Planning a series of events across the whole week, Muslim students at Colorado State University hope to offer students a closer look onto diversity within Islam as well as correcting misconceptions about their faith.

“Islam is very diverse,” Moonier Said, senior studying English and philosophy of religion, told Rocky Mountain Collegian on Monday, April 14.

“We want to show that diversity.”

Said, a member of CSU Muslim Student Association, was speaking as his club held the annual Islam Awareness Week to educate people on Islam and Muslims.

He is one of 36 members in the MSA club which includes Muslim and non-Muslim students.

“You don’t have to be Muslim. It’s not exclusive,” Said said.

Several events are held across the week including a hijab handout event at the plaza during which students will be offered to try on the hijab and take pictures with women in the organization.

The event is aimed at correcting misconceptions about women rights and the Islamic headscarf.

“(Negative reactions) comes with it, naturally,” Darartu Shafi, junior business major and president of MSA at CSU, said.

“I wear it for myself, o I don’t care what people say.”

Along with the plaza event, the MSA is hosting a lecture by Yusha Evans, a former youth minister in South Carolina, who tells how he became a Muslim through the Bible.

“It speaks a lot about the connection between Christianity and Islam,” Said said.

“They’re very close in beliefs, with how you treat people.”

Community

Benjamin Weeks, a CSU freshman from Missouri studying international studies, is another member who reflects the diversity of MSA.

Weeks, who reverted to Islam after researching the religion and talking with other Muslims, joined MSA after seeing its posters in campus.

“I read the Qur’an and decided it was for me,” Weeks said, whose family does not practice Islam.

“Being a white Caucasian and a very American-looking Muslim, it usually never comes up,” he added.

The awareness week was not the only activity or method to educate students on the true nature of Islam.

The recently build mosque is another resource where people of all backgrounds learn about the religion.

“Anybody can walk into the mosque. It’s a very accepting community, by far one of the most accepting communities that I’ve been a part of,” Weeks said.

Living in Fort Collins, Weeks, the Muslim revert, asserted that has not encountered negative attitudes in the central American state of Colorado.

“I am from a bubble of the Bible belt. It is a lot better in Colorado than in Missouri, I’ll tell you that,” Weeks said.

Israa Eldeiry, originally from Egypt, is another Muslim who has been living in Fort Colline for the past 16 years.

“Thankfully, living in Fort Collins, there is a very great community here, which is one of the reasons I chose to continue studying here,” Eldeiry said, the vice president of the MSA.

However, post 9/11 sentiments have caused some incidents in which Eldeiry faced negative attitudes towards her only because of her faith.

“Going into airports and public places, things have gotten stricter. With random selection, I’m always the one who is randomly selected,” she said.

Despite this, Eldeiry said she has always felt safe and welcomed by the Fort Collins community.

“Every now and then, there will be someone saying ‘thats a terrorist walking by,’” Eldeiry said.

“But things like that only happen once or twice a year. I’ve never felt like someone is going to commit a hate crime because of my religion.”

The club hopes that through this week, CSU students will have a better understanding of Muslims and what they believe.

“We are putting ourselves out there for people to know who we are,” Shafi said.

“We want to make people are aware that we’re friendly people. We want to erase those misconceptions. We eat, we drink, we sleep, we go shopping, we have fun,” Eldeiry said.

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/471413-colorado-students-showcase-islam-diversity.html

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