Raising Islam awareness

National Islam Awareness Week enlightened University of Toledo students about Islamic topics from March 16 to March 22.

The events were sponsored by the Muslim Student Association and included “Women in Islam,” an event which raised awareness about Islamic women and was held Thursday, March 19 in the Memorial Field House. Asma Abdel Halim, a professor of Women and Gender Studies, gave a lecture about gender relations in Islam.

Maxie Ratamasri, a second-year global studies major, said she is glad students are “getting an idea from an actual Muslim woman instead of getting a biased opinion through the news or the internet, someone that’s not Muslim saying that things for us which is not true.”

Ratamasri said with misinformation being common, she hopes this event will help educate people more accurately.

“I hope that people are informed. Especially with all the ignorance that they said that we’re oppressed but really in reality we’re not really oppressed.”

The week was also filled with other events like “Try on the Hijab,” which was held Thursday, March 19 in the Student Union.

Fatma Ismail, a second-year majoring in law and social thought, was the main organizer of these events, and said they help students understand the daily struggles of Islamic women.

The event was aimed at non-Muslim women, offering them a chance to try on a hijab and walk around campus with it. However, women weren’t the only ones participating in the event.

“We’ve had tons of non-Muslim men here too,” Ismail said.

According to Ismail, a hijab indicates modesty and is not only worn by women, but by some men as well.

“It symbolizes a lot but anybody can wear it and we want them to experience that first hand,”

Ismail said. “Some people have walked around the Student Union with it saying that they’ve got some stares, but they actually were happy to wear it. They were proud to wear it.”