Islam debate held on EMU campus

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http://www.easternecho.com/article/2013/08/islam-debate-held-on-emu-campus

Last updated: 08/12/13 12:08am
 

On August 10, a symposium called “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?” was held at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center. The event was sponsored by Ave Maria Radio, a syndicated Catholic radio station based in Ann Arbor. Speakers included Robert Spencer, author and director of anti-Islam blog Jihad Watch, in the featured debate against Shadid Lewis of the Muslim Debate Initiative in the US, and the event concluded with a Mass celebrated by the Rev. Earl A. Boyea, bishop of Lansing.

“The phrase ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ is often cited but rarely argued for,” Al Kresta, president and CEO of Ave Maria Communications, said in a statement to The Eastern Echo. “Looking over the Muslim dominated world, it doesn’t appear that Islam is a religion of peace. If it is or isn’t the case must be made and not assumed.”

The appearance of Spencer in the debate has caused a minor stir due to his reputation for having extreme views. Jihad Watch has been designated an active anti-Muslim group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and according to the Detroit Free Press, Spencer was banned from entering the United Kingdom in June due to “what the British government said was his association with hate groups.”

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Dearborn-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, expressed his disappointment with Boyea for his involvement with the event.

“I don’t believe that he would hold Mass at an event driven by a neo-Nazi or a skinhead,” Walid said. “Spencer is in the same category according to many in the civil rights community. We hope that the bishop will not give de facto support to this event, which the Michigan Muslim community does not support in any form.”

Still, Kresta hoped the debate would spark a healthy discussion.

“The Catholic Church teaches that rational discussion is vital for the common good and social harmony,” Kresta said. “We believe in civil debate. While our differences may be irreconcilable, yet they can be understood and respected in the public square. We cannot patronize those with whom we disagree. Love requires that we listen.”

In a statement in the Detroit Free Press from EMU, the university did not sponsor, promote or provide financial support to the event.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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