Islamic Heritage Month at NYU has officially begun, and will be held this year from Mar. 21 to Apr. 21. The festivities, hosted by NYU’s club Shuruq, aimed to celebrate the Muslim identity along with the work and accomplishments of the Muslim community in the United States. Throughout the month, there have been several events that showcased the food, culture, and other characteristics of the Muslim world. OCA had the opportunity to catch up with Humayra Mayat, the President of Shuruq, to find out more about the event and its goals.The themed month recognized and honored the diversity of life, practice, culture, arts and literature among Muslims living in the United States and around the world. Meaning “sunrise” in Arabic, the goal of the organization and the event is to ”provide an outlet for the celebration of Muslim identity as well as a platform for the real intellectual voices on Islamic thoughts and beliefs.” Events included politically charged debates, trips to Muslim art exhibitions, events showcasing food from different parts of the Muslim world, and personal vignettes about experiences with Islam. “Shuruq has had a presence at NYU for the last couple of years, and it came about as a way to better engage the NYU community about Islam - both to dispel stereotypes and to celebrate our accomplishments. We want to engage and involve people from all across the spectrum regardless of whether they affiliate themselves with a specific religious or spiritual tradition,” commented Mayat.In its early years, the event was only a week long, and coincided with Islamic Awareness Week, a popular program put on across the United States by Muslim university students. In the last few years, however, NYU’s event has evolved into a month-long campaign, designed so that one week corresponds with Islamic Awareness Week. The event is only held annually between March and April. However, the club spends the majority of the academic year planning, reaching out to speakers and caterers, and taking care of other logistics. This year’s event involved over ten groups and organizations from the campus, co-sponsored by more groups than even before.Shuruq plans events with a broad target audience in mind, in hopes of increasing the impact they can have on the NYU Community. Mayat commented, “While the Muslim Student’s Association at NYU works to program and build a community for the Muslim student population at NYU, Shuruq aims to reach out to a more diverse cross-section of people and programs events anyone can come and enjoy without any prior experience with Islam or religious life.”This year’s marquis event was the Halal Food Festival, which attracted over 550 members of the NYU community and celebrated the diversity of ethnic Halal food in NYC. Other events in this year’s calendar include the screening of “These Birds Walk,” a movie that aims to celebrate a different perspective of life in Pakistan by providing a counter-narrative, which goes beyond the normal stories of war and combat; the “Interfaith Comedy Show”, an event to celebrate NYU’s great multi-faith community and dialogue initiatives by bringing together Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian comedians; “Islam & Hip-Hop” to celebrate the great influence Islam has had within the Hiphop scene in the US with key performance “Sampled: Beats of Muslim Life”; and an Arabic calligraphy workshop to emphasize the impact Arabic art has had on the world. The month will end with the event “What’s That Thing on Your Head?,” an event that will celebrate the physical manifestation of faith many Sikhs, Muslims, and Jews adhere to. Jointly hosted by Shuruq, the United Sikh Association, and the Bridges: Muslim-Jewish dialogue group, this event will coincide with Ally Week and provide people from the NYU community a chance to wear their religion on their head and try on Yamakas, turbans, and hijabs.“Given the recent surge in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment around the world and in the United States, I think Shuruq will be instrumental this year in highlighting Muslim identities in a way that both dispels stereotypes and allows people to engage with Islam in a more positive way, apart from the hate and negativity spewed in the media,” Mayat commented. When asked about whether Shuruq will be hosting any particular event to emphasize information about Islam given today’s negative rhetoric on the religion, Mayat added, “The vast majority of the events on our calendar are attempting to do just that - combatting negative rhetoric on Islam by offering a counter-narrative. Our events are designed with the aim of highlighting the diversity of people and practice within Islam and aim to help dispel stereotypes by allowing the NYU community to engage with Islam in a new way and through different mediums. This goes beyond just holding “What is Islam?” lectures and workshops on religion. We want to have people grapple with the Muslim identity and the diversity of narratives/ways of life during Shuruq, and I think our events will be able to take people on a journey that will make them think critically about any biases they may unknowingly hold.” Currently, there are no organizations such as Shuruq at the NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai campuses. While NYU Abu Dhabi as a Muslim Students Association (MSA), neither of NYU’s portal campuses have a particular month dedicated to engaging their larger portal communities. When asked about whether Shuruq has reached out to these campuses, Mayat commented, “While Shuruq has not attempted to establish an organization such as this in the portal communities, we would definitely be willing to help establish a group like this on the portal campuses!”You can follow Shuruq and their upcoming events on Facebook and on their Instagram. This article was written by Lathika Chandra Mouli. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Shuruq @ NYU