A roomful of ROTC cadets listened attentively to three Muslim sheikhs describe the fundamentals of Islam in Russell Steindam Hall on Thursday.
The Islamic orientation was conceived and coordinated by Battalion Cadet Executive Officer Ahsar Nasar, who is also the vice president of the Islamic Center of Greater Austin.
"Both sides really want to understand each other," Nasar said. "The pieces were all already there."
At the orientation, Sheikh Sahmuddeen, Sheikh Khalid Syed and Sheikh Umer Ibrahim, representatives of three Austin-area mosques, explained fundamentals such as the five pillars of Islam and the six pillars of faith.
Ibrahim began the lesson by explaining that Islam translates to "submission," which means total surrender to the will of God. He then described the unity of Allah. Ibrahim said this pillar means believing that Allah is the one God and creator. He said belief in Allah's oneness includes a belief in the oneness of worship, which should be directed to Allah alone. Ibrahim then gave some of the names and qualities used to describe Allah in the Quran. Allah means "the worshipped," while another of the names, Ar-Rahman, means "the most merciful."
Sheikh Sahmuddeen explained the Muslim belief in angels. Sahmuddeen said there are likely many more angels than people, though no one knows the exact number.
Syed then moved on to the third pillar, belief in the holy books, which include the Old Testament (Torah) and the New Testament (Injeel). Syed said Muslims believe that Jesus, who they call Esaa, was a prophet, but not the son of God. He explained that the miracle of the Quran is that it has been preserved in its original form, and therefore Muslims don't consider translations to be definitive and always recite verses in Arabic if they know them.
A question and answer period followed the lesson. Then the cadets were encouraged to snack on Indian and Middle Eastern dishes.
Nasar said he hoped the food would be an icebreaker and make the understanding between the groups more palpably felt.
Major Ron MacKay, an assistant military science professor at the University who attended the event, said the orientation taught "that there are other ways besides the American way, and we have a duty as future soldiers here to remember that understanding the culture, the different religions, the tribes, every aspect of different countries can really help out what we are trying to do."
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