CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Aug. 19 -- University of North Carolina students discussed a controversial summer reading assignment that conservatives had gone to court to stop.
With the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaching, the 4,200 incoming freshman and transfer students were asked to read "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations," by Michael Sells, a religion professor at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
The book translates and discusses the meaning, history and context of 35 verses of Islam's holy text.
Attorneys for a conservative Christian group had asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to stop today's discussion sessions. Members of the Virginia-based Family Policy Network and three unidentified UNC freshmen -- an evangelical Christian, a Roman Catholic and a Jew -- contended the assignment was unconstitutional because it promoted Islam.
The appeals court refused and, aside from a small rally in support of free speech, the sessions went on without much fanfare.
"After the terrorist attacks, I was so angry that I really didn't care to learn anything about Muslims," said Matthew Dale, an 18-year-old freshmen from Raleigh, N.C. "But I know now that refusing to learn is what causes more anger and confusion. I'm glad they chose this book. I still have a lot of questions, but at least this was a start."
Religious studies professor Carl Ernst said he recommended the book to the school's Board of Governors because it was regarded as the most appropriate for freshmen and the best available set of partial translations of the Koran.
After short introductions, the 16 students in Ernst's group talked about afterlife, Judgment Day and how passages from the Koran relate to Christianity and religions more familiar to the students.
They also played a CD that accompanies the book, listening to readings of the texts sung or chanted in Arabic by Muslims from different parts of the world.
"You get the impression that they love their religion. They are very passionate and emotional when they sing these passages," observed one student, who told the class he was from India.
The university agreed to permit students who did not want to read the book to skip the sessions and write an essay explaining why. All but two of the students in Ernst's classroom had read it.
"I never really knew what the Koran was or what it said before this," said Chip Cook, 18. "Now I feel like I have a better understanding of where my Muslim friends are coming from."
Ernst said later he had no regrets about his recommendation.
"The class worked out better than I had expected. The students were engaged and I feel like we opened them up to a cultural experience they've never had before," he said. "The media attention probably got the students to read more seriously than they would have otherwise."