Shattering stereotypes

"Islam Awareness Week" sponsored by the Muslim Student Union, came to a close Friday with Imam Abdullah Yusuf Madyun's "Concept of God in Islam" lecture in Kelley School of Business Room 200.\nMadyun majored in Islamic studies and Arabic at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia and is the education coordinator of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network.\nMadyun told the audience that events like those of the past week are important so "Muslims can come together and correct erroneous and incorrect concepts of Muslims and Islam."\nHe explained that the most fundamental aspect of Islam is belief in Allah, the Muslim name for God. Madyun said there is evidence of Allah's existence that contradicts the beliefs of atheists.\n"God is all that and then some," he said. "Bees make a liquid called honey, but they never once mess up and make grape juice. Toyota manufactures more cars than it can make keys for, since there are only so many cuts that you can make in keys, yet God can create billions of people, each with different and unique fingerprints. These are signs for the people who ponder."\nMadyun said Muslims must first recognize that there is only one god and must not worship others. In addition, Madyun declared that Muslims need to comprehend Allah's massive power and abilities, and compassionate tendencies.\nA brief question and answer session followed the speech.\nJunior Abeer Tebawi, the event moderator, said he hoped Madyun's lecture helped spectators realize the eminence of God.\n"I hope that the speaker demonstrated all the signs of God's greatness," Tebawi said. "All the things we take for granted, such as the sun rising, are huge signs of something too big for us to fathom -- the concept of God."\nSophomore Naimah Bilal, the Muslim Student Union's acting vice president, said she wanted Madyun to succeed in informing the public about the religion of Islam.\n"MSU brought Imam Abdullah Yusuf Madyun here so he could enlighten the Bloomington community about Allah," Bilal said. "We want people to know the attributes of God, and understand why we are Muslim."\nMSU president, junior Sohaib Sultan, said the event was a good opportunity to shatter media-created stereotypes about Allah.\n"God in Islam is often referred to as a god which is unmerciful and promotes violence," Sultan said. "People need to realize that our God is very merciful. The concept of God makes a religion what it is. If people understand our concept of God, they can understand Islam"