WHAT TEACHERS AND STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THE SPEAKERS BUREAU

Typical Comments:

"I would just like to thank you very much for your informative presentation about Islam to my class. It was very interesting and I am very amazed at the similarities between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Since I have some Muslim friends, I am glad that you taught us how to greet other Muslim people. Believing in the same God helps me to feel the unity between us brothers and sisters. The ways that the Muslim people pray, fast, and eat are very admirable. They seem like hard challenges, but as you said, you get used to it just as Hakeem Olajuwon has. Just like we Catholics in our Church, Muslims and their beliefs are very often misunderstood. I think you helped to give us a better insight into that. I want to thank you again and I hope you can come again and visit!
Assalamu Alaykum! " -Teacher

"Thank you for coming to our school and talking about Islam to us. Our class has had several good opportunities to learn about Islamic culture, but you taught us a lot more than videos, books and all the other things combined. ... I remember before when I would think about a Muslim, I always saw a picture of an Arabian person with a Turban. Now, when I think of Muslims, I see people from all over the world. I am looking forward to going to the mosque tomorrow." -Student

"The information you present reinforces the textbook information and clears up misunderstandings that the students have. I know the students will remember the demonstration of the prayer in Arabic, something neither the text book nor I can give them. I find your presentation invaluable in broadening the students' understanding and appreciation of Islam." -Teacher

"Thank you very much for taking the time to educate our class about the Islamic religion. I found the beliefs and ways of your religion really interesting. I had fun learning about why the women wear what they do, how you pray and how the Islamic beliefs are kind of similar to Christianity and Judaism. My favorite part of your presentation was when you demonstrated how you pray. The different steps of praying are really cool and I admire the way you have so much faith in God. Another thing that I found intriguing was how you name your children something that means " servant of God". I like the idea that the women dress the way they do because they want people to like them for who they are on the inside instead of what they look like from the outside and because their bodies shouldn't be used as sex symbols. I totally agree with that! A lot of my friends are liked just because they are beautiful and what they wear, not because of their sparkling personalities! Thank you again for coming in and taking the time to talk to us, I really learned a lot and am able to understand the Islamic religion much better!" -Student

"Thank you very much for coming to our school. I've learned many things about the Islamic culture during your presentation. I learned that Muslims aren't that different from Catholics in beliefs and practices. Yes, I didn't know that much about the Islamic religion and I am very thankful that you have taught me more about your religion and what clothes you wear in different areas. Again, thank you for coming to our school, I personally appreciated it." -Student

"Assalam Alaykum! Walaykum Assalam! Ramadan Karim! Thank you for coming to visit my classmates and me at my school. My name is --- . I enjoyed your presentation a lot. It was very educational and interesting. Before you came to speak to us I didn't know very much about Islam or the Islamic religion. During the summer time I always saw women in attire that covered their entire body. I always wondered why they just didn't put on some shorts or a tank top. But now I know that they do that because of "Hijab". Also, I am more aware that not all Muslims live in the Middle East, and that they can't pray in the bathroom. Once again, thank you for coming. I would love to have you visit us again and teach us more about Islam." -Student

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn more on the Islamic faith. It was especially fascinating when you showed us how Muslims pray with a praying rug. Out of all the things we learned, we enjoyed the similarities and differences of Muslims who live in different parts of the world. For us it was a real pleasure to talk with a Muslim who has lived their whole life devoted to the faith in Islam. Your delightful insights on how Islam is a very strong part of your life caused us to look at Muslims in a different way. Now we took at them and know a lot about their ways of life. Once again thank you for coming to our school and teaching us about Islam. Hope you have a wonderful day and we look forward to seeing you again!" -Student

