Staff Photo Dane Youngblood-La Born/ Bilal Ziada (center, white shirt), former president of the Muslim Student Association, cooks up barbecue meat among fellow members during the Meet-a-Muslim BBQ event Saturday, April 1. The event was planned in an effort to bridge the cultural divide between Muslim people and people who haven’t met a Muslim before.
In an effort to bridge a cultural divide, the UofA Muslim Student Association invited the general public to learn about Islamic culture and religion by way of barbecued hot dogs, chicken and hamburgers Saturday, April 1.
Held at the UofA Greek Theater, the excitement and energy in the air was palpable, almost as powerful as the smell of the delicious barbeque. The crowd of about 80 attendees were smiling and laughing and conversing among themselves, and grins were everywhere. The Muslim people there wore stylized buttons emblazoned with “I’m a Muslim: Ask me about Islam” to invite new conversations with curious folks.
The organizers of the Meet-A-Muslim BBQ event hoped to encourage a path toward friendship and understanding from those folks who may not have met a Muslim before, and who only know what they’re shown on television. They believe the easiest way to dispel the misconceptions about Islam and the Muslim people is to actually meet a Muslim, and one undeniable unifier of cultures around the world is food.
During the event, Bilal Ziada, former president of the MSA, served up the halal prepared meats — the means of preparing meat in accordance with Muslim law, a similar process to Jewish kosher foods — while he conversed with attendees about what being a Muslim means to him, especially in the current climate.
“Honestly, I think a lot of (the fear of Islam) comes from misconceptions,” Ziada said, “The reality is not many people in our country have met a Muslim. That was the whole point of this barbecue, right? Meet-A-Muslim! I’m from Fayetteville, born and raised. We’re a college town, so we have international students from all over the world. But a lot of people (outside Fayetteville) don’t have that benefit, they don’t have that exposure to different cultures.”
Staff Photo Dane Youngblood-La Born
Participating Muslims at the Meet-a-Muslim BBQ wore buttons that read “I’m a Muslim, ask me about Islam” with the outline of a mosque on it.
Susan McCleland, of Lowell, attended the event with her daughter Jordan. She expressed her hesitance to want to open up to the event holders with direct questions, worried that she would say something off-kilter. By the end of the event, she and her daughter were fully engaged in conversation with two Muslim men.
“Maybe even here, there was someone who had never met a Muslim before. And, I guarantee you, their perception has changed.” Ziada said, motioning to the crowd of people at the event. “You didn’t see a lot of differences, you saw people smiling, coming together, and having good food. I firmly believe that food is one of the best ways to bring people together.”
The backgrounds of some of the attendees varied. While Ziada is from Fayetteville, Muslim attendees Shwetha Parabakar and Ayman Omar, both UA students, said they were from Saudi Arabia. They said they were genuinely optimistic about their experience at the event, because they believed the percieved indifference of Americans towards Muslims could only be remedied by the art of human connection.
Given the state of current affairs in the United States in the wake of the Syrian crisis, President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration executive orders on Muslim countries, and the looming threat of ISIS, the MSA hopes to provide more opportunities for interaction and inclusion for Muslims in the community.
“The easiest way to exceed the current of resistance between two opposing religions is to come together as one and learn about each other,” said Wisam Siddiqui, event organizer.
Ayman Omar, a UA engineering student at the event, talked about an interesting comparison to what can be perceived as a rift between American and Muslim culture. Omar is 22-years-old, according to the Gregorian calendar — which is commonly used in Western society. However, according to the Lunar calendar, which is traditionally used in Islamic society, Omar is actually 23-years-old.
Staff Photo Dane Youngblood-La Born
About 80 people turned out for the Meet a Muslim BBQ event Saturday, April 1.
The Meet-A-Muslim Barbecue was successful, judging by food alone, which had all but vanished not long into the event. Hopefully next year’s Meet-a-Muslim barbecue will have more, as maybe they didn’t quite anticipate a college kid’s love for free food.
Look for announcements toward the beginning of next spring for the second annual Meet-a-Muslim Barbecue, and for more information about the MSA, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/msa.uark/.
