The Story
Keeping the Faith
The William and Mary students sitting in a circle in Tazewell Hall could have been gathered there for any purpose. Dressed in casual clothing and sitting comfortably in lounge chairs, they laughed and swapped stories. One woman offered a humorous challenge to the rest of the group.
“Most ridiculous place you’ve prayed. Go,” she said.
The people sitting around her immediately offered up the most oddball places they had paused to pray for one of the five required daily prayers in Islam.
“Park.”
“Changing room.”
“Behind a clothing rack.”
As followers of Islam, the students present at the Halaqa on Friday nights bond by sharing their thoughts on Muslim life in a predominately non-Muslim world. The Halaqa, however, is open to all students who wish to learn more about Islam. It is one way that the Muslim community at the College reaches out to the larger student body.
Adeela Tajdar (’08), the president of the Muslim Student Association, told The DoG Street Journal about her involvement in the MSA, as well as religious prejudice she has experienced.
“Being a Muslim,” Tajdar said, “you get questioned about it a lot and get attacked. You want to know how to defend your religion, to actually be able to know what you are talking about.”
Tajdar said she was “questioned about it so much and attacked so much, it made me realize how central it was to my identity.”
As a non-devout Muslim, she occasionally found herself up against stereotypes. This happened twice during her freshman year at parties, she said, when she was asked questions like “Why are you here?” and “Why isn’t your head covered?”
“I didn’t expect it at William and Mary because I thought it was such an academic place that people would know more. A few times freshman year, I also got questions about my religion: ‘Why do you believe this? This isn’t right.’ I didn’t expect that either,” she said.
Tajdar finds solace and belonging in the MSA. She joined the organization in the second semester of her freshman year after Religion Professor Tamera Sonn, who teaches courses on Islam, counseled her about coming to terms with her Muslim identity. Tajdar had turned to Sonn for help after having some bad experiences at the College.
The MSA has grown exponentially since Tajdar joined. Six people attended her first meeting; now she estimates their membership to be between 45 and 50 students. She says the MSA is good for “giving other Muslim students a support system, because you definitely need it.”
The MSA does not only serve the College’s Muslim population. Anyone is welcome at meetings and events, like the Eid celebration held this year.
Sahar Gani (’11), who is also in the MSA, spoke about the unique challenges brought about by being Muslim at William and Mary.
“It’s kind of hard because there are certain things I’d never experienced for religious reasons,” she said. “I felt like I wasn’t part of that… Going to the frats, partying to that level, in Islam that’s just something we don’t do. Especially for girls.” But, she said, the partying on campus is “hard to get away from.”
Gani chooses not to wear a hijab, the traditional head scarf worn by some Muslim women. But she says her roommate does wear it, which causes her roommate to stand out.
“Sometimes that becomes a problem for her. She knows people know that she’s different,” Gani said.
Two Muslim freshmen, Imran Husain and Hassan Khan, attribute the lack of hostility they’ve experienced at the College to its high academic caliber.
“This school has a lot of interest in other people,” Khan said, as he packed his belongings to go home for fall break. Khan said he thinks students at the College are more intrigued than intimidated by other cultures. “That’s what I like about this school,” he said.
When asked how his experience as a student was affected by his Muslim identity, Khan did not cite accounts of prejudice. Instead, he mentioned “golden rule” - treat others as you would like to be treated - and suggested that Islam encourages believers to be friendly and “just be nice to people.”
Khan has, however, experienced prejudice back home in northern Virginia. The one major incident he described happened when he was involved in ROTC in high school. One day during inspections, a trainer asked in jest whether Khan was a terrorist. Because of the circumstances, the only response Khan could say was, “No, I’m not.” Despite the joking attitude behind the question, Khan said, “I did feel it was really wrong that he asked.”
As for potential experiences with prejudice at the College, he said, “It’s not like I go out every day trying to defend myself. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, thank God.”
Husain reflected on similar experiences. “I haven’t really faced any bigotry [at William and Mary],” he said. “High school was a different story.”
As for the potential for hostility at the College, Husain said that, though he hasn’t been here for long, he doesn’t feel like he will face any problems. He described students as “nicer, more accepting people,” more well-read and better informed than his peers in high school.
