19 September 2001

Georgetown University Hosts "Teach-in" on Islam

By Vicki Silverman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- More than 130 Georgetown University students joined a panel of five faculty members at Georgetown's Center for Muslim Christian Understanding September 19 to discuss "Islam, the U.S. and Terrorism."

The panel, composed of experts in Islamic history, law and foreign affairs, emphasized that the vast majority of Muslims worldwide condemn not only attacks like those on the World Trade Center but also the radical-extremist views behind organizations like al-Qaida.

"The grief felt by mainstream Muslims (following the September 11 attacks) is not out of politics," said Osman Bakar, Malaysia Chair of Islam at Georgetown, "but deep from their faith."

Bakar, who is also Vice Rector of the National University of Malaysia, told those gathered he views the September 11 attacks as an assault on civilization. "Civilization is shared by all major religions. Civilization values freedom, love of knowledge, respect for law and hopes for democracy. Islam, Christianity and Judaism have been partners in building civilization over a long period of history," he said. As many as 50,000 Malaysian Muslim students a year come to the U.S. for their education, he noted.

John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding, added, "We cannot let ourselves be defined or controlled by the minority, who would emphasize our differences and obscure our common values."

"How does one distinguish between true Islam and those who use Islam for narrow purposes?" the experts asked. The subsequent hour core discussion focused on the basic tenants of Islam and also an examination of terms like "jihad" so often used by Muslim extremists and global media outlets.

Noting the intense student interest in learning more about Islam, Esposito said he hopes events like this, now taking place in an ad hoc fashion across the United States, will further clarify the differences between a terrorist's "twisted interpretation from what is true Islam."

"Motivated by tragedy, Americans are overcoming a kind of cultural awkwardness in discussing religion and taking a look at how Muslims understand their faith," Esposito said. He noted faculty members at the Center are giving eight or nine media interviews a day and more sites are being posted on the Internet to explain the mainstream principals of Islam. He is personally heartened by communications from "friends in the Muslim world who encourage the Center's work."

"No other crisis has prompted so many calls to the Center from the international media -- Brazil, Denmark, Turkey -- each wants to know more about Islam and Islam in America," remarked John Voll, a Georgetown scholar with 40 years of experience teaching Islamic history. "Over the longer-term, the crisis may prove an opportunity to awaken other communities to Islam, as a part of the religiously diverse world," he reflected.