Group Offers New Perspective on Muslim Issues

By Frances Dávila | Feb 20 2009 | Letter to the Editor |

On Feb. 18 in an Intercultural Center classroom, Georgetown students witnessed a coming-of-age story exploring an affirmation of identity and female freedom of expression in the film “Dunia,” presented by Project Nur.

The event included a belly-dance performance and a presentation by Hazami Barmada, president and executive director of the Progressive Muslim Network and active member of the Muslim Women in the Arts organization. The film’s protagonist is a victim of female genital mutilation; the experience restricts her studies in art and dance because she is unable to experience desire. Showing this film on campus raised the issues of FGM and women’s rights, but more importantly brought to light the diversity within the Muslim community at home and internationally.

“Dunia” is part of the second D.C. Muslim Film Festival, which creates an opportunity to see the world through a different lens and engage the Muslim community. Today, the artistic freedom of many Muslims is being challenged.

Project Nur is a revolutionary student group that aims to create a new Muslim identity on college campuses and to foster a distinct and alternative Muslim voice. As an extension of the AIC, Project Nur seeks to use responsible leadership and civic engagement to allow the moderate Muslim voice to be heard on campuses and beyond. With the belief that responsible leadership is the remedy for rising above the challenges facing the American Muslim community — including stereotypes resulting from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — the efforts of Project Nur are organized around the fundamental guiding principles of nonviolence, equality and free expression.

“Student activists are bringing these multifaceted voices to campus as a dynamic way to explore contemporary Muslim identity,” said Shabana Stationwala, director of Project Nur, to Zoom-in Online. Project Nur is on the horizon at Georgetown and is working to establish a chapter on campus to showcase the diversity within the Muslim community around a civic and multicultural identity.

Frances Dávila (SFS ’10) Feb. 19, 2009

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