“Generally, fear is a byproduct of ignorance,” he said.
On bigotry in general, Husain said, “I’d like to think that it shouldn’t be that way, but on the more realistic side, it’s always going to be there.” However, he added, “I’m optimistic. The underlying feeling I’m getting is this is a better informed group of kids, and my peers are more readily accepting.”
On a national scale, however, Islam suffers from an image problem. A study done in December 2007 by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 35 percent of people in the United States have an unfavorable view of Muslims and 45 percent would be less likely to vote for a Muslim presidential candidate. A majority of 58 percent said they knew little to nothing about Islam. At the same time, a vast majority of respondents - 70 percent - say that Islam differs greatly from their personal religious traditions.
A study called “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” published in May 2007 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, drew some different conclusions. This study, which used responses from tens of thousands of American Muslims, concluded that the vast majority of Muslims in the United States are culturally assimilated, moderate in their religious views and practices and strongly disapproving of terrorism in the name of Islam.
The study portrayed American Muslims as overwhelmingly anti-terrorist. However, it provided one disturbing statistic that may have helped fan the flames of negativity against Muslims: one in four Muslims under the age of 30 said that suicide bombing could be justified some of the time.
Husain adamantly dissociated the Islamic doctrine he is familiar with from the beliefs of terrorists.
“Those who truly practice it, they certainly wouldn’t commit the atrocities that we associate with radical Muslims,” he said.
However, he emphasized the importance of looking at the issue of terrorism from all sides.
“The only thing I’d ask is to look at the bigger picture,” he said. “You need some objectivity. Bombing people, innocent people - any people - is reprehensible and it shouldn’t happen. However you also have to consider the situations these people are in. Although their actions are wrong, a lot of people make bad choices. A lot of these people are victims of violence, poverty, their own governments.”
Husain mentioned that the actions of Islamic terrorists in recent years have “put Islam in the spotlight,” for better or worse. “If you rely on what the popular media tells you, you’re never going to understand it,” he said. “That’s where the tension emanates from.”
Among those interviewed for this story, the media was frequently cited as a major influence on negative public opinions toward Muslims. Most expressed unhappiness with the news coverage of Muslims, saying that radicals and terrorists receive disproportionate news coverage, giving people a distorted view of Islam.
“I just think, in general, the media really portrays Islam as this crazy religion,” said Gani. “It’s really stupid because I’ve been reading stuff about why people commit suicide… a lot of studies conclude that suicide bombing isn’t done because of Islam - it’s nationalism.”
Professor Sonn drew similar conclusions. As a professor of Islamic studies, she comes in contact with many students who have misconceptions about the religion.
“It’s just surprising to some students to find out that Islam is just a mainstream, monotheistic religion with adherents from about one-fifth of the world’s population and that Islam condemns terrorism openly, repeatedly,” said Sonn. “When they know only headlines, then they’re surprised to find out that the headlines are enormous deviations from mainstream Islam.”
Husain lamented the constant media attention given to radicals in countries in the Middle East.
“Islam’s pervasiveness is a lot greater than just the Middle East,” he said. With the region “comes its association with terrorism and a lot of violence that we hear about.” He mentioned the substantial Muslim population in Europe, the predominance of Islam in Africa and the fact that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world.
The students interviewed for this story expressed a desire for their peers to better understand Islam and Muslim life at the College.
“I think, for some, I would just like for them to increase their tolerance and respect for students, to never make anyone feel endangered,” said Tajdar. “Once that’s established, I’d like to see students push themselves and learn about how other people are different from them.”
When asked what misconceptions she would like to clear up about Islam, Gani said, “It’s about love and peace. It’s not about hatred. It’s like any other religion.”
Of Islam and the other major monotheistic religions, Husain said, “What people like to do is really polarize them and make it seem as if they’re vastly different. But the thing is, despite a few fundamental differences, there are a lot more similarities than there are huge differences.”
Sonn suggested applying an Islamic adage in discussion about religion and world-view: “Argue with them with what is better.”
This piece originally appeared in the November 2008 issue issue of The DoG Street Journal.