By Jessica Van Atta Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
The Tuttle Lounge opened its doors last night to the classical Islam culture. An event sponsored by the South Asian Leadership Society included a musical performance by Hamayun Khan, an Afghan native, as well as a lecture from Ethnomusicology Prof. Natalie Sarazzin.
The type of music performed was a classical Islamic music called Sufi.
First-year College student and South Asian Leadership Society fundraiser Sidharth Sethi explained his understanding of Sufi.
"It is a fusion between mystical forms that came up around mid-15th century," Sethi said.
According to a SALS announcement, "Sufism is a mystical form of Islam that is essentially a variant of classical Islam. The mysticism of the religion stems from the practice of complex rituals of music and dance said to connect one with God."
Sethi compared Sufism to mystical Judaism and said it is a fusion of more Eastern and Islamic styles
According to Sethi, the main goal of the event is to help create a better understanding of the culture of Islam.
"It is important because the way things are today, this is a side of Islam that many people do not get to see," he said.
Sethi blamed the media for focusing on warfare instead of providing a well-rounded view of different cultures and societies.
"Students are not to be blamed [for the focus on warfare] because that's what is on TV, not music," Sethi said. "The media does not give complete coverage of how and why."
He said because people are more used to seeing news about extremists and military actions, those aspects of South Asia may be concentrated on instead of other characteristics. Holding events to show other parts of culture is "the best way to bridge these divides," Sethi noted.
By showing the people, their culture and their music, Sethi said he thinks relations between different backgrounds can be improved. He said he hopes such events will "create the other side of people's understanding," as opposed to the limited sides of society shown by media.
By attending the event, Sethi said people may gain a better understanding of the culture and of Sutism, but events cannot fix relations single-handedly.
"The way I see it, I don't expect people to have complete understanding of Islam," Sethi said. "I just hope people enjoy it"
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