"Thank you for coming to our school and teaching my class about Islam. I enjoyed your presentation very much and I thought it was extremely interesting. I learned many facts about Islam and hope my classmates did, too. I knew some information about Muslims daily life, where they live, pray, etc. before you came but I feel I have a better sense of Islamic traditions and daily life now. Once again, thank you! There were quiet a few facts that I found extremely interesting and I would like to give you some examples of what I thought was very interesting information. One fact that I found interesting was when you told us about how many Muslims lived in certain regions. I found this interesting because I would have thought that most Muslims came from Arabian countries. However, now I know that most Muslims, about 250-300 million, come from the Bangladesh area. I also found the facts about Islamic traditions to be intriguing. I found it interesting that Islamic women must cover their hair down to their toes. This made sense to me after you explained it because anyone, especially women, should be liked because of their intellect rather than their looks. I greatly enjoyed your piece about how Muslims pray because I had always wondered if Muslims prayed out loud or in their heads. I also wondered the exact way that Muslims integrated body movement into their prayers and what kinds of movements they did. Now, I feel that I understand what Muslims do while praying. Another question of mine that you answered in your presentation was about the actual prayers that Muslims say before and during their prayer service. Now I know that Muslims do certain formal prayers before actually praying in their own way. In conclusion I feel that your presentation has given me a better view of Islam and its traditions. I learned much from your presentation and I enjoyed it greatly. I hope my classmates enjoyed it as greatly and learned as much from it as I did. I hope you come back next year for the seventh graders so they too can enjoy it and appreciate it as much as I did. Thank you very much and happy Ramadan." -Student

"Thank you so much for coming to my Middle School to tell us about Islam. I learned so much! I am also a Muslim. So when you were telling us about a daily life of an Islamic person, I could relate to what you said, because my parents and family are all from Iran. One day I hope to go there. When you were comparing the Jews and Christains it was so interesting because I never knew that we had so much in common. Before you told us all of the specifics of Islam, I had not decided what I wanted my religion. Now I know that I want to be Islamic, because I can relate to all of it's beliefs. I am so happy you came. At the end of your presentation you had started to pray, and then I had remembered all of the words, because every time I go and see my grandfather he is always praying and I just like to sit there and listen. For 5 years I have been trying to memorize it but it is difficult for me. But hopefully in the future I will be able to say it. You have made a great difference in my life, and others. I hope that you can come again so we could learn more and more interesting things about other places too. Thank you so much!!! " -Student

"Thank you so much for giving your time to teach us more about the Islamic religion. I think everyone's favorite part was when you showed us how you pray. It is nice to know how people of different religious worship. Thank you also for telling us about the 5 Pillars of Islam and the certain rules that Muslims have to follow. This helped us to learn and understand your faith more. We all enjoyed it, and I think it helped most of us on our test! " -Student

"Thank you for visiting our class on Wednesday, I really enjoyed it. I learned many new things that I never knew before, such as a prayer takes up almost five minutes. I also learned that mosques in America don't always look like mosques and I never knew that there was a mosque across the street from our school! I never even noticed it! I knew that most of the world's population was Christian but I never knew that the second largest was made up of Muslims. I also learned many things about the clothing that women in different parts of the Middle East wore, for example in Saudi Arabia some women cover every part of their body, even their face! Once again thank you for coming to our class, I learned a lot about Islam from you. " -Student

"I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all you did. You took time to visit us; it was extremely generous we have been studying the religion for weeks and weeks it was unbelievable to have a speaker come to our classroom. From the prayer to the clothes you wear it was an interesting amount of information about your beliefs and religion. From the food to the prophets. It was incredible I couldn't believe all the similarities between all three religions. The Koran and Muhammad were all so carefully talked about. You explained every little detail. I really appreciated your visit and hope you will come back soon. Thanks again." -Student

"I really appreciated you coming to our school to talk about Islam to us. It was very interesting and it showed us how different and how similar Islam is compared to our religions. After your talk, I realized Islam isn't some wierd, exotic religion I thought it to be (no offense). I thought it was interesting and special to witness your prayers. It may not seem so interesting to you doing it five times a day. I didn't know that there were special times to pray. Thank you again for coming to your school." -Student

"Thank you for coming to our Social Studies class, and talking to us about the Islamic religion. I'm very glad I had a chance to listen to you. It was better than always reading a book, and we were able to ask questions that the book didn't answer. One of the things I really enjoyed listening about was how Muslims pray, and the Arabic words for words I only knew in English, like the Kaaba. I only knew the facts of how they prayed, and I found it interesting to see that they put their foreheads and noses to the ground, they always pray facing Mecca, and things like that. Thank you again. I really appreciated it." -Student

"Thank you for expanding our knowledge of Islam. We admire your devotion to your faith to teach others about Islam voluntarily. My friend
and I never knew Muslims did so much for their religion, such as praying five times a day and fasting for a whole month. You have inspired us to learn more about our religion and to be as devoted as you are to yours. Ramadan karim, and assalamu alaykum!" -Student