle is to live in keeping with this belief.

What we Muslims reject are not the teachings of Christ but the concept of Christ that he is God or part of the three persons in one God. The Oneness of God is fundamental to all monotheistic teachings since the days of Adam.

There were many people in the early Christian communities who did not believe in this Trinity. To-day some Christian congregations reject or de-emphasize this teaching.

OUR DIETARY HABITS.

I have been asked many a time why Muslims do not take the meat of swine. During my formative years, I spent some time in Christchurch, New Zealand. I was once invited to an Anglican Pastor’s home for dinner with another friend. As students we waited to be invited out for dinner, especially during the weekends, as the food served at the dormitory was blend and tasted like boiled cardboard. At the dinner talk, the Pastor asked us whether we minded if he said grace and blessed the food that we were about to partake. I smiled to myself and asked him to go ahead. That question he asked us was as if we were Godless and were a pair of pagans. Then facetiously he asked why Muslims do not eat pork, was it because we worshipped the pig.

I was prepared for this. I told him, ‘Pastor’, if this question had been asked by a layman, I would have allowed this to pass. But coming as it is from ‘a man of the Church, I cannot allow this to go unchallenged. Is there a Bible in the house? Do you read and believe in the Bible. Open up the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 11 verse 6 and it states very clearly as a direct speech ‘Thou shall not partake the meat of a cloven hoofed animal that does not chewiest its cud.’ There was a strange silence and we finished our dinner with the sound of occasional chinking of our spoons against our plates.

What I am trying to say here is that Muslim students when confronted with questions concerning Islam be tolerant and engage the questioner with polite bantering and dialogue. Try to be ever mindful of God’s blessing, His mercy and our obligations to Him as Muslims.

PRAYER TIME.

Our daily prayers serve as touchstones of our lives, five times each day we break from work and activities to turn towards God to refresh our faith in Him. The Suboh or Fajr prayer, performed before sunrise, Maghrib and ‘Isha performed just after sunset and late evening are performed in the privacy of our homes. The Dhuhr and Asr performed after midday and late afternoon may pose a challenge to some of us. I have seen some Muslim students when performing the ablutions, sticking their feet into the wash basins at the consternation of the other users. My advice is perform your ablutions in private so as not to disturb others. In the US to-day some universities have a prayer room and facilities for Muslim students. If there is none look around for some Muslim Restaurants in town. They have their prayer rooms for use. Failing all these you can treat them as default prayers, for better want of words, to do them after your Maghrib prayers at home.

DRESS CODE ON US UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES.

American Universities are quite liberal when it comes to their dress code on campus. During summer, it is quite normal to find students of both sexes coming to lectures in shorts and ‘T’ shirts. Graduate students may choose to come in shirt sleeves and slacks or blue jeans. Muslim female students may choose to come in their normal attire plus a head scarf or ‘hijab’ but showing their full face. That would be acceptable as it meets both the modesty required in Islam and yet not offend the the norms of the host country. With Muslim male students, I see no problems as they are already dressed in jeans and ‘T’ shirts.

SOCIAL INTERACTION.

Whilst the students are here, they should be encouraged to inter-act with the host country students. This would be their only opportunity to learn about others and others about them. Where possible the Muslim students should not be housed together , as not to create a ‘ghetto’ amongst themselves. They should be exposed to as broad spectrum of American living and take back what is good and disregard those that they find unacceptable. This is the time for them to make life-time contacts for their future professional lives.

Encourage them to have mutual dialogues and respectful discussion with others on campus. This is a fine way to learn about other people so that they can help build bridges and help create a meaningful world society. Ignorance breeds prejudice which only leads to more hatred and conflict.

Prepare your students mentally, socially and psychologically to face the challenges facing them here in the US.

The Inquisitor

These are good words indeed, obmar.

I wish there was an easier way to go around in the US, but unfortunately with the current climate of ignorance and mistrust, all Muslims coming to the US are subject to the ignorance of an enclosed society. Hopefully things will improve in the future.