阿克巴·艾哈迈德：和塔玛拉·索恩一起上课
由塔玛拉·索恩（William R. Kenan, Jr.， William and Mary学院杰出的人文学科教授）领导的穆斯林世界妇女班的成员，在最近的一次会议上得到了美国大学伊本·赫勒敦伊斯兰研究主席、杰出的伊斯兰学者阿克巴尔·艾哈迈德（Akbar Ahmed）主持的讨论。
艾哈迈德最近因为他的“美国之旅”倡议获得了全国的关注，CNN对他进行了专题报道，他谈到了伊斯兰社会的复杂性，以及抵制对穆斯林社区成员的刻板印象的必要性。 他还花了一些时间将报道的荣誉杀害女性的案件与伊斯兰教划清界限。
“If there is a case of shame and honor, and a woman is involved, it will be tribal law that will prevail,” Ahmed said. “Tribal law even trumps Islamic law. 部落法律是迅捷的。 It often is brutal, and it’s often anti-female.”
艾哈迈德在课堂上讲述了他自己记录部落对妇女暴行的经历，但他指出，女性似乎是传统的最大支持者，在传统中，她们的个人荣誉反映了她们的社区。 他还回顾了伊斯兰妇女在城市领域取得的进步，她们在政治和人道主义方面取得的成就可以与西方妇女相媲美。
Ahmed was accompanied by members of his widely touted “Journey into America” team, which filmed part of the class discussion for that project. The question he posed to the class was, “Is the American male relevant at all, or has he been phased-out of a post-industrial society?”
学生们很快就参加了讨论。 马特·托宾建议男性继续承担作为主要提供者的自我归咎于耻辱。 Irene Mathieu said that the African-American male already had been “emasculated.” Ainab Rahman countered that society continues to place an “important emphasis on masculinity.”
The previous evening, Ahmed presented the 2009 McSwain-Walker Lecture at the College titled “American Identity and the Challenge of Islam,” which was sponsored by the Reves Center for International Studies.