The Forum

By Tim Billick (1L)

Staff Reporter

Students from a myriad of different cultures and nationalities filled the Harre Ballroom to help celebrate the twenty fifth day of Ramadan with the Muslim Student Alliance (MSA).  The student group provided delicious food and an open forum for any and all questions relating to Islam.

Opening remarks were made by the officers of MSA. Waseem Mateen (3L) acts as the group’s treasurer and explained what Ramadan means to him in the form of a familiar acronym, VALPO, which stands for Vigilance, Abstinence, Love, Patience, and Observance. For Mateen, these components must be present for the fruitful celebration of Ramadan.

Answering the questions posed by the crowd was Faisal Kutty, assistant professor of law at Valpo. Kutty serves as the advisor for MSA and teaches Comparative Law, Islamic Law, and International Law among many other classes.  Kutty began his speech with an Islamic blessing, promptly followed by an explanation: “Bismillahi Rahamani Raheem.  In the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate.  I figured I should translate that quickly so people didn’t think I was going to blow up or something.”  This cleared the air of any tension that would have been present that evening.  He made certain that no one in the room felt uncomfortable about asking any question at all about Islam or Islamic Law.  Kutty’s depth to his answers prevented him from addressing the volume of questions he received, but it was a necessary tradeoff, given the format of the evening.  He expressed his frustration with the fact that the entire nation of Islam will always have to answer for the radical acts committed by the overwhelming minority of Muslims on “the fringe” of Islam.

The Sunnah, the sayings and the living habits of the prophet Muhammed, and the Qur’an partially make up the Shari’a, which is essentially the law of Islam. But according to Kutty, the majority of Islamic Law comes from secondary sources, and is therefore open to very dynamic and flexible interpretation.  With nearly every question received, he clarified that the Qur’an is not to blame for the horrific acts of some Islamic states.  There isn’t even anything written in the Qur’an promoting the use of an Islamic form of government, according to Kutty.  “There’s a quote in the Qur’an that essentially says, ‘I made you into nations and tribes to know one another, not to despise one another,’” Kutty said.  Unfortunately, what we know about Islam is fed to us by what the media reports on violence in the Middle East.  Kutty cautioned against believing reports on Islamic violence, for those are the acts of states who misinterpret the Qur’an and Islamic Law, not the acts from the Qur’an itself.

For more information on Faisal Kutty’s works and essays, consult his blog at www.faisalkutty.com or his faculty profile on www.valpo.edu/law/faculty/fkutty.  For more information on joining MSA, talk to Professor Kutty or MSA website at www.valpo.edu/student/msa/about.html.

For any comments or concerns about this article, email Tim Billick at Tim.Billick@valpo.edu

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