Islam Awareness Week begins with 'American Woman's Jihad' Feb. 11

By Linda Myers

Islam Awareness Week 2005 begins at Cornell Friday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. with an event titled "An American Woman's Jihad." The week will feature talks, panels and other events intended to give non-Muslims on campus and in the community an opportunity to learn more about Islam.

The Feb. 11 event, which is free and open to the public, opens with a screening of the widely acclaimed National Geographic documentary film "Inside Mecca," in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The one-hour film follows three Muslims on their pilgrimage to the Al Masjid Al-Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, called the Sacred Mosque by Muslims.

O'Leary

Following the screening, there will be a talk by Fidelma O'Leary, an Irish-American woman and convert to Islam who was one of the pilgrims featured in the film. O'Leary, an associate professor of biology at St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, will describe her own personal spiritual journey to Islam, her struggle to live as an American Muslim and an academic in modern-day society and how she has coped with her Irish Catholic family's lack of acceptance of her Muslim beliefs. O'Leary is a co-founder of the Freedom of Faith Foundation, an educational organization that seeks to create a tolerant society where all people can practice their faiths.

Wasif Syed, a Ph.D. student in applied physics at Cornell, who was instrumental in bringing the film and O'Leary to campus, said he chose both to shed light on the concept of "jihad," which most Muslims interpret as an internal spiritual journey involving personal sacrifice. Many non-Muslims mistakenly believe the Arabic word refers solely to a holy war of aggression and violence led by Muslim extremists.

O'Leary, with her blond hair, green eyes and Western upbringing, "defies the image" many people have of Muslim women, said Syed. And "the film takes you into the heartland of Saudi Arabia, to Mecca, and shows you images you don't see on Western television," he added. The documentary makers obtained special permission to film at Mecca's Sacred Mosque and the holy "kaaba" central to the site. The black, cube-shaped stone structure is said to have been built as a shrine nearly 4,000 years ago by Abraham, a prophet to Muslims, Christians and Jews, to mark the place where God alone (Allah, in Arabic) would be worshipped. Observant Muslims believe that their monotheistic religion had its beginnings at that site. They pray in its direction five times daily and, as Muslims, have a duty to visit it at least once in their lifetimes, Syed explained. The site attracted 2.5 million people this year and is the largest pilgrimage destination in the world, he noted. Many are overcome with emotion when they reach it because of its religious significance.

Now in its second year, Islam Awareness Week is sponsored by the Muslim Educational and Cultural Association (MECA), a student group, and the Near Eastern Studies Department at Cornell. It has broad campus support, reflected in the list of attendees, which will include guest of honor Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, Ross Brann, chair and professor, Near Eastern studies, and Shawkat Toorawa, assistant professor, Near Eastern studies and adviser to MECA. The International Students Program Board (ISPB) and several other campus groups are co-sponsors.

"I am delighted that the Muslim students at Cornell have decided to put on a week of talks, speakers and events related to Islam Awareness Week," noted Toorawa. "Now, perhaps more than ever, the public deserves to learn about Islamic civilization."

For more information on other Islam Awareness Week events on campus, consult next week's Cornell Chronicle or visit the MECA Web site: http://www.meca-online.org/.