This week, the Muslim Students Association will offer discussions, lectures and films in an attempt, as MSA executive committee member Saima Malik put it, to expose Islam's "very rich culture."
Islam Awareness Week, which began yesterday and will last through Thursday, will address an assortment of topics relating to the religion, according to MSA President Zeenat Igbal.
"We're trying to cover different aspects of Islam," Igbal said.
Third-year College student Bilal Qureshi, an executive committee member in the MSA, also emphasized the breadth of the events.
"We want to showcase the diversity of the Muslim community," Qureshi said.
Fourth-year College student Saima Malik, also an MSA executive committee member, said this week is an opportunity for everyone to be exposed to things "we've never heard about or talked about before."
Islam Awareness Week is the result of a collaboration between the MSA, the Middle East Studies department, the Echols program and the Children of Abraham club.
Presentations cover topics from the civil liberties of Muslims in America to Muslim Spain to interpretations of the Qur'an.
The organizers also will set up a table on the Lawn staffed by MSA members to answer students' questions about Islam.
Tonight's event, a showing of the award-winning film "Islam -- Empire of Faith," explores the origins of Islam. Jewish Studies Prof. Peter Ochs will introduce the film.
Iqbal described the presentation as reflecting "commonality between Abrahamic faiths."
Ochs applauded this week because he said it is an effort toward students and Americans gaining "a more and more intimate knowledge of Islam."
He added that "I think this is an extremely important week and a very proud week."
The week is targeted at exposing the less publicized aspects of the religion, Malik said, adding that the culture is a subject many people, including Muslims in the United States, do not know very much about.
Iqbal said she thinks even Muslim students will learn from the events this week, because they highlight not only the religion but also the culture of Islam.
"We're basically trying to open [students'] eyes and show them that Islam is not just what you see in the media," Iqbal said.
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