UM Muslims seek acceptance Student group’s events challenge misconceptions

ORONO – Her head is wrapped in a scarf, her body draped by a loose-fitting skirt and button-down shirt, her hands and nails stained with henna, but Hibat Sharif isn’t really that different from other students at the University of Maine.

Sharif, 18, is a first-year student from Lewiston. Like many, she hasn’t decided what she wants to major in, and a pink Razor cell phone doesn’t stray far from her side.

What makes her different from some of her friends is that she doesn’t wear jeans and trendy boots, she doesn’t party, and she sometimes struggles to juggle her religion and classes.

“Not compromising one thing over another is kind of hard,” she said.

Sharif is Muslim. Her beliefs are important to her, but the girl who came to the United States from Somalia at age 3 to live in Atlanta and later Lewiston is no terrorist.

“Some people have misconceptions about Islam,” she said. That’s what she and other students belonging to the Muslim Student Association are trying to change.

During the past week, the association has held events in an attempt to educate their peers.

“The religion and people are linked together,” said Sharif, president of the association.

Amid the war on terror, many Americans view Muslims as some kind of terrorists without understanding the religion and that Muslim people come from all over the world – not just Iraq.

Sitting behind a table Thursday at Memorial Union, Sharif explained that it’s easier for her to live off-campus with her cousin and next-door neighbor from Lewiston.

“In the dorms, there’s so many temptations,” she said. “If it wasn’t for them [roommates], I don’t think I’d get used to school.”

In class, Sharif said, she feels free to express her opinions, and she has grown used to the occasional stare from others who don’t understand why she wears a head scarf.

“Some people thought I was bald,” she said with a smile.

Sharif said the loose-fitting clothes and scarf are signs of modesty that many Muslims believe are an obligation under the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

She was surprised to come to UM and find such a large Muslim community. The association has some 70 members, about 30 of whom are active.

The group formed in the early 1990s but hasn’t held many activities on campus until this year.

“I thought I was going to be alone up here,” Sharif said. “I was surprised they even had a mosque.” The mosque is on Route 2, near the UM campus.

The goal of the recent round of activities was to help educate the campus about Islamic culture. The group hosted lectures, handed out information at a table at Memorial Union, and sponsored a concert Friday night.

Jen Palmer, 22, of Veazie had seen a flier for the concert and stopped by Thursday to see what the group was all about.

“I just wanted to understand more and educate myself,” she said, a free copy of the Quran in her hand.

Sharif said her friends, especially one from Kingman who said she had never seen a black person, let alone a Muslim, before arriving on the Orono campus, are understanding.

“I can’t go to parties … I can’t do what they do,” she said. “[But] they support me.”

She hopes that people took something constructive with them from last week’s events, even if it’s only to a willingness to form their own opinions.

“Instead of believing what they hear automatically, go look into it,” Sharif said.