CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Uzma Naz
speaks at a program discussing science and religion.
By Michaele Turnage
Daily Bruin Contributor
Religion and science can exist in harmony, experts said at a
lecture in Young Hall Monday night.
The Muslim Student Association kicked off Islamic Awareness Week
by exploring connections between religion and science in an event
titled “Science, Evolution, and Islam: Well, I’ll Be A
Monkey’s Uncle!”
“It gave me a deeper understanding about how Islam and
science correlate,” said Saadia Parekh, a third-year
physiological science student and vice-president of the Muslim
Students Association. “You don’t have to believe in one
or the other; you can believe in both.”
This program is the first in a week of activities intended to
promote awareness about the Islamic faith. Islamic Awareness Week
was originally scheduled for eighth week of winter quarter, but was
postponed due to rain.
Students can receive free henna tattoos, cultural food and have
their name written in Arabic through the end of the week on Bruin
Walk.
Dr. Gassar Hathout, who spoke to an ethnically diverse crowd of
about 60, said Islam embraces science, and science confirms the
teachings of the Quran.
Contending that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, the Law
of Conservation of Matter created by Antoine Lavoisier in 1774
conflicted with the Quran, which teaches that matter can be
created, according to Fizzah Raza, a third-year communications
studies student.
Then came Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in 1905,
which cleared up inconsistency between science and Islam. The
theory, which states that light particles can become matter, is
consistent with the teachings of the Quran.
Additionally, Hathout said the Quran taught that mountains
aren’t permanent long before the Theory of Plate Tectonics
was introduced.
While science conflicts with some religions, it is acceptable in
Islam, some say.
“I always believed God created the Earth and it was nice
to have a speaker eloquently put it together without one
contradicting the other,” said Paris Chatman, a ’92
UCLA alumna.
MSA members declared the need for mass dialogue to heighten
awareness of other cultures and to disprove commonly held
stereotypes.
“I get scared that when someone figures out I’m a
Muslim, the first thing they will think is that my dad is
dominating over my mom and that my dad is part of a terrorist
organization,” said organizer Yousef Tajsar, a first-year
philosophy student.
The most dominant stereotypes about Muslims are that Muslim
women are oppressed, Tajsar said.
Zayneb Shaikley, a first-year undeclared student who, in her
hejab ““ the clothing that covers her entire body ““ has
been mistaken for a nun, said the concealing clothing is a source
of pride for Muslim women.
“No one told me to wear it,” Shaikley said, “I
chose to.”
Shaikley said the hejab is intended to protect women from being
exploited for their body and is a sign of modesty.
“People think it is degrading us, but it is really raising
us up a level,” Shaikley said. “It encourages people to
look at our minds instead of our bodies.”
Muslim women begin wearing the hejab around the age of nine,
around when they start developing, Shaikley said. While they wear
the hejab in public, women feel free to unveil themselves in the
presence of their families and fellow women.
In light of last year’s hate crimes when someone cut up a
sign on the door of the MSA’s office and one of its sign
boards was spit on, said MSA President Ghaith Mahmood, there is a
need to inform the public about the Islamic faith.
“It requires a level of awareness to be brought about
toward all cultures,” said Mahmood, a third-year business and
economics and international development studies student.
“We need to foster an understanding about diverse beliefs
and diverse backgrounds,” he said.