"A Smile is a Charity" is the title for Islamic Awareness Week that features guest speakers, panel discussions and a cultural carnival. All events are free and open to the public.

Fahad Alqurashi, a Ball State doctoral student and Islamic Awareness Week coordinator, said the programs should help dispel rumors and misperceptions about his religion and culture. 

"After Sept. 11 (the terrorist attacks on America in 2001), we realized that many people did not understand us," he said. "We want the Ball State and Muncie communities to know that Muslims are a peaceful people and Islam is a religion of peace."

Islamic Awareness Week events include:

• Sept. 9 – "Islam in their Eyes," a panel discussion from 6 to 8 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Forum Room. It features Herb Stahlke, Ball State English professor; George Wolfe, music professor and director of Ball State's Peace and Conflict Studies; Cyrus Reed, Ball State's assistant provost for international education; and the Rev. Thomas Perchlick of Muncie's Unitarian Universalist Church, 4800 W. Bradford Drive.
• Sept. 10 – "Why and How I Choose Islam," a panel discussion from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Pittenger Student Center, rooms 301 and 302, featuring area Islamic religious converts.
• Sept. 11 – "Islam: Peace or Terrorism," a presentation from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Pittenger Student Center's Cardinal Hall featuring Muneer Fareed, an Islamic Studies professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.
• Sept. 12 – Cultural carnival, featuring popular food items and activities from Islamic cultures in the Africa and the Middle East, is from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Center for International Programs in the Pittenger Student Center, room 106.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Alqurashi at fahad@yahoo.com or (765) 214-0444. Visit the Muslim Student Association's Web site at www.bsu.edu/msa. For more stories, visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news .