The Muslim Student Association is holding Islam Awareness Week, which began on Oct. 13 and is scheduled to conclude on Oct. 17. Throughout the week, the MSA has sponsored several different events encouraging student consciousness of the Islamic religion.
Islam 101: Sheikh Yasser Fazaga discussed misconceptions about Islam as part of a lecture series for Islam Awareness Week on Oct. 14.
On the afternoon of Oct. 13, tables were set up on Library Walk with information on the religion. In an attempt to educate the UCSD community of the fundamental values and teachings of Islam, the tables provided information about several Islamic practices.
“”This week is about bringing Islamic awareness to UCSD students and to erase misconceptions that people may have,”” Revelle College senior and MSA member Nivin Qudeimat said.
The MSA also scheduled a series of lectures in hopes of teaching others more about the religion and clarifying any false impressions students might have.
To commence the lecture series, Sheikh Yasser Fazaga spoke on Oct. 14 at Center Hall in a lecture titled “”Discover Islam.”” The speaker gave a concise overview of Islam, highlighting key concepts and practices which typically receive little representation, according to Fazaga.
“”The way Americans know about Islam has always been through news headlines,”” Fazaga said.
According to Fazaga, the media has a tendency to cover stories about Islam only when it is associated with negative or sensational events, and he said much of the public’s misconceptions about Islam stem from the inadequate frames of coverage most commonly employed by news media.
“”[There exists] a misconception that all Arabs are Muslims or that all Muslims are Arab,”” Fazaga said.
Fazaga cited statistics, saying that approximately 1.3 billion people in the world are Muslim, or every one in every five people. He also said that contrary to popular thought, Asia and Africa are home to the majority of Muslim people.
He also rebutted the idea that most American Muslims are foreign immigrants; on the contrary, 60 percent of American Muslims are actually natural born citizens.
Fagaza also discussed the term “”jihad,”” which has frequently been defined as a “”holy war.””
According to Fazaga, this term has not received fair representation. He said that jihad is a moral obligation of Muslims to rid the world of oppression and can also be a struggle against evil within oneself. A holy war against oppression is just one aspect of jihad, he said.
Islam literally means “”submission [to God],”” or it can mean “”peace through submitting to the will of God,”” Fagaza said. The Qur’an, as well as the Torah and the New Testament of the Bible, are also used in Islam.
Fazaga went on to explain Islam’s Pillars of Faith, which include a belief in all the prophets. This includes prophets from the Hebrew Bible (the Torah), as well as prophets from the Christian New Testament.
Jesus, Mary, Moses and Muhammad, among others, are all believed to be prophets of God in Islam.
Fazaga also explained that Islam, in comparison to Christianity, also holds the belief that Jesus existed; however, it holds that he is not the son of God and did not die for humanity’s sins.
In Islam, people are not born sinners; therefore, they do not need to be “”saved,”” he said.
Muslims also believe in a day of judgment in which everyone will be held accountable for all their sins. This includes the belief in heaven and hell ‹ two very physical and spiritual realities, according to Fazaga.
Some important Islamic practices and part of the Five Pillars of Faith include five daily prayers. Following the example of the prophet Muhammad, Muslims are to perform the five daily prayers facing Mecca, the “”sacred holy city”” and birthplace of Muhammad, Fazaga said.
Fazaga explained that Ramadan is particularly important to Muslims because it is the month in which Muhammad was said to receive the revelation of the Qur’an in addition to part of the Five Pillars of Islam.
During this time, all able-bodied Muslims are to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sexual behavior from dawn until dusk for a period of 30 days. Muslims believe that this practice of self-denial helps one to become more in tune with those who are in need.
The MSA hopes to open the eyes of the UCSD community to Islam through education.
“”[Islam Awareness Week] has been going really well,”” MSA President Amir Fahid said. “”There has been a lot of positive feedback.””
