Questions about Islam were brought to the University of Oklahoma Thursday night, and Dr. Imad Enchassi was there to answer them.

The imam for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City and assistant professor at Oklahoma City University was invited by OU’s Muslim Student Association to lead its 10 Misconceptions About Islam event.

 “He does such a good job of connecting with everyone,” Natasha Saya, OU senior and MSA president, said. “It’s very important, because I think dialogue is one way to clear up misconceptions. Especially in the political world these days, I feel like it’s very important. I have students come to me and ask super-philosophical and super-religious questions, and sometimes I’m not able to answer them because I’m not as well educated as the imam is. We try to offer this resource every year on campus.”

Among the myths Enchassi discussed were that Muslims are prone to violence in honor of their religion and that they all adhere to “jihad.”

 “The word war is mentioned three times in the Quran three times, and never, ever as holy,” Enchassi said. “[Violence] is something that is alien to a lot of Muslims. Peace is one of God’s attributes, as a matter of fact.”

He also talked about the beliefs that Muslims worship a different god to Christians, whether Muslim women are “oppressed” by the religion, polygamy’s place in Islam and explained that Muhammad is not the founder of the religion.

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Sunday Norman Transcript.