An e-mail addressed to the “killers of the innocent” reached the Muslim Students’ Association executive board members days after terrorists attacked America.
The group immediately called an emergency meeting to address the issues that arose after Sept. 11, Vice President Fareeha Shuttari said.
“It suddenly became that we had to prove to campus that Islam meant peace,” the nutritional sciences junior said. “It became a very hectic time for us.”
Shuttari said the group’s goal was to educate students and to help them understand a religion that advocates peace.
“Violence is totally contrary to the teachings of the Quran,” she said. The Quran is the holy book of Islam.
In addition to being an educational resource, Shuttari said she now feels like she represents Muslims everywhere.
“Before we were just the girls who wore the funny thing on our head,” she said. “Now it’s almost like we’re great symbols of Islam.
“As Muslims, that has been our goal - to be the personal examples of Islam. We are the people on campus with you.”
Though Shuttari was always willing to share her experiences, she said the people at her Holmes Hall dorm were too scared to talk to her about the attacks.
“Everyone just turned away from me,” she said. “At that point I felt excluded.”
But not all students said they would turn away from Shuttari.
Computer engineering senior Michael Ganheart said that the terrorist attacks did not make him change his feelings towards Muslims.
“Racial profiling of Muslim people just because of Sept. 11 isn’t right. Just because someone is from Pakistan does not mean that they are a terrorist,” Ganheart said.
To combat the feelings of isolation, the association members made the group a place where the people of Islam could come together, President Salman Ateequi said.
“It’s somewhere for them to go, to bring their issues and concerns,” the finance junior said. “We’ve built identity for Muslims on campus. That’s something that didn’t exist before.”
Lee June, MSU’s vice president for student affairs and services, said he, MSU President M. Peter McPherson and other administrators contacted Muslim and Arab-American groups on campus shortly after last year’s attacks in an attempt to address their concerns.
“We maintain contact with student leaders in that community to (let them) express their concerns and (we) want to know if they have issues so we could put in preventative steps,” June said.
June also said MSU has worked to eliminate discrimination on campus for years, but last Sept. 11’s events refocused those efforts.
“As a result we intensified efforts to do things in residence halls and other places to make sure people were comfortable,” he said.
This week’s remembrance events are a chance for students to reach out to different cultures, June said. The Muslim Students’ Association is helping to host a remembrance event at 6 p.m. Thursday at The Islamic Center of East Lansing, 920 S. Harrison Ave.
“I encourage all students to take part and learn respect for others,” June said.
Increased awareness and education about Muslims is one of the outcomes of Sept. 11, said Hodan Hassan, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.
“I think in general Muslims have realized they need to be more active,” she said. “Most Americans don’t know much about Islam.”
But along with increased awareness, the Muslim community has had increased cases of discrimination since the terrorist attacks, Hassan said.
“We’ve dealt with civil issues since 1994,” she said. “But nothing compared to the numbers after September 11.”
And even after the incidents immediately following Sept. 11 died down, stereotypes remain prevalent, Hassan added.
“We’ve started to see more subtle examples of discrimination,” she said.
Muslim students on campus have heard people’s comments, said Sarah Wahab, a member of the student group. Wahab said she experienced discrimination in the Main Library.
“A girl walked up to me and said ‘It’s your kind of people bombing this country.’ She didn’t even know me. She judged me on the color of my skin and not the content of my character,” Wahab said. “I didn’t exhibit any behavior that made me a person of suspicion.”
The communication senior said the discrimination stemmed from an “us versus them mentality.”
“These stereotypes don’t go away, unfortunately,” Wahab said. “African Americans are still experiencing a number of stereotypes. It’s the same with Muslims.
“People assume that the people on the plane were Muslim, and that’s irrelevant. The point is that individuals committed this and not a religion.
“Muslims that were born here should not have to prove their citizenship.”
