Muslim Minorities

Muslim students talk about life on campus

Time magazine recently published an article asking if America has a “Muslim problem.” Plans for an Islamic community center near the World Trade Center site have ignited flames of debate. A pastor in Florida urged the burning of the Quran. Despite the national controversy surrounding Islam, GCSU is considered a welcoming place for Muslims.

Amr Mohammed is a graduate student at GCSU studying for his MBA with a concentration in management information systems. He is originally from Egypt. His wife came over with him, and his son was born in Atlanta. Currently the whole family lives in Milledgeville.

Amr Mohammed

Mohammed is a practicing Muslim who goes to the Islamic Center of Macon, the closest mosque to GCSU. He and his family try to go there every Friday for prayer, but if they can’t make it they simply pray in their home. They follow the traditions of the religion such as praying towards Mecca five times a day and the month of Ramadan, which involves fasting.

His overall experience has been very positive, and according to him he mainly gets questions about his religion.

Mohammed makes changing misinterpretations about Islam one of his main goals. He says in response to “Burn the Koran Day” that there are extremists in every religion and that they do not define it.

“I tell my Muslim friends that the preacher in Florida doesn’t represent America or Christianity much like the terrorists from 9/11 don’t represent Islam,” Mohammed said.

According to Mohammed, there are many misconceptions of fundamental beliefs in Islam including the practice of jihad. Mohammed wants people to understand that jihad in the Quran means when you are attacked fight back, not to attack innocent people.

“I believe that the terrorists are simply using Islam as an umbrella for their own agenda of violence and they try to hide behind it,” Mohammed said.

He was also quick to point out many things that he has done to help the local community and the event he organized at GCSU last fall called Muslims in America. The event showcased the Imam, or religious leader, of the Macon mosque and Mohammed himself gave a speech that highlighted the achievements of Muslims in Georgia and the United States.

Ahmed Jameel is another Muslim here at GCSU who also tries to attend the mosque in Macon. He is a pre-med biology student from Baghdad, Iraq.

“After moving to the United States lots of things changed, I don’t get to go to the mosque as much as I used to when I was home because the nearest one is in Macon,” Jameel said.

He still fasts and prays when he needs to, but he says that it is a lot different now that he has to do it alone since there are so few Muslims here at GCSU.

Beauty Bragg, professor of America’s Diverse Cultural Heritage at GCSU, stresses the need for awareness of the Muslim communities in Georgia.

“I have had many Muslim students who weren’t international and they didn’t face any hostility here for their views,” Bragg said.

According to the Associate Director of International Education Libby Davis international students feel that GCSU is a supportive campus.

“But since there is not a lot of religious diversity on campus or in the community, it can be a challenge for some of our students to find places to worship,” Davis said.

Posted by Danielle Paluga on Sep 24 2010. Filed under Close Up, Special Sections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.