Sandburg Muslim students combat stereotypes

May 22, 2013|By Janice Neumann, Special to the Tribune

When Muslim students at Sandburg High School were brainstorming ways last year to combat negative thinking about Islam, they came up with the idea of an informal group that would nourish their culture and religion as well as combat stereotypes.

Now the Muslim Student Association has become so popular that 50 members attend its Monday afternoon meetings and even non-Muslim students come to hear what they have to say.

The meetings, which take place in a foyer at the Orland Park school, start with reading a verse from the Quran. Members then discuss social issues, such as dating, school cheating or how to fit in the community, as well as religion.

The group recently talked about the word "jihad" and how it represents "a struggle in the way of God," which can include goodness, passion and compassion, rather than the media's portrayal of an act by extremists.

"We just felt that we weren't being represented and that we should have been," said Naimeh Issa, a senior and group leader, about the importance of starting the group. "In the school a lot of people had negative responses toward us, and we wanted to change that."

Issa said since she wears a head scarf she would sometimes get "looks" in the hallways. She had also heard from Muslim friends about how they were sometimes disrespected because of their culture and religion.

One way the group strives to combat stereotypes about Muslims is to show fellow students that they share their values and a desire to help. So they collect food for a local food pantry and recently held a bake sale, raising $1,833.27 to help build wells in Ghana. Last year students raised money for earthquake victims in Turkey.

Group members also did an Earth Day project last year, painting pictures of nature on school windows. The group held an informational meeting last year, inviting non-Muslim students to learn about Islam and the Muslim teens' belief systems.

"People usually fear the unknown," Issa said. "We don't want that. We have the same ideals, morals and patriotism that our great nation was founded on."

While the group isn't an official school club, school officials said they were impressed by the students' efforts.

"They invited kids from all different arenas of life to teach everyone about their religion and belief system because there's a lot of misconceptions there," said Shawn Donovan, who chairs social studies, world languages, art and media and also oversees the group.

He said the students were consistently organized and professional.

"To have the numbers they have is awesome," he said.