The sixth lecture in a seven-part series to commemorate Islam Awareness Week was held Monday night in Logan Hall.
The Muslim Students Association hosted the event called "Unveiling Myths of Gender Roles in Islam," which featured guest speakers Howard University Chaplain Imam Johari Abdul-Malik and MSA National President Hadia Mubarak.
"It was good for all those who are not Muslims," said Imran Jamil, a recent graduate of the School of Medicine.
Abdul-Malik blasted the media for its negative portrayal of Muslim attitudes toward women.
"What we see on television is not the true story," Abdul-Malik said.
Mubarak and Abdul-Malik focused mainly on the theoretical and Quranic basis of Muslim attitudes toward women. They acknowledged that many Islamic theocratic governments do treat women harshly, but insisted that such governments were perverting traditional Islamic law.
"The principles of Islam, I believe are right," Abdul-Malik said.
Mubarak, herself a woman, made the case that the Quran is a document strongly in favor of women's rights. She cited its protection of female rights in marriage, property ownership and personal dignity.
Mubarak was also adamant in explaining why Muslim woman chose to wear the hejab head covering and full-length gown. It is to protect their natural modesty, she said, and to force men to judge them on the content of their minds rather than their bodies.
At the beginning of her speech, Mubarak recited a fiery, emotional poem about the prejudice she has received as a result of her own hejab, which received a round of applause from the audience.
Abdul-Malik, who was the first Muslim university chaplain in the United States, set out to critique the common viewpoint that women have a higher status in Western society.
He pointed out that, while the United States has never had a female president, the world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, is led by female President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
With less than a month until the next U.S. presidential election, Abdul-Malik and Mubarak agreed that American Muslims are favoring Kerry.
According to Abdul-Malik, many Muslims who had voted for Bush in 2000 felt betrayed by his post-Sept. 11 domestic policies, such as the Patriot Act.
