La Voz

Published:  4/26/06

Last week’s article in La Voz titled, "Students seek 'interfaith' room on campus" by Dan Sealana, editor-in-chief, raised some concerns with Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. The article was about an interfaith meditation room proposed by a Buddhist and other students to be designated on campus.

The matter of dispute arises from a quote in the article by Larry Nicholls, a non-student member of Saltworks Christian club.  Nicholls is quoted as saying, "The Muslims are pushing [the interfaith room] and they're going to take it over," Nicholls said. He added, "[Christians] can't worship with them anyway. They have different Gods.”

As a lecturer with the Muslim Student Association, I asked the MSA and a consensus was reached that Muslims have not been pushing for such a room, nor have we the intention of taking over. We currently pray in comfort and peace wherever we can find a spot. What concerns me, however, is why we were not interviewed for this article at all. Our voices have been rendered silent and we hold the editor-in-chief responsible for validating these anti-Semitic remarks.

This leads me to question the journalistic integrity of the reporter. Why did he not verify Nicholls' quote with the Muslim student body regarding their opinion of the interfaith room? Does the reporter know that Islam is a monotheistic religion, which does not have "different Gods” than their Christian and Jewish counterparts? If Sealana knew the answers to these questions, then he provided his readers a disservice by misrepresenting the facts about Islam. If he did not know, then, as a journalist, he should have verified the facts before printing the article.

Printing a quote about Muslims trying to “take over” without verification or a response by us only serves the purpose of fear mongering  -- a trait too common in the media these days.

For those interested in knowing what Muslims really believe about God, we encourage you to ask us and look for upcoming events supporting interfaith dialogue.

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