Florida International University is getting a spanking new center dedicated to all things Muslim.
Philanthropists Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer, longtime supporters of Middle Eastern studies and other programs at FIU, donated $2 million to make this educational facility a reality.
The Center for Muslim World Studies, the first of its kind in South Florida, is being created to promote greater understanding of the global Muslim community. Its official name will be the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies and it will be housed within the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs.
“This center will advance the understanding of Muslim history and culture, promote interfaith dialogue and illuminate issues affecting Muslims worldwide,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “FIU is the perfect home for an international solution center dedicated to Muslim world studies.”
The center will focus on key themes, including the global Muslim diaspora; interfaith dialogue and intrafaith relations; gender and identity; and Islam and security, according to FIU News.
“For a peaceful and harmonious planet we must understand all its people,” said Mohsin Jaffer, a physician and voluntary clinical assistant professor at the school. “We have to become familiar with their cultures, faiths and concerns. Muslims make up one fourth of the total world humanity and sadly are very misunderstood today.”