By Daing S. Nasir
Western Herald
Special guest speaker Imam Zaid Shakir gave a speech during the Muslim Student Association’s event held in the East Ballroom of the Western Michigan University Bernhard Center Friday. (Jo Wei Looi/Western Herald)
Misconstrued notions of Islam and its followers were explained to an audience that filled the East Ballroom of the Bernhard Center Friday night in an event hosted by Western Michigan University’s Muslim Student Association.
“From Original Sin to the Color of Skin: Gender, Class and Racial Equality in Islam,” started off with a brief introduction of the speaker by the master of ceremonies for the night, business major, Ali McKee. This was followed by a short prayer and its interpretations of the Quranic verses into English by Nauman Akbar of the Kalamazoo Islamic Center.
The keynote speaker, Imam Zaid Shakir of Hayward, Calif., is a scholar and lecturer of Zaytuna Institute, where he teaches courses in Arabic, Islamic law, history and Islamic spirituality.
Shakir pointed out to the audience that humans originated from a single pair, making everyone in humanity related.
“There is no such thing as a superior Aryan man or racial superiority,” Shakir said. “Racism is satanic and unacceptable in Islam according to the versus of the al- Quran.”
According to Shakir the physical differences between humans are a beautiful sign of the greatness of the almighty.
“God does not look at you facial features, or physical form of your wealth. He looks at your heart and your kind deeds,” Shakir said.
He contended that humans should see each other as one devisable collective. The best of people are those that are of moral fiber and compassion for the poor and not that discriminate each other of social class.
“Diversity is the spice of life,” he said. “What people need to learn is how to cherish the variety between and amongst us such as our dressings, cuisines, architecture, how we organize our cities and township and even the difference house of worship are manifested.”
In cases where people have been structurally denied work and avenues where they can engage and perform their skills, Shakir questions, “Where is the safety net for them?”
“It is [of] utmost important for people to know the preservation of life. Empathy and compassion is indeed urged within society,” Shakir said.
“Islam advocates both capitalism and socialism; that both respect the individual right to private property, food and toil no withstanding the fact that poor people exist in society.”
Shakir said the concept of sadaqa’ in Islam is for people to give to the poor whereby there will be qualified recipients for the money.
Gender responsibilities were also discussed as to put into perspective traditional male and female roles.
“Both acts of the different sex will be awarded by Allah equally. What will be awarded to the man, will also be awarded to the woman for her deeds,” Shakir said.
According to Shakir, to say that domestic roles negate women’s rights to education and their roles in it would be a false dichotomy.
“Women play an integral role in their domestic roles and also as educators to their children and society,” Shakir said.
Shakir said he acknowledges the need for a more balanced operation of Islamic societies and to move from the tradition to one that seeks the woman scholar and also women in politics.
“As Muslims, we are challenged globally to bring the teachings of our religion to our everyday life to set as an example for others.
“With the establishment of our mosques, councils and homes; if racist attitudes still exist, how then can we serve as an embodiment for the benefit of society?” Shakir said.
The question and answer session then started with a revelation of why Muslims must marry only Muslims.
“The notion puts into context that it is an un-Islamic tribulation whereby young people are forced towards it,” Shakir said.
According to him, this fact is more in regards towards the rules and regulations of predominant Muslim countries and not that of the religion.
“If you want to know about Islam, ask a Muslim. Just like if you wanted to know about Judaism, ask a follower or even a Rabbi and not what a Palestinian thinks Judaism thinks it is,” Shakei said.
For Ryan Mills, an engineering management graduate student at WMU, Shakir had interesting points.
“The inter-country aspects of the talk help me more understand more about [Islam],” Mills said.
Brad Thomas, a senior studying mechanical engineering, had a similar view.
“It is great to see so many people come out with an open mind and learn new things,” he said.
Janet Gonzalez, a Kalamazoo resident, enjoyed not just the lecture, but also the multi-cultural dinner catered by the Bernhard Center, which included Middle-Eastern and South-Asian cuisine.
“The event was wonderful,” Gonzalez said. “It indeed defined and educated the minds of people on the many misconceptions of Islam and its teachings. The event was well-organized and the speaker did a great job in presenting his speech, keeping his audiences engaged all the time.”
“The delicious food definitely made the whole night a joyous event altogether,” Gonzalez added. “I was surprised to see how wonderful it was for MSA to acquaint Americans with the Islamic faith.”
