This is a press release from the Islamic Center at NYU, about their annual Shuruq (“sunrise”) cultural symposium.  It is being organized by Haroon Moghul, one of the emeritus members of the Islamsphere. For more information, see the detailed listing of Shuruq 2009 events at the ICNYU website.

(New York – 3/21/09) “For seven years now, Shuruq (Arabic for Sunrise) has been a celebration of Islam’s rich diversity. Shuruq raises awareness of Islam and Muslims in an experiential way, through emphasis on lived realities and artistic expressions, working to build an attitude of harmony and mutual understanding within the New York City community. For two weeks every year, Shuruq puts together a series of increasingly popular events on NYU’s campus to highlight the breadth of culture, music, literature, religion and politics throughout the Muslim world — including America’s millions of Muslims.

Shuruq 2009 kicks off on Monday, March 23rd, at the Kimmel Center, with “Cultural Passport: Explore the Taste of the Muslim Palate”, an opening banquet featuring cuisine from across the Muslim world. Shuruq 2009 will host a number of events across campus, bringing to the University and to the City a chance to hear from, learn and engage with noted activists, academics, performers and American Muslims leaders. This represents for many New Yorkers an excellent opportunity to understand American Islam, where it has come from and where it is going.

“We started Shuruq in 2002,” says Haroon Moghul (NYU CAS ’02), the Islamic Center Director of Public Relations. “Islam is so many different places, languages and peoples. Islam was adopted by so many people, in so many places, that it is never just one thing. And we in America are building an Islam that inspires our reality and reflects our experience.”

Shermeen Rahman, Chair of Shuruq 2009, says  “We hope that through this series of entertaining and educational events people will see that Islam manifests itself in many different ways. Shuruq’s goal is to shed light on these facets of Islam that are often ignored in today’s society and encourage a much lacking communication between American Muslims and the broader society we are part of.” “American Muslims have to proactively engage the communities that we are connected to,” says Imam Khalid Latif, Director and Chaplain of the Islamic Center at NYU. “We are working to engage our fellow New Yorkers, communicating through many different ways, through music and movies, food and festivals, teach-ins and workshops, that Islam is a big tent, and there is a lot of room in that tent for a lot of experiences.”

For a complete listing of this year’s events, please visit www.icnyu.org/shuruq

All events are free and open to the public. Members of the University and New York City residents are especially encouraged to attend.

The Islamic Center at NYU serves the Muslim population at New York University, a private institution of higher education and research located in lower Manhattan. The Islamic Center at NYU is overseen by the Office of the Muslim Chaplain, established in April 2007 to meet the needs of a growing Muslim community.

Inspired by the idea that America’s Muslim community will best develop in a supportive environment, the Islamic Center has not only seen tremendous increase in membership but has motivated its student population to find new ways of harnessing their resources and expanding their relationships with the wider community.