Enrollment of Muslim Students Is Growing at Catholic Colleges in U.S.
20th December 2010
On a quick break between classes last week, Reef Al-Shabnan slipped into an empty room at Catholic University to start her daily prayers to Allah.
In one corner was a life-size painting of Jesus carrying the cross. In another, the portrait of a late priest and theologian looked on. And high above the room hung a small wooden crucifix.
This was not, Shabnan acknowledged, the ideal space for a Muslim to pray in. After her more than two years on campus, though, it has become routine and sacred in its own way. You can find Allah anywhere, the 19-year-old from Saudi Arabia said, even at the flagship university of the U.S. Catholic world.
Now, let someone try to whip out a rosary and say Christian prayers in a Muslim school anywhere in the world, and see what that gets you.
“Because it is an overtly religious place, it’s not strange or weird to care about your religion here, to pray and make God a priority,” said Shabnan, a political science major who often covers her head with a pale beige scarf. “They have the same values we do.”
Except for the little matter of the 1400 years Muslims have been trying to destroy Christianity in the Middle East, of course.
Even a nice Nazi is still a Nazi, even a nice Communist is still a Communist, and even a nice Muslim is still a Muslim.