The Oakland Post

Imam Feisal addresses OU

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The Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf speaking engagement served as the culmination of the Middle Eastern Mosaic. The event was held in Meadow Brook Theatre on Nov. 16.

The Middle Eastern Mosaic has been a series of events put on by Student Congress, that have focused on the Middle East.
Student Body President Benjamin Eveslage took the stage. He was followed by the Dean to the School of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Robert Stewart.

According to Stewart, OU has recently seen a record number of students taking Arabic culture courses.

After opening remarks from Eveslage and Stewart, Rauf was welcomed onto the stage.

Rauf addressed the crowd on why he had chosen in part to come to OU and the Detroit area.

The Detroit area is know for having one of the largest concentration of Muslims, Rauf said.

In his opening statement, he spoke on the development and growth of the Islamic church and religion throughout the world.

He said when he came to New York in 1995, there were three mosque’, and now there are around 130.

Rauf spoke on multiple religions besides Islam, focusing on how the religions had grown and changed throughout time.

During his speech he spoke on the relationship between the Islamic community and America.

Rauf explained that over the years the relationship had been strained through misunderstandings, and through a lack of knowledge by both Islamic people and the American society.

“American values and Islamic values overlap far more than people think,” Rauf  said. “I am very pleased to see that OU is embarking on so many programs to grow knowledge about Islam.”

Rauf spent time answering questions from the audience.

“I think that is fairly typical of how he conducts his speaking engagements,” Emilia Allen, multicultural affairs director at the OU student congress, said.

Tim Rhein, a student at OU, said he looked forward to hearing him speak because he has great deal of respect for him.

After the speaking portion of the event ended there was a book signing.

“It was an incredibly successful event,” Allen said.