Gulten Ilhan, a professor at St. Louis College in Missouri, admitted to the audience at the last of the talk series by the Interfaith Dialogue Student Association (IDSA), that some women in Muslim countries are oppressed. However, she made it a point that Islam itself gives women their full rights.

“Islamic theology, the Quran, is extremely clear and perfect,” Ilhan said. “But Muslim behavior? I don’t think so.”

“Of course you ask, what happened?” Ilhan said. “If women only knew their God-given rights in Islam.”

The IDSA has held four other lectures in the Interfaith Talk Series over the past two semesters, focusing on Islam for this year.

“Our purpose is to communicate with people through intellectual tools, like these talk series,” Abdullah “Yavuz” Kumas, secretary of the IDSA, said. “We want to let them know the reality rather than what they see on the media and hear from unreliable sources.”

Before the lecture, the Turkish Students Association (TSA) held its annual Turkish Food Festival educating the SMU community about Turkey. “We try to give [the audience] a section of our beautiful country, which connects Asia to Europe not only physically but culturally,” Ali Olcay, president of the TSA, said.

Turkish food was served while a slideshow of Turkish facts and scenery was presented. In red and intricate traditional clothes, Mary Kocaturk and her team of Turkish folk dancers then performed the four types of Turkish dances and even got the audience involved. After the festival, Ilhan gave her lecture “Women and Islam: Behind the Veil.” Before she began her lecture, Ilhan asked the audience, “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a Muslim woman?”

After a response, she proved her point that media distorts the image of Muslim women by showing clips from Father of the Bride II, Harem and Baby Boom. “Plato warned us about the power of images, especially at a young and tender age,” Ilhan said. “And the image of a Muslim woman is one that is oppressed, with no voice, no will … They have no jobs and sit at home all day, usually in harems.”

Later, Ilhan talked about pre-Islamic societies and how they treated women as second-class citizens. She explained that 1400 years ago, Islam changed society almost over night. It abolished infanticide, ordered the just and kind treatment of women and ended male favoritism. “The only basis for superiority in Islam is a person’s actions — not gender, race or color,” she said. Ilhan also said that women were allowed to vote, inherit, own money and a right to an education. “Look at me. I work and teach, but [in Islam] I don’t have to give one penny to my husband,” Ilhan said. “It is mine and mine alone.”

Ilhan sees progress in the Muslim world towards the truth. “There has been a movement among Muslim scholars and the issue is being discussed more,” Ilhan said. “I see progress for the future.”