Issue 154

Islamic Awareness Week

12th March 2007

Swansea University's Islamic society hosts another successful Islamic Awareness Week.

The Islamic Society filled the week with talks on different aspects of the religion and a week long 'Discovering Islam Exhibition'. The exhibition was held in the Old Kopy Shop on the ground floor of Fulton House. The exhibition gave a "fantastic and eye-catching insight into the insight into the fundamentals of Islam," said Islamic society president Abdullahi Arabo.

Arabo said, "The aim of the week is to raise awareness and remove misconceptions about Britain's second largest faith group and the fastest growing religion in the world. These build upon our commitments of creating a devise community within the university and working closely with other people of different faiths and backgrounds."

The exhibition provided information on a variety of topics, ranging from oceanography to meteorology and from Egyptology to architecture, explaining how all these topics are interlinked with Islam. A display of artefacts including a 600 year old Qura'an and antique coins from the Islamic World were also on display at the week long exhibition.

The Islamic society had also lined up a number of talks throughout the week in the Faraday lecture theatre. They had a range of speakers including Idris Tawfiq, a graduate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Tawfiq gave an enlightening speech on how Islam had changed his life. His speech was entitled, "From the Vatican to Al-Azhar...One Man's Journey into Islam."

Other talks during the week included, "Islam in the 21st Century: Perceptions and Misconceptions", "After hardship comes ease (my journey to Islam)", "Creation or Evolution? Where did we come from?", "Who is a Muslim???" and "Climate Change: An Islamic Perspective"These talks were some of the most successful talks held at the University with a huge audience attdendance.

There were over 350 people in attendance to Idris Tawfiq's speech. Arabo was astonished with the success of the night, "Not only in terms of numbers but, the diverse audience which included Father Neil from the University chaplaincy, members from the Catholic society and the Christian Union society.

Most importantly, everyone has enjoyed the evening and this prepares many to look forward to this year's Islamic Awareness week."

Arabo was grateful to all the societies within Swansea University for the help and support.

Natalie Kow