The Gamecock - The Mix
Issue: 4/9/03

Prayer as Diplomacy
By Corey Garriott

Sheikh Yusef Estes opened his Islamic seminar by shutting it down. Muslims must pray five times a day, and Monday's presentation began in the midst of one of those times - as half of the constituency walked right out the door and into the hall.

After a rocky start - a half-hour wait and technical difficulties - Estes, a former Church of God minister, opened the meeting by issuing a call to prayer.

Muslims from all over campus gathered in the basement of the business administration building, removed their shoes and placed cardboard boxes on the floor to kneel on. They bowed, kneeled and prostrated on the tile as an Imam sang the prayers.

The presentation is one in a series held by the Muslim Student Association for Islamic Awareness week. The group held a poetry reading yesterday, and the events will culminate in "Women in Islam" at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the business building.

On Monday, Estes spoke in two parts - a rather mechanical lecture followed by a lively question-and-answer section during which Estes proved he could meet his reputation as the "funny Sheikh."

Estes gave a long lecture on some of the terminology of Islam - the meaning of Islam, submission; the prophet Mohammed, God's final messenger in Islam; the words of the prophet Hadith; and the Quran, what Islam believes to be a literal transcription of the Allah's words to Mohammed.

But Estes lit up the stage during the second half - a discussion that was not moderated - where he became both showman and Sheikh.

Estes surprisingly gave reserved support for the war on Iraq.

He said he had been to several Islamic countries and saw first-hand the political situation.

"When a child is choking on an obstruction," he said, "there are two ways to get rid of it - from the top or from the bottom."

Though he would prefer the simpler way in Iraq, in which the Iraqi people would overthrow "So-damn Insane" themselves, he said "most people agree with the statement 'It had to be done.' "

"When you have a chance to change something by your own hand, then you do it," Estes said. But, he said, "when you snooze, you lose."

Muslim Student Association President Ali Syed disagreed. "Personally, I'm against the war," he said. "Due to the amount of casualties with the Iraqi people, I don't think it's worth it."

Estes also explained the Muslim position on the separation of church, state and theocracy.

The United States has considered removing the "under God" clause from the pledge of allegiance, he said.

"Under God - it has his protection," he said, "because when God won't protect you, who will?"

In Islam, Estes said that the government would be totally under the rule of God. In a democracy, the opinions of men determine government policy.

He quoted the Lord's Prayer in Christianity.

"Thy will be done on Earth as it is on heaven," he said. "God's will on Earth," he said - that's a theocratic state.

"It's a dream for many Muslims," Syed said, "if it's run correctly, with leaders that follow the Quran."

Muslims have a tremendous respect for scripture, he said - both the Bible and the Quran.

"This is really not all that foreign," Estes said. The Islamic revere the Quran as the literal word of Allah much like conservative Christianity claims that the Bible cannot be errant.

Islam is also strict about its translation. The Quran in not really the Quran unless it is in Arabic - Muslims are suspicious of exactly how well a sacred text can be translated. Since the original Bible in its native language no longer exists, he said, Islam does not believe that the book is completely trustworthy.

Translation, he said, is one of the causes of Islam's "misinterpretation." It is for this reason, he said, that "jihad" and "infidel" import meanings other than found in the text.

He gave an example using "infidel," which is used to replace five different words in Arabic. Some of them, such as the word mushric, apply only to misbehaving Muslims rather than non-believers. Another refers to those who take advantage of religious charity, only later to quit the faith.

Students who came to the show were interested in religious tolerance. Fourth-year chemical-engineering student Joshua Jackson said, "I think anyone can be dangerous," Muslim or otherwise.

Estes, who was raised Protestant but has been a Muslim for 12 years, broadcast the entire night's events on his Web site, www.islamtomorrow.com. The Web site, run by a trio of converts, makes recordings of his presentations available as well as materials about Islam and a chat room.