Eastern Michigan welcomed Ahlam Issa and Dawud Walid to the McKenny Hall Ballroom Thursday to hold a panel discussion clarifying misconceptions about Islam.
Ahlam Issa, a teacher and youth director, and Dawud Walid, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, talked and answered questions through the hour discussion.
Ahlam started by talking about women and why they wear the Hijab or the head scarf. The simple answer she gave was “God told us to.” But she explained that woman are encouraged to explore, research the sacred texts and ask questions and ultimately decide on their own to wear the Hijab.
A question relating to the topic of the Hijab was asked, why do women have to cover up and not men? She cleared this up by saying both men and women practice modesty, that is the “virtue of Islam.” Men must be covered from naval to knee and wear loose fit clothing. Women must cover their hair and wear loose fit clothing. She ended her first part of the panel by saying “the Hijab is part of my identity and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
The second misconception Ahlam Issa talked about was polygamy. Why is polygamy allowed in the Muslim faith? It is not specifically a Muslim thing first of all, she gave the example of a South African president having four wives. The Quran is the only sacred text that says to only have one wife, but if the situation is fitting a man can have up to four wives.
A major restriction on polygamy in Islam is that the husband must be fair to each wife, if there is any doubt that he would not be fair then he should only have one wife. Muslims that live in the United States may only have one wife because by law polygamy is not allowed in the U.S.
Dawud Walid talked about Sharia to clear up misconceptions for both Americans and Muslims. Sharia in Arabic means “path towards water,” water being a need, it is a path towards what one needs. When relating Sharia towards faith it means “path towards faith.” No one Sharia is the same.
There are five specific objectives he discussed to fulfill ones Sharia of “divine will.” The five objectives being; preservation of life, protection of religion, protection of intellect, protection of wealth, protection of posterity. Each of these are different from person to person but all fall under the umbrella of “fulfilling the divine will” or Sharia.
The last misconception that he discussed was that surrounding Jihad. Jihad means “he exerted struggle.” The greater Jihad is the struggle of ego. He said “not everything [that] is legal is ethical for our Sharia.” Which is just to say that Muslims follow the customs of country they live. In the United States with the freedom of religion there is less of a struggle. In other countries however laws may restrict ones religion and that is when Jihad is the greatest.
The panel ended with a quick Q&A and announcements for the Muslim Student Association. More events, meetings, and information about MSA can be found on their Facebook page.