To provide a forum for all members of the Stanford community to ask questions about and acquaint themselves better with the Islamic faith, two Islamic student groups hosted a panel last night entitled “Islam Reflections and Perceptions,” including both students and Muslim leaders.

Sponsored by the Muslim Student Awareness Network, or MSAN, in partnership with the Islamic Society at Stanford University, or ISSU, the panel featured senior Rania Eltom, MSAN president; doctoral student Ibrahim Almojel, president of ISSU; Ameena Jandali, secretary of the Islamic Networks Group — a nonprofit designed to educate the public about Islam; and Hisham Abdallah, imam of the Muslim Community Association of Santa Clara. Thom Massey, associate dean of students and cultural education affairs, moderated the event.

The speakers each described the major tenets of Islam, focusing mainly on the misperceptions of the religion.

Abdallah outlined the five pillars of Islam: faith in the oneness of God, daily prayer, charity, fasting and the pilgrimage to Makkah for those who are able.

“Islam is a religion where the main focus is the relationship with God,” Jandali said, adding that many assumptions about Islam are perpetuated by people who are unfamiliar with the belief system.

For instance, contrary to some people’s suppositions, Muslim women wear head scarves as a sign of modesty, not because men forced them to, she said.

“There is so much diversity to Islam,” Jandali said. “There are over 1.2 billion people worldwide who consider themselves Muslim, yet the media tends to portray only one side of the religion.”

All four speakers highlighted this one-sidedness and the inaccuracies it leads to.

During the question-and-answer session, one audience member asked why many of the world’s terrorists happen to be Muslim.

Abdallah replied that the actions of terrorists are not in accordance with the teachings of Islam, especially with the ideal of perfect moral character.

“Islam does not condone terrorism,” Eltom added.

Jandali said she believes that each generation of Americans seems to identify a particular enemy, contrived to fit ideologies or economic necessities.

“During the Cold War the Russians were our enemies and now it is the Muslims,” she said. “Our memory of history is short.”

Eltom said MSAN decided to host the forum because there are few Stanford classes that explain the central tenets of Islam. Though Islam is represented in the University’s student body, it is not reflected in the class listings for the Department of Religious Studies, she said.

She added that there have been events on campus that portrayed Islam in a negative light, and that this year vandals have scrawled words, including “terrorist,” on MSAN flyers.

“There is something that is missing on our campus, a lack of attention, appreciation or trying to understand,” Eltom said. “I hope that the event will provide a greater sense of tolerance at Stanford.”