: Qur’an Assignment at UNC Ruffles Feathers

Citing an attempt to put “a positive face on what many people believe to be an evil religion,” the American Family Association led three Christian and Jewish students in filing a lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for assigning incoming freshman of the Class of 2006 a book about the Qur’an (Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations) as a reading assignment. “This was a book chosen in the wake of Sept. 11,” said UNC Chancellor James Moeser. “This is a great opportunity to have a conversation on the teachings of one of the world’s great religions, how it’s been used or misused, whether it’s a religion of peace or not.” The school is standing by its policy, saying that any student who wishes to opt out of the assignment may do so. “We are not in favor of the school’s mandating the reading of any religious document,” says Stephen M. Crampton, chief counsel for the group. This includes the Bible, he added, although the group describes itself as an organization that “exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.