“IT
WAS suggested to me by some folks that I change the title,” Yasin told Reuters,
explaining that the word “jihad” will no longer appear in the program
distributed at Harvard’s graduation exercises on June 6.PERKATAAN "JIHAD" DIGUGURKAN
“IT
WAS suggested to me by some folks that I change the title,” Yasin told Reuters,
explaining that the word “jihad” will no longer appear in the program
distributed at Harvard’s graduation exercises on June 6.
“We feel it’s an important message that needs to be heard, and we were afraid
that people could get hung up on hearing the word ‘jihad’ in the title,” he
added. What had been “Of Faith and Citizenship: My American Jihad” will now read
“Of Faith and Citizenship.” The speech’s content will not change, and Yasin told
MSNBC that the word jihad would be in the speech itself.
Some students took exception to the title and said the speech should explicitly
condemn terrorist violence.
The 22-year-old Yasin, a former president of the Harvard Islamic Society, said
he was trying to reclaim the word for its true meaning: inner struggle. But he
acknowledged that “jihad” has assumed powerful connotations after Islamic
militants hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11 and crashed them into U.S. landmarks,
killing about 3,000 people.
Some Islamic hard-liners have justified the attacks, saying they were part of a
“jihad” — a word they use to mean holy war — against the United States.
UNDERSTANDABLE MISUNDERSTANDING
Yasin, who was born in Chicago and grew up in the Boston area, said the response
to his planned speech had been mostly positive but that a smaller group of
people were less open-minded about the use of the word jihad.
“Some people have a misunderstanding of jihad, and that is wrong but understandable given what has happened. I’m trying to reclaim the word for its true meaning, which is inner struggle, both for an individual to do right within oneself and externally for social justice,” he said earlier this week.
Hilary Levey, one of the protest leaders, said a petition calling for a
condemnation of terrorism was signed by 1,300 people. The students have not seen
a copy of the speech.
In a version viewed by The Associated Press on condition no excerpts be used,
Yasin focuses on the meaning of “jihad” as struggle both for personal growth and
for wider peace and justice. The speech condemns Muslims and non-Muslims who
have abused the word and uses Sept. 11 as an example.
CHARITY CHOICE QUESTIONED
Yasin is a biomedical engineering major and plans to work at a health care
center in Pakistan before attending medical school.
The protesters also questioned Yasin’s appropriateness as a speaker, saying he has supported The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a charity the U.S. government accuses of funneling money to the militant group Hamas, which has conducted suicide bombings in Israel. The foundation denies any ties with Hamas.
Yasin said he finds it difficult to believe the group supports violence. He said
he saw the group’s work in Albania in 1999, when he was working for another
organization helping refugees from the conflict in neighboring Kosovo.
Harvard University President Lawrence Summers had earlier defended Yasin’s
selection. “Especially in a university setting, it is important for people to
keep open minds, listen carefully to one another and react to the totality of
what each speaker has to say,” Summers said in a statement Wednesday.
Yasin is one of three students who will speak at the June 6 ceremony.