The Oberlin Muslim Student’s Association commends the editors of the Review for their argument stating Oberlin’s need for a broader curriculum, and one that encompasses what is essentially Islamic Studies.

However, the editors’ choice of “Arabic Studies” as the term for this is problematic as detailed by Naeem Mohaiemen ’93 in his commentary last week. As Mr. Mohaiemen, the founder of Oberlin’s MSA, stated last week, achieving the editors’ stated goals of understanding the Muslim world would be compromised by something as specific as “Arabic Studies” which implies that Islam is solely an Arab tradition.

Of course, the reality is that Arabs comprise a small part of the global Muslim community.

As the organization that has spearheaded this current initiative, we believe that an important aspect of our petition has been misunderstood. The MSA’s “Arabic Petition” is one that focuses on an immediate establishment of Arabic language study, and has a subsequent larger goal of Islamic Studies. We believe the discussion on this topic in the recent weeks has neglected the importance of the study of Arabic language in the larger goal of global understanding and Islamic Studies on this campus.

The need for Arabic instruction in the United States has reached an unprecedented level, and is so neglected that it has become a national security issue. This is according to the recent criticisms of Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Goss of Florida.

In a Nov. 5 New York Times article titled “ C.I.A. Needs to Learn Arabic” Rep. Goss is quoted attributing the recent failures and mix ups of pre-war intelligence on Iraq to the CIA’s deficiency in Arabic.

The immediacy for Arabic language on the part of MSA is reflective of specific community desires; however, it is not intended to offset an Islamic Studies program; our petition calls for both.

In fact, one would probably not be complete without the other, since placing Arabic instruction in a relevant department will be difficult, for there is not an all-inclusive Foreign Language department. However, it would be much easier if there were an Islamic Studies department.

What would an Islamic Studies department be without Arabic language? Although it is not the mother tongue of all Muslims, it has influenced many languages prevalent in the Muslim world and is the linguistic link among Muslims since it is the language of the Qur’an.

The MSA applauds the current dialogue on this topic and welcomes more of it, and encourages students to vote in favor of an Islamic Studies program in the next Senate referendum.

–Ali Najmi
College sophomore
Co-Chair MSA

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