[368]MUSLIM STUDENTS AT MTSU TO OBSERVE ISLAMIC AWARENESS WEEK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Apr. 2, 2008EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MUSLIM STUDENTS AT MTSU TO OBSERVE ISLAMIC AWARENESS WEEK
Understanding of Islamic Faith, Tolerance, Interfaith Cooperation Keys to Activities

(MURFREESBORO) – The Muslim Students Association (MSA) at MTSU is turning part of its celebration of Islamic Awareness Week (April 7-10) into a tribute to a cherished friend whose life’s work embodied the group’s philosophy of interfaith cooperation and understanding. On Monday, April 7, from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., the MSA will staff an information table for Islamic Awareness Week and conduct a bake sale on the Keathley University Center knoll to raise money for the MTSU Art Department Scholarship Fund in honor of Dr. Lon Nuell. The 68-year-old art professor and faculty adviser to the Jewish student organization, Hillel, died March 12 of a massive stroke. To mark the convergence of the Islamic observance of Ramadan and the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, Hillel, led by Nuell, had provided a meal for Sbenaty and the MSA on Sept. 27, 2007. “I lost a very close friend and one who has touched so many lives,” says Dr. Saleh Sbenaty, professor of engineering technology and industrial studies and faculty adviser to the MSA. “This is just a small part of an ongoing commitment to an interfaith dialogue I promised his wife after his passing. This is also to show that Islam does not have any conflict with any other religion.” On Tuesday, April 8, at 6 p.m., Tasneem Ahmed will present a lecture titled “Role of Women in Islam” in Room S316 of the Business and Aerospace Building. Ahmed, the mother of an MTSU student, has presented numerous lectures at Vanderbilt University and the Islamic Center of Nashville. On Wednesday, April 9, at 5:30 p.m., an episode of the F/X network television series 30 Days as a Muslim will be shown in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. In this episode, Morgan Spurlock, director of the critically acclaimed documentary Super Size Me, sends David Stacy, a practicing Christian from Virginia, into the Islamic community in Dearborn, Mich., to “work, eat and sleep” as a Muslim for 30 days. The week will conclude at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, with a potluck dinner and MSA elections of officers in Room 322 of the Keathley University Center. Sbenaty says about 140 Muslim students are enrolled at MTSU. About 50 to 60 are involved in MSA activities. “Islam not only tolerates, but understands,” Sbenaty says. “The view in Islam is that all religions have the same basis.” For more information on Islamic Awareness Week at MTSU, contact Sbenaty at 615-898-7667 or ssbenaty@mtsu.edu or MSA President Nida Shirazi at nfs2c@mtsu.edu.
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