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Muslim College Opens in US With Hopes and Suspicions美文欣赏
Muslim College Opens in US With Hopes and Suspicions
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Zaytuna College is a new four-year college in Berkeley, California. Zaytuna is seeking to become the first accredited Muslim college in the United States. The name comes from the Arabic word for olives.
The process of full accreditation could take several years. That will make it easier for students to get financial aid, and to have their education recognized by employers and other schools.
Zaytuna held its first classes this summer -- intensive study of Arabic to prepare for classes in the fall.
Zaytuna currently offers two majors, a choice of Islamic law and religion or Arabic language. General education classes include American history, anthropology, philosophy, literature and political science.
Imam Zaid Shakir is a professor and co-founder of Zaytuna. He was born in Berkeley. The college website says he accepted Islam in nineteen seventy-seven while serving in the United States Air Force.
Imam Shakir says he wants teachers who are trained and educated in the United States and who understand American society.
ZAID SHAKIR: "And who also are comfortable with their Americanness on the one hand and comfortable with Islam on the other hand."
There are millions of American Muslims. But the imam says most of the teachers of Islam in America received their training in other countries. He says Islam has never become rooted in any land until that land had its own Islamic scholars.
Michael Higgins studies the relationship between religion and higher education. The United States has many different religious colleges. But he says he fears there could be protests if Zaytuna College is seen as teaching students not to accept other religions.
MICHAEL HIGGINS: "I think there will be a lot of fear or apprehension around the establishment of a college that adheres to Islam. If it becomes a madrasa or a college of inculcation only, that could be hugely problematic."
This September eleventh will be nine years since the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States. Imam Shakir recognizes that those attacks and other plots since then have fed public suspicions about Islam.
But he says opponents of the college represent a minority opinion in the United States. He says they are reacting to a small group of extremists -- a "lunatic fringe" -- in the Islamic community.
ZAID SHAKIR: "And I think this is why Zaytuna College is so important. If we prove ourselves, even those more vocal critics will be silenced. It's up to us; the ball is in our court."
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, with reporting by Lonny Shavelson. I'm Steve Ember.
这里是VOA特别英语教育报道。
栽突那学院(Zaytuna College) 是加利福尼亚州伯克利新成立的四年制学院。栽突那寻求成为美国首个获得认证的穆斯林学院。这所学校的名字来自橄榄色的阿拉伯语说法。
全面认证的过程需要几年的时间。这将使学生更容易获得经济援助，使他们的教育更容易获得雇主和其他学校的认可。
栽突那今年夏天首次开设课程——集中地学习阿拉伯语，为秋季的课程做准备。
栽突那提供两门主修课程，一门选修课程，伊斯兰法律和宗教或阿拉伯语。普通的教育课程包括美国历史，人类学，哲学，文学和政治科学。
伊玛目Zaid Shakir是栽突那的教授和联合创建人。他出生在伯克利。该学院网站表示，1977年在美国空军服役时他接受了伊斯兰文明。
伊玛目Shakir说，他希望在美国接受过训练和教育，理解美国社会的教师前来任教。
ZAID SHAKIR：“而且他们必须一方面为自己的美国人身份感到舒适，另一方面也必须欣然接受伊斯兰文明。”
美国有数百万名穆斯林。但是伊玛目表示，美国大部分伊斯兰教师都在其他国家接受培训。他表示，伊斯兰教永远没有在一片土地上扎根，除非这片土地有了自己的伊斯兰学者。
Michael Higgins研究了宗教和高等教育之间的关系。美国拥有许多宗教学院。但是他担心，如果栽突那学院被认为教给学生不接受其他宗教，他们会遭到抗议。
MICHAEL HIGGINS：“我认为，针对建立遵守伊斯兰文明的学院，会遭遇许多担忧或理解。如果成为伊斯兰学校或仅仅是谆谆教诲的学院，都会有许多问题。”
9月11日将是基XXX袭击美国九周年纪念日。伊玛目Shakir认为，自那以后的袭击和其他阴谋已经引起公众对伊斯兰教的怀疑。
但是他表示，穆斯林学院的反对者仅仅代表美国民意的少部分。他表示，他们已经对少部分极端分子作出了回应，用伊斯兰教的说法就是“lunatic fringe”。
ZAID SHAKIR：“我认为这就是栽突那学院如此重要的原因。如果我们能够证明自己，那些直言不讳的批评家就会安静下来。这完全取决于我们。主动权在我们手中。”
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