Being Muslim at NCSU

Suha Ahmed | Correspondent

In the wake of the one year anniversary of Our Three Winners, many of the Muslims on campus have reflected on what it means to be a Muslim. I, for one, found myself reading articles, watching videos, and attending all the events that were held to commemorate Deah, Yusor, and Razan.

I scavenged through details of the incident as I was trying to make sense of all of it. Thinking there were some people that actually believed this was over a parking dispute was quite disturbing. Are we so blinded by the politically-motivated propaganda that we can not believe a hate crime when we see it?

Shattered Glass, hosted by Mohammad Moussa, was one of those events that I attended. This multimedia spoken word performance did not leave a dry eye in the room. Moussa knew the victims personally and honored them by highlighting all the good they did in the community.

Deah, Yusor, and Razan were active members of society, whether it be through dental relief missions or United Muslim Relief (UMR). Their story reached the homes of millions of people around the world and it was illuminating to see the significant impact they had.

I believe this tragedy shook so many Muslims, mainly, because we see a lot of ourselves in them.

Our religion is not out to get anyone. If that were the case, we would have taken over a long time ago considering there are 1.7 billion Muslims globally.

Being a Muslim is embedded in my identity and while I do not claim by any means of being the perfect Muslim, I understand my responsibility to uphold by religion with the highest standard.

It is necessary to promote tolerance, love, and acceptance. Ignorance breeds hate and I think we should put more effort into getting to know each other rather than keeping our distance. This requires an open-mind and an open heart.

If you see a Muslim praying, ask them about it instead of giving them weird looks. If you have a question about the hijab, ask. If you want to know why a Muslim does not eat pork, ask.

Nothing is more frustrating than people making assumptions about your religion when they do not take the time to understand it.

Move #ForwardWithFaith by #KeepingTheirLegacyAlive.

To learn more about the tragedy that took place February 10th, 2015 or to donate to the endowment, please visit ourthreewinners.org.