On Wednesday March 30, 2016 at Ohio University the TEDx program along with the College of Arts and Sciences held a talk âWhat Does Islam Mean to You?â The premise of the talk was to allow students of all religious backgrounds to be able to ask Muslim students about their religion without embarrassment and discuss the perceptions of Islam as it is portrayed in social media. According to Hashim Pashtun the president of the International Student Union, âhe hopes that the event will assist in creating an accurate portrayal of Muslims.â He also mentions that âIslam is a religion which came into beingâ a long time ago and âwhat is changing is the Muslim people.â Itâs important that people understand this distinction and realize that Islam is a religion like all other religions and it should not be categorized as good or bad based on the actions of its people.Â
The idea of this talk resonated with me after reading the âOral History of Hagar Omranâ in which he says âI donât feel that Muslims are treated equally in this countryâ and when he further questions âwhy when one person does something wrong, the whole Muslim community and religion gets blamed for it.â This clearly would resonate with Pashtunâs objective of the talk which is to realize the generalizations that we are making and to better understand the religion behind Muslim people. Another relevant quote from that section was that the âMuslim community is intelligent, educated and civilized,â which is again what Pashtun hopes that attendees of the talk will come to realize and appreciate. So I ask myself, why are talks like this necessary? Itâs sad to think that they are. People lack the knowledge of other religions in the United States and look to social media, which poorly portrays the realities of Islam and Muslim people, and there lies the issue. We need to take the initiative to be informed citizens in a global community.