Educating the community

Audience members listen to a speaker during the "Islam vs. ISIS" event. The St. Thomas Muslim Student Association hosted the event Tuesday. (Noura Elmanssy/TommieMedia)
Audience members listen to a speaker during the “Islam vs. ISIS” event. The St. Thomas Muslim Student Association hosted the event Tuesday. (Noura Elmanssy/TommieMedia)

Students, faculty and members of the community gathered Tuesday in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium to hear the differences between the religion of Islam and the actions of ISIS in a talk hosted by the St. Thomas Muslim Student Association.

On Nov. 13, Paris was attacked by ISIS, who killed more than 130 people and injured hundreds more. The event initiated an anti-Islam movement that the St. Thomas MSA felt needed to be addressed. Ayan Ahmed, president of the organization, and fellow members began planning the talk, titled “Islam vs ISIS,” the Monday after the attacks.

“We wanted to educate people about the reality of Islam and distinguish the ideologies of Islam from any other extremist group that claims to be under the name Islam that does not practice the teachings of Prophet Mohammed,” Ahmed said. “ISIS’ actions are the forefront of how Muslims are perceived on media. I think that’s the only image that people all over the United States and all over the world get of Muslims.”

Over the weekend of the Paris attacks, anti-Islamic movements broke out across Europe, including the burning of Mosques. Massive outbreaks on social media also eventually made “Kill All Muslims” the fourth most trending hashtag on Twitter, according to the MSA on Tuesday night.

“It was disturbing to us, to me personally as a Muslim student. As a Muslim American, I was disappointed,” Ahmed said. “It was disheartening, and I felt that was due to lack of education and lack of knowledge people had.”

The talk included personal stories from Muslim St. Thomas students and featured a discussion from Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN, a non-profit organization that seeks “justice and mutual understanding.” Sophomore Amanda Tenhoff thought the event was necessary for better understanding of these issues.

“It’s incredibly important to be informed … With ISIS becoming a more tangible threat to the world, I think it’s become especially imperative that we consciously move beyond our ignorance and work to understand the difference between Islam and ISIS,” Tenhoff said. “It was an eye-opening experience, and I’m really glad I was able to attend.”

With a full house on Tuesday night, “Islam vs ISIS” covered aspects of Islamophobia and used Quranic scripture to pinpoint common misconceptions portrayed by the media, such as condoning violence. Junior Genevieve Gates thinks this is a step in the right direction.

“I think it (Islam vs. ISIS) was really productive and necessary,” Gates said. “This university and supporting the Catholic identity is about diversity … We need to be addressing and having these conversations on a daily basis.”

A question and answer session followed the discussion, giving attendees an opportunity to get their doubts and concerns answered in an educated fashion. Junior Gabrielle Ryan thinks it was an event that benefitted students in attendance.

“I think the students of St. Thomas learned a lot, and I think a lot of the innocent ignorances were addressed. Now there are positive things that are going to be moving our student body forward,” Ryan said. “We need to have these conversations to end the hate.”

Ahmed could not have been happier with the event’s turnout and was happy to see representatives from Campus Life, the theology department and many more St. Thomas clubs and organizations come together for the cause.

“The administration is very supportive of events like this,” Ahmed said. “This event in itself shows that our community cares for this topic. I believe that turnout is only because our community members are very open and are willing to learn.”

Noura Elmanssy can be reached at elma7206@stthomas.edu.