VOA标准英语2010年-America's First Muslim College Opens t

Teacher Souhad Zendah leads students through a lesson at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California.

 

A new college started classes this summer in Berkeley, California.

Zaytuna College's motto is, "Where Islam meets America." It's the first Muslim college in the United States.

College campus

A visit to the campus reveals a pretty standard California college scene.

Students walk across a sunny courtyard into classrooms, pick seats next to friends. But on this campus, the women sit on opposite sides of the auditorium¹ from the men, who are mostly heavily bearded, heads covered in skull² caps. Only one woman's hair is visible. The rest wear modest Islamic scarves.

VOA - L. Shavelson
Students (from left to right) Waqas Ahmed, Sifat Reazi and Armaan Siddiqi consult with teacher Souhad Zendah (standing).

The language in this classroom is Arabic. Zaytuna College is offering summer language classes in preparation for its official fall opening. The college emphasizes a rigorous general education in American history, anthropology³, philosophy, literature, political science, but a major portion of its required curriculum is devoted⁴ to the study of Islam and the Koran.

"We want to manifest Islam in a way that's compatible with America," says Imam Zaid Shakir,  who founded Zaytuna and is also a professor.

Homegrown Muslim scholars

He says that most teachers of Islam in America come from other countries - like Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt. So, even though there are millions of American Muslims, the religion can seem foreign here. But teachers at Zaytuna, says the imam, will be like him.

VOA - L. Shavelson
Zaytuna College is offering summer language classes in preparation for its official fall opening. (left to right) David Burkhart and Shahid Bhuihan

"People who are trained and educated right here, who understand the nuances and complexities⁵ of our society. And who also are comfortable with their Americanness on the one hand and comfortable with Islam on the other hand."

Zaytuna follows a historic tradition of religion-based American colleges.

"Harvard and Princeton and Yale. The universities founded here have been founded by religious denominations," says Dr. Michael Higgins, who studies the relationship between religion and higher education.

Bracing⁶ for opposition⁷

Although religion-based colleges are common in the U.S., Higgins fears potential protests against an Islamic college in the post-911 era,  where there is growing public perception that Islam is a religion that condones⁸, and teaches, violence and intolerance.

"I think there will be a lot of fear or apprehension⁹ 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."

But Shakir says voices of opposition to the college reflect a minority opinion in the United States and are a response to a highly visible, but very small, fringe group within the Islamic community.

VOA - L. Shavelson
(From left to right) Linda Amrou and Amirah Al-Gaheem study at Zaytuna College in California.

"Because you see these foiled bomb plots, a lunatic fringe," says Shakir. "And I think this is why Zaytuna College is so important. If we prove ourselves, even those more vocal¹⁰ critics will be silenced. It's up to us. The ball is in our court."

Proving themselves

Holding that ball right now are Zaytuna's incoming students, who find themselves not only studying at Zaytuna, but also defending it.

"Islamaphobia's so entrenched¹¹ at this point in this country, that for Muslims to do anything at this point there's some level of defense¹² that has to take place. That's not to say that we should have to defend ourselves," says     Dustin Craun, 30, a  convert to Islam. He's already earned a bachelor's degree but feels his traditional college education missed something fundamental.

"The beauty of Islamic knowledge is that it balances between the mind and the heart and the soul," he says.

At the end of the day's classes, Shakir prays for the success of the students who will be the first graduates from the first American Islamic college.

He says Islam has never become rooted in any land until that land had its own Islamic scholars. And that, he says, is precisely¹³ the goal of Zaytuna College.
 

1 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

2 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

3 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

6 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 condones   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A morality that condones such bloodshed is totally unacceptalbe to me. 宽恕这种杀戮的道德是我完全不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• When government condones evil, he insists, "the true place for a just man is a prison." 他坚持认为，当政府宽容罪恶时，“正直人的真正去处是监狱”。 来自哲学部分

9 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

10 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

11 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。