About 236 people attended Shaykh Omar Suleiman’s speech about American media bias toward Islam on Thursday night as part of Islam Awareness Month.
“Islam Explained: The Last Prophet” was held in the Reitz Union Ballroom.
Islam On Campus president Abidah Ali said the group wanted to explain the root of the religion with this event.
“We want people to understand why Muslims act the way they act,” she said. “We follow the example of the prophet; therefore, understanding the prophet is important.”
Suleiman, who teaches at the Al-Maghrib Institute and Islamic Learning Foundation in Atlanta, spoke against the bias in American media against Muslims and dispelled common rumors and misconceptions about the faith.
He emphasized on the importance of human interaction among people of differing faiths.
“If we don’t protect the unifying aspects of our faith, the next generation will reject faith altogether,” he said. “Ask Muslims how they feel about Islam. Give us a chance.”
Students had the opportunity to ask Suleiman questions after his speech.
“I learned a lot tonight,” said health science junior Vinnie Pierino, 21. “It helped put a lot of ideas I had about Islam in context.”
Twenty-one protesters from Dove World Outreach Center wearing “Terry Jones for President” T-shirts stood outside the UF Bookstore before the event, each holding a sign denouncing the Islamic faith.
“We are here to give the true picture of Islam,” pastor Terry Jones said. “They’re going to keep telling the same peace stories that do not exist.”
Suleiman indirectly addressed the protesters during his talk.
Referencing people who profess to follow Jesus but hold signs with hateful words toward the Muslim faith, he asked, would Jesus behave that way or say those same words?
Zulkar Khan, a 19-year-old microbiology sophomore, said Islam On Campus would move forward from the action of the protesters.
“Islam as a whole will move on,” he said. “Islam goes beyond the bounds of religion.”
Matthew Tayon, 20, a junior biochemistry major, debates with a protester outside the UF bookstore on Thursday evening.
