Umair Ilyas is shocked that Congress is to hold hearings to address Muslim extremism in the United States. 

Ilyas, senior in electrical engineering and secretary of Iowa State’s Muslim Student Association, believes it’s wrong to categorize an entire group of people as good or bad.

“There are good and bad people in every community,” Ilyas said. “The problem is with generalization. If we were all terrorists, the world would not be here.”

Ilyas is not the only one in the Ames Islamic community who feels strongly about the upcoming hearings and Muslim discrimination in America.

“It’s a two-way failure,” said Salahuddin Syed, vice president of the Darul Arqam Islamic Center, the local mosque in Ames. “Many Muslims are innocent bystanders who are just like, ‘Well, what can you do?’ If somebody we know of comes and does dumb things … I can report it. The underwear bomber was reported by his parents.”

Syed has had to deal with discrimination firsthand.

“I came here in 1995, and everything was fine up until 9/11, and then there was screening at the airports,” Syed said. “I was a frequent flier. But after [9/11], they started screening me for about eight years. Discrimination happens.”

“More Muslims have died from Muslim terrorism than any non-Muslims. We care about it more than anybody else.”

A common stereotype about Islam is that Muslims mistreat women, and that women are forbidden from education or a career. While this can prove true in certain societies, the idea that this is derived from Islam is a misconception.

Muslim women can learn, work and the money they earn is theirs alone. Husbands have no claim to the earnings of their wives. Muslims also have the right to divorce, something that other religions frequently look down upon. There is a saying among Muslims that “the best among us is one who treats his wife the best.”

One of the common reasons for the misconceptions about Muslim women is because men and women worship separately. This practice isn’t sexist in origin, rather, it is simply a Muslim tradition. The prophet Mohammed was said to have had women and men worship separately, and the practice has continued ever since.

“What he did, we follow,” Syed said. “We don’t question why he did.”

“You shouldn’t be thinking about worldly stuff,” Ilyas said. “When you’re praying, you form a connection between Allah and yourself, so anything that distracts you is not allowed.

“Time and time again, the Quran talks about the equality of men and women. It does not say men are superior in any case or that women are superior.”

Ilyas is originally from Pakistan, a Muslim nation that elected its first female prime minister in 1992.

“We are not better, we are different,” Syed said.

Syed said a large problem within the Muslim community is that many Muslims are lacking education of their own religion.

“Many Muslims don’t follow Islam,” Syed said. “It’s not Islam that is the problem, it’s Muslims that are the problem.”

Another large contributor to misconceptions of Islam comes from geopolitical reasons. Syed said people will emotionally act out because they have been harmed, and that politicians use religion for their needs for any particular reason.

“The KKK didn’t come into existence because Jesus said, ‘Go and kill blacks,'” Syed said. “But they use a cross for that, as a symbol for their atrocities.”

Efforts are being made to promote education of Islam both for Muslims and non-Muslims.

The Society of Peace and Dialog, a student-run organization dedicated to bridging the gap between people of different backgrounds, held a special lecture at the Memorial Union on Tuesday. The lecture discussed the need for Muslim education to be promoted in order to have peace. Mustafa Marti, a member of the Darul Arqam Islamic Center, read poetry and played Arabic music for the event.

“The media only picks up bad groups,” Marti said. “But I don’t consider terrorists real Muslims.”

Marti’s performances focused on the teachings of Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim poet and theologian. Rumi advocated for peace between religions, and returning to a pure, innocent origin point.

“Humans are born pure,” said Ahmet Dursun, graduate in English and one of many Muslim students who attended the lecture. “By later ages, we no longer have that innocence.”

While Muslims believe Allah created everything, the Quran never specifies how that was achieved. Science is often considered by Muslims to be how God works.

“You could get sick, but God made sickness,” Syed said. “He wants you to work to find a cure so you gain knowledge. Any science that contributes positively to society, Islam encourages.”

Like many religions, Islam is, above all, about doing your best to help others using the gifts and talents you are given.

“On the day of your death, Allah will ask what you did with your gifts,” Ilyas said. “You can be given a gift, but you have to use that gift for the benefit of mankind.”