Before coming to Butler I had very little experience with anyone in the Muslim community. Even after being here for a while, I found myself knowing very little about their religion and culture. I took the first step towards learning about Islam last semester, when I took a course titled “Religion in American Politics.” In this class, we learned a lot about Islam and the culture that surrounds it.
For one of my assignments in the class, I had to attend a religious ceremony that I was not familiar with. I decided to visit the Nur-Allah Islamic Center, as I was very curious about how they worship. I know that one of the ICR’s we could have done was through the Nur-Allah Islamic Center, so the people who are involved in that can see if their experience matches up with mine.
I think that there are a very small number of times where I have felt more welcome then when I went there. They immediately welcomed me in and taught me about their worship and showed me what to do and when. Everyone who came was just as welcoming. I was able to talk to a few people after the worship, as I was curious about their experiences of being a Muslim person in a country that seems to harbor distaste for the Muslim community. Everyone was very honest and sincere with there responses, and I learned a lot about them. Attending worship at Nur-Allah Islamic Center was a very interesting an enlightening experience that I recommend to everyone.