May 16, 2002
Muslim Chaplains a New Priority for Colleges
by Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Religion News Service
It used to be that a college campus could consider itself to be meeting its students' religious needs if it had Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish chaplains on staff.
But now, as the number of Muslim students on American campuses continues to rise, colleges and universities are recognizing the need for a trained, paid Muslim clergy presence on campus.
Currently, there is only one recognized program that certifies Muslim chaplains. The Hartford Seminary Islamic Chaplaincy Program, which is in its first year of operation, offers a 24-credit series of courses that, combined with an internship experience, garners participants a certificate in Islamic chaplaincy.
The program, which was originally developed to help the military educate and certify Muslim chaplains, noticed a need on campuses for professional Muslim chaplains who can advocate for students' dietary needs, holiday observances and protection from discrimination.
"Increasingly, campuses are aware that there are some special needs for Muslim students, and that the student population is growing," said Jane Smith, who is a professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary and an adviser to the chaplaincy program.
It is estimated there are at least 75,000 Muslim students enrolled in American colleges and universities. Because there is no official ordained clergy in Islam but only religious leaders appointed by each community, the closest to a school-sanctioned Muslim religious community most schools get is to have a Muslim Students Association chapter on campus.
But leaders say that the nation's 138 MSA chapters alone are not enough to meet the needs of Muslim students.
"We are looking at the chaplains to be mentors on issues of surviving in a majority non-Muslim campus," said Altaf Husain, president of the national MSA.
To that end, Husain's group has formed a Religious Accommodation Task Force, which will begin meeting this summer to discuss a program aimed at encouraging graduating seniors to attend the Hartford Seminary program and return to the college environment for a year or two and serve as a chaplain.
These students, to whom Husain jokingly refers as "majoring in MSA," are seriously dedicated to campus Muslim issues, and they are a loss to the school when they graduate. Husain said that the task force will also discuss scholarships to send the students to Hartford.
At the same time, Husain said, university communities need to understand the differences between Muslim organized religion and other traditions, most importantly that a chaplain should never be seen as the ultimate religious authority.
"We cannot follow the same patterns as other religions," he said. "We have to make sure that this Muslim community is not looked at in a vacuum."
Social issues, from recreational activities to special arrangements for all-girls dorms to meet Muslim modesty requirements, represent a major area of a chaplain's impact on a campus.
"A lot of Muslim students come from close families and close communities, and when they get to college, I saw a lot of students who were very lonely," said Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary and director of the chaplaincy program.
"Because of their religion, they don't socialize in the same way as other students -- they don't go to the bars," she added.
Mattson says the program, which has three registered students this year but a much larger applicant pool for next year, will give students a solid foundation in both the religious needs of Muslim students and a public educational institution.
"What the chaplaincy program offers is courses and practical experience that deal with the ritual and religious needs of Muslim students," said Mattson.
"It's important to have qualified people," she continued. "The colleges should feel more secure because the people have gone through an accredited program."
Muslim college chaplains can also help educate the larger campus community about Islam, say proponents.
"People want to know what this religion is about," said Shamshad Sheikh, adviser to the Muslim community at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass.
Sheikh, although not certified by a program like Hartford Seminary's, is one of fewer than 30 full-time, paid Muslim college chaplains in the country. She says that Muslim students benefit from a university-sanctioned leader's presence.
"It does help a lot, having a Muslim chaplain on campus," she said.
Sheikh, whose services are available to other colleges in the area, not only organizes lectures and meetings for students and the university community -- she recently became the first Muslim to ever give a sermon at a local church -- she also attends to the religious needs of Muslim students.
Sheikh makes students aware of the five daily prayer times through an e-mail list, oversees the three-meal-a-day dining services available for Muslim students, and organizes events to break the daily fast during the month of Ramadan.
"I set the ground for them, and they are able to practice more easily," she said. "I know it would be difficult for them to do it on their own. They get busy in their studies and they don't do it."
"They want to, but they don't," she added.
Unlike Mount Holyoke, most campuses do not allocate the resources necessary to attract a full-time imam, or Muslim religious leader.
Grinnell College, a small liberal arts institution in Grinnell, Iowa, is home to 40 Muslims out of a student population of 1,300. But the school has received a grant to hire a part-time imam who will come to campus once a month, augmenting Friday prayers that are currently led by a local Muslim businessman who has been a resource for Muslim students for six years.
"Even here in the cornfields, our campus is incredibly religiously diverse," said the Rev. Deanna Shorb, who is the chaplain at Grinnell and also the president of the National Association of College and University Chaplains, a professional organization for college chaplains and deans and directors of religious life.
Financial resources are often the major stumbling block for colleges, Shorb said. Many schools would rather pay a person to come to campus occasionally or appoint a faculty adviser to an MSA chapter than establish an official staff position for a chaplain.
"It is where we are now in chaplaincy," she continued. "We have had Christians for years, but we're trying to get more university money for Jewish chaplains. And it seems to me that Islam is
Sheer growth in the Muslim population will help administrations fund chaplaincy programs, Shorb predicts.
"I think our numbers will grow, and that's how you speak to administrations," she said.
