The Rumi Forum presented “The Weight of History: Obama, Islam, and the West” with Jonathan Lyons, Professor at George Mason University.
Professor Jonathan Lyons gave an enlightening lecture on the unexamined cultural assumptions by the West of Islam. His talk focused on the cultural assumption that Islam and science are incompatible. Lyons, through his extensive research, has found the opposite to be true; that science is not only compatible with Islam, but also that Western science would not be what it is today without the contributions of Islamic scholars. In his talk, Lyons offered the audience many examples of Islamic contributions to modern-day science including, but not limited to forms of geography, cartography, trigonometry, and astronomy. In fact, Arab scholars used these sciences in order to assist them in performing some of Islam’s main tenets, including praying towards Mecca, praying at specific times of the day, and making the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Fear of the Muslim world has distorted the West’s views and policies relating to Muslims. Even with our new president and his outreach to the Muslim world, Lyons remains unsure of whether or not Westerners will be able to reverse the deep seated misconceptions they hold about Islam. In order to make change, individuals must begin to challenge their previous beliefs in hopes of reversing these perceptions.
Jonathan Lyons is author of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization, just released by Bloomsbury Press. He is also co-author of Answering Only to God: Faith & Freedom in 21st-Century Iran (Henry Holt, 2003). A former Reuters correspondent and editor, he is completing his PhD in sociology of religion at Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia, and teaching at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va. Details of his new book and more of his work can be found at his Web site: www.jonathanlyonsportfolio.com.
Moderator:
Hazami Barmada, is an independent consultant and contractor in Public and Cultural Diplomacy and Interreligious Relations. She maintains expertise on a broad range of issues revolving around U.S. relations with the Muslim/Arab worlds, international communications, community development, civic engagement, cultural relations and leadership development.
Ms. Barmada plays a visible and active role in grassroots and community organizing promoting collaborations within interfaith and intercultural communities. She is the Founding President and Director of the Progressive Muslim Network (PMN), an apolitical organization that hosts an array of social, educational and volunteer initiatives that aims to promote intra/interfaith understanding and dialogue in the DC vicinity. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals (Executive Vice President), the 9/11 Unity Walk (2008 Executive Director and Chairperson of Organizational Development), and is an active member of Muslim Women in the Arts and American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, where she served as an intern to the President’s office in 2004. Barmada is an International Advisory Board member and Arab/Muslim world Liaison for the High Cloud Foundation.
Barmada earned degrees from Rhodes College in Anthropology and Sociology with a concentration in intercultural relations and identity formation. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public and Social Policy from Georgetown University.