Center hosts author and scholar Amir Hussain to overflow crowd

Hussain spoke on "Little Mosque on the Prairie: Muslims in North America" at the June 20 event.

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• More about Amir Hussain

June 25, 2007 - A standing-room only crowd greeted author and scholar Dr. Amir Hussain for a June 20 lecture at MU on Muslims in North America. The event was attended by about 145 community members and MU faculty, staff and students. It was sponsored by the MU Center on Religion & the Professions.

Debra Mason, director of the Center on Religion & the Professions, greeted the audience.

Hussain, a Canadian born in Pakistan, spoke about the tenets and beliefs of Islam, demographics of Muslims in North America, differences and similarities between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Islam's contributions to the West, commonalities and differences between Muslim and Christian beliefs, and how American Muslims are constructing their own American form of Islam. He also spoke of the importance of interfaith dialogue.

Interfaith dialogue is not about an intent to convert another person, Hussain said, but a way to help people find the beauty of God in the world and their own faith. "We help each other to find what's meaningful in our own traditions," Hussain said.

Ibrahim

Hussain, who is Muslim, teaches theology at Loyola Marymount University, a Catholic university in Los Angeles. His studies focus on contemporary Muslim societies. He also has a keen interest in popular culture, including religion and music, literature and film.

As part of his presentation, Hussain showed the pilot episode of Canadian situation comedy "Little Mosque on the Prairie," which depicts the lives of a small but diverse Muslim community in the town of Mercy, Saskatchewan. The program offers images of Muslims not often seen on American television, he said.

Hussain was introduced by Abdullahi Ibrahim, an associate professor in the MU Department of History who studies Islam and the West. Ibrahim gave praise to Hussain's book, Oil & Water: Two Faiths, One God, saying that its message of interfaith understanding was an important one, expressed by Hussain with deftness, humor and sensitivity.

After the lecture, Hussain answered audience questions about the background and nature of Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq and the changing role of Muslim women in North America.

Hussain also signed copies of his book, which was for sale by the MU University Bookstore.

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