With all the anti-Muslim sentiment floating around these days, some people may be shocked to find out that the first Muslim College is set to open this week.
Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, is aiming to become the first accredited Muslim college in the U.S. It was funded by Hamza Yusuf, a highly respected Muslim Cleric, and has the goal of becoming "comparable to the best of religious seminaries and general institutions of higher education the U.S."
The Daily Beast reports that the curriculum at Zaytuna College will be based in Islamic studies, but it will also contain humanities and social sciences.
So far, Zaytuna College has seen little opposition. Which is surprising, since most of America is up in arms over the spread of Islamic ideologies. Of course, there is the "Mosque at Ground Zero" controversy, but there are also mosques in other parts of the country that are being protested, as well as a church in Florida that is planning to burn Korans on September 11th.
Maybe the hatred has spread so thin that there is little left to give to Zaytuna College. Or maybe education is the bridge to religious tolerance.
"We have seen a lot of support for the idea of the college," said Omar Nawaf, vice president of administrations and operations at Zaytuna College. "Throughout the history of United Sates, different faiths have found a home in America."