A dialogue between faiths

Members of the Dalhousie Muslim Student Association include, front row, Salma Husain, Maged Aly; middle row, Asma Kottapalli, Waleed Kadray; back row, Rana Kashef, Paige Maria Aziz and Ahsan Syed. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Assalamalaikum, peace be upon you.

Dalhousie Muslim Student Association (DMSA) holds its annual Islamic Awareness Month throughout the month of March. This is a chance for anyone, be they Muslim or non-Muslim, to get answers to any questions they may have regarding this religion.

This month-long event also provides an opportunity to clear any misconceptions about Islam that may have arisen through the media. There will be four events taking place in the second week of March:

• Intro to Islam, Thursday, March 4, 6 p.m. in the Student Union Building, Room 303
• Women In Islam, Wednesday, March 10, 6 p.m. in the SUB, Room 303
• Islamic movie night, Thursday, March 18, 6 p.m. in the SUB, Room 224 
• Inter-Faith Dialogue, Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m., Weldon Law Building, Room 105

In the first event, a female speaker and a male speaker who have converted to Islam will talk about their lives before and after they converted and the reasons that led to their life-changing decision. This will allow people to understand the effect of Islam on the lives of people from a female and a male perspective.

The second event will focus solely on women in Islam. This will not merely raise the question of the head covering or hijaab, but it will also explore the rights of Muslim women, and certain misinterpretations people may have about culture versus religious aspects of some traditions.

The contents of the third event targets mainly Muslim people. The event will consist of a series of videos and then a lecture by a very knowledgeable Muslim speaker. The goal of this event is to show people how to become better Muslims and how to live their lives while working for their afterlife.

The Inter-Faith dialogue on March 25, will involve an active discussion between Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Baha’i speakers. The topic of discussion for this year will be about the types of worship in each of these religions. The point is for the speakers to talk about the types of worship and rituals in each religion, to explain the importance of carrying out each type of worship/ritual, and the factors that might affect the acceptance of a worship/ritual, such as intentions.

All these events will be free of charge, although donations can be made to the DMSA which will be used to help Palestinian refugees . Everyone is welcome to attend any of the events.