"I think a...vacuum exists in terms of developing a betterrelationship, especially after Sept. 11," Ahmed Moussali, theFulbright Scholar lecturing at Ball State, said. "There is ageneral religious movement in the Islamic world ... I think we haveto understand that movement and not picture all of it asterrorism."
Moussali is a scholar and lecturer on Islamic relations who isstaying at Ball State through Oct. 5 with the Fulbright Scholarprogram.
"Fulbright has the program on understanding Islam...so I am partof that program," Moussali said. After Sept. 11, 2001, the Islamicrelations series was established in addition to the regularFulbright Scholars exchange programs.
The Fulbright Program was founded in 1945 after the WWII by Sen.J. William Fulbright. His goal was to create a "mutualunderstanding between the people of the United States and thepeople of other countries of the world."
Grants are given to institutions such as Ball State to fundscholars to speak around the world. Fulbright scholars principallyconduct research and lectures while working with the program.
"I'm talking about the Islamic fundamentalism, about U.S.foreign policy as seen in the Arab world...about the Arab/Israeliconflict and Iraq and giving lectures on women in Islam. So it'sactually a combination of discussions and talks on religious andpolitical issues," Moussali said.
Moussali has lectured several times across campus in manyWestern Civilization classes, open forums, local clubs andschools.
"This is to point the way for discussion between people andsomebody from the Middle East so they can discuss the issues,"Moussali said.
"My immediate goal is to dispel some of the misperceptions, andI think that by itself is a worthy endeavor to do. There are a lotof misperceptions even at the very basic level of ideas [of Islam]let alone all the society and east/west relations," Moussali said."My goal is to increase our understanding of each other and try toexplain to people what Islam is...to show their religion is notthat different from other monotheistic religions."
Moussali said he believes there are many miscommunicationsbetween the East and the West.
"But there is no serious effort on both sides to work on ...communication in order to produce a better understanding betweendifferent cultures and civilizations. We seem to be on a collisioncourse if we don't preempt that by developing better relations."Moussali said.
"There's no steady progress or development" between the Islamicnations and the United States," Moussali said.
Dr. Moussali will speak from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in AJ175, and again at an informal dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Wednesday in Noyer Hall.
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