On Oct. 20, the Muslim Law Students Association hosted Azizah Al-Hibri, a Richmond law professor, and Randolph Marshall Bell, ambassador and president of the First Freedom Center, in a town hall event with the express purpose to clear misinformation about Shar'iah and its practice in the U.S.
In his coverage of the event, Collegian writer Tanveer Ahmed misunderstood the purpose of that meeting and published an article stating that Islam had no basis in science and criticized organizers of the meeting for "not tackl[ing] the issue of undue divinity provided to edicts that are many eons old, and are inherently arbitrary." When this line was later removed from online publication, Ahmed complained of the media being circumscribed by a "sickness of balance" - an insistence on balance for balance's sake.
Arising from this discussion were several responses, ultimately unfairly thrusting Islam into scrutiny both on The Collegian's website and in print. The conversation was uncomfortable and at times offensive to the dozens of Muslim students at the university.
Founder and leader of the Interfaith Youth Core, Eboo Patel, who spoke at the university on Monday as part of the Weinstein-Rosenthal Forum on Faith, Ethics, and Global Society, suggested that we look to those who are building pluralism verses rather than those who advancing extremism. As the Muslim Law Students Association, we ask that you learn about different religions through the university's many active faith-based student organizations. We ask that you engage the Office of the Chaplaincy and participate in inter-faith dialogue and discussion on campus. Principally, we ask that you be on the side of those who build pluralism.
Any comments made by an officer or member prior to this statement were made personally, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the organization.
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