Media Watch

It is often said that those who cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it. When I first heard about the recent incidents targeting Muslims students at Queen’s, my first reaction was that history, unfortunately, has a habit of repeating itself. The incidents of “drive-by” insults and death threats against Muslims took me back to my undergraduate days during the first Gulf War. Some of my friends who lived on campus were subjected to insults hurled from passing cars as they walked down the street in hijab. One evening, a group of Muslim women were having dessert downtown when an intoxicated man came and physically assaulted one of them by grabbing her hijab and dragging her off her chair, while verbally insulting Muslims; the man was later found to be an inmate out on parole. A sign containing a death threat against Muslims had also been found. To my understanding, these types of incidents were one of the reasons why the InterFaith Council, headed by Rev. Brian Yealland, was formed, a group which “assists the university in promoting and enhancing an environment of religious tolerance, diversity and freedom.” In the past, some of the programs which were implemented included Islam101 courses in residences, interfaith services during Frosh Week, rotation of prayers of different faiths during convocations, compilation of religious holidays, amongst others. The group met regularly to discuss what activities the various groups on campus were involved in, as well as, to communicate any problems which may have been faced by individuals or groups on campus. Raising awareness appeared to improve things on campus.

Unfortunately, however, one of the problems of a university setting is that it is a transient population. As such, one finds that events tend to repeat themselves as the community renews itself. Obviously, this can be quite a frustrating experience for those of us who see the same events cycling every 8-10 years. Another example is the appearance of disturbing sexist signs during Frosh Week exactly 10 years after the infamous “No Means No” Frosh Week (1989) which had resulted in many policies and educational programs being implemented to make Orientation more inclusive. However, it is also quite distressing for me personally as a Muslim who has basically been part of the Queen’s community since I was born. The Muslim community in Kingston has quite a close relationship with Queen’s University as, up until the construction of the Islamic Centre in 1996, most of our activities centred around campus. Many of the “founding members” of our community were faculty or students at Queen’s during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Indeed, contrary to what has been implied recently about the Muslim community on campus, there have been Muslim faculty on campus for decades in departments such as Applied Science, Politics, Sociology, Urban Planning, etc. When I was born, my father was pursuing his Ph.D. under the supervision of another Muslim in the Department of Electrical Engineering. I was a student on campus for 11.5 years for both my undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees, during which time I served in various capacities in QUMSA, including Chair in 1993-94. I recently returned to campus as a post-doctoral fellow. Personally speaking, my experience growing up in Kingston and at Queen’s has been positive with those around me generally respecting and accommodating my faith. My own department (Biochemistry) took into account the timing of our Friday prayers when scheduling seminars as it was noticed that two of us would disappear during the talks or were not able to attend at all. In fact, after the events of “9-11”, the Muslim community received overwhelming support from the community-at-large.

My father once said, “Ignorance leads to distrust, which can lead to fear, prejudice and hatred.” Indeed, one’s perspectives are usually shaped by one’s own experiences and observations, or lack thereof. Thus, one of the means by which we can minimize racist behaviour, such as that we have unfortunately experienced, is by getting to know one another. Indeed, there is a poignant quote in the Qur’an in which God says: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other…” (Qur’an 49:13) Each year, new members of our community come from all over the country and the world, bringing with them their own perspectives and prejudices. In a university setting, we have a unique opportunity to dispel ignorance by “training” ourselves to open our minds, and making the effort to get to know each other. Acting on prejudice and hatred, as seen in recent weeks, is not acceptable and should not be tolerated by the community-at-large.

Mona Rahman ArtsSci (1993), Ph.D. (2001)
InterFaith Council (1994-2000)