• A panel discussion about Islam and culture was held in the Raynor Conference rooms on Tuesday night.
• The discussion was part of this month's Arabic Heritage Celebration.
• The celebration will end with a community service day.

A three-member panel of experts on Islam discussed how the religion affects the people it has come into contact with.

About 40 students listened to the discussion in the Raynor Library Tuesday night. The three panelists focused on themes of oneness and diversity in Islam.

Richard Taylor, a professor of philosophy, said Islamic thought developed gradually with the use of ideas from various people in the Medieval period, an era which was marked by open discussion about Islam.

"Not one philosopher was killed for his ideas," Taylor said.

The Islamic world was the center of knowledge during this period, he said.

"Baghdad was the place to be," Taylor added.

He explained that knowledge in philosophy, health sciences and various other fields was later received by the Latin west.

Shaykh Avdool Rahman Kahan, a religious leader for the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, Ill., said that philosophy of Islam changes for each society it is introduced to due to different times and places. Kahan said Islam allows for a lot of diversity in the interpretation of the Quran.

Kahan said that not only is the way Islam affects each society different, but also "the application of Islamic law changes as it goes from one place to another."

Irfan Omar, an assistant professor of theology, said that cultural change is ingrained in Islam.

"Culture is a kind of context where religious values can be grown," Omar said.

Although Islam provides for diversity within it, Kahan said, there is an essence of oneness. All believers of Islam have a core ethical base and shared beliefs, he said.

Islam, Judaism and Christianity share many beliefs, he said. Despite this, Kahan said he finds it troubling that these groups often don't get along.

The conflicts Islam has experienced within its own sects and with Jews and Christians have never been over religious values, Omar said, but over politics.

The panel discussion was part of this month's Arabic Heritage Celebration. A series of events has been planned by the Muslim Student Association and Intercultural Programs in the Office of Student Development.

MSA President Shazeen Harunani, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said that planning for the events began in early December. The panel discussion reflected the month's theme, Islam Across the World, she said.

Harunani said she hoped that a good amount of students would attend the events.

"We tried advertising as much as possible, but sometimes students don't pay attention," Harunani said.

She said she contacted MSA at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to participate in the month's events.

The celebration will continue until the end of the month with a comedy show by Aman Ali, movie showings and other discussions. It will culminate with a community service day on Jan. 31. Details for the service day are still in the works.