• Whitewashes violent aspects of Islamic history
• Supports campaign to divest from Israel

The Muslim Students Association at the University of Michigan (MSA UM) has chapters on both the Ann Arbor and Dearborn (Michigan) campuses. The organization "works for the betterment of the Muslim and Non-Muslim community on campus through community service, education and social activities"; holds "weekly gatherings educating the audience on contemporary issues, cultural issues, historical recounts and stereotypes of Islam and much more"; and claims that "misconceptions and misrepresentations of Islam are most often the result of a lack of knowledge on the part of non-Muslims and reluctance on the part of Muslims to explain their faith."

The MSA UM website (for both the Ann Arbor and Dearborn chapters) features an "About Islam" section that answers a number of questions about religion and its history. To the question, "How did the spread of Islam affect the world?" it provides the following reply: "Among the reasons for the rapid and peaceful spread of Islam was the simplicity of its doctrine -- Islam calls for faith in only one God worthy of worship. It also repeatedly instructs man to use his powers of intelligence and observation. Within a few years, great civilizations and universities were flourishing, for according to the Prophet, 'seeking knowledge is an obligation for every Muslim man and woman.'"

No mention is made of the fact that Islam in fact was spread by violent force. As Islam expert Robert Spencer writes in The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam: "The first large-scale contact of Muslims with the Western world came not with the Crusades, but 450 years before them. When the forces of Islam united the scattered tribes of Arabia into a single community, the newly Islamic Arabia was surrounded by predominantly Christian lands -- notably the Byzantine imperial holdings of Syria and Egypt, as well as the venerable Christian lands of North Africa. Four of Christendom's five principal cities -- Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem -- lay within striking distance of Arabia. The Byzantine Empire's great rival, Persia, also had a significant Christian population. But for centuries now, the Middle East, North Africa, and Persia (Iran) have been regarded as the heart of the Islamic world. Did this conversion take place through preaching and the conversion of hearts and minds? Not at all: the sword spread Islam."

Another question featured on the "About Islam" webpage is: "Who is Muhammad?" The answer: "Muhammad was born in Makkah in the year 570, at a time when Christianity was not yet fully established in Europe.... As he grew up, he became known for his truthfulness, generosity and sincerity, so that he was sought after for his ability to arbitrate in disputes. The historians describe him as calm and meditative."

But as Robert Spencer points out (again, in The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam), the exact opposite is true: "Muhammad … was a man of war. He taught his followers to fight for his new religion. He said that their god, Allah, had commanded them to take up arms. And Muhammad, no armchair general, fought in numerous battles."

Notably, the "About Islam" webpage makes no mention of jihad and its long tradition of bloody conquest whose ultimate aim is to achieve Islam's dominion over the entire world.

In October 2002, MSA UM co-sponsored a conference that called for the United States to end its government aid to Israel.

Also in 2002, MSA UM co-hosted the Palestine Solidarity Movement's Second National Student Conference, which featured the guest speaker Sami al-Arian, who was then awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges for his affiliation with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In November 2003, MSA UM co-sponsored the Palestine Solidarity Movement's Third National Student Conference at Ohio State University. This event encouraged its attendees to pressure university administrations nationwide to withdraw any investments they may have held in companies that conducted business with the Israeli government or army. Among the event's co-sponsors were various chapters of ActionLA, Al-Awda, the Al-Bireh Palestine Society, the All-African People's Revolutionary Party, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, BADIL, Code Pink, the Committee for Justice in Palestine, Duke Divest, Friends of Sabeel, the Institute for Policy Studies, Jews Against the Occupation, Jews for a Free Palestine, Left Turn, MADRE, Malia-Collective of Italian American Women, the Middle East Children's Alliance, and SUSTAIN.

In recent years, both the Ann Arbor and Dearborn chapters of MSA UM have participated in MSA National's annual "Ramadan Fast-a-Thon" along with as many as 280 fellow chapters of MSA. The purpose of this event is to raise, through temporary fasting, public awareness of hunger and homelessness in Muslim communities. Recent endorsers of the Fast-a-Thon include:

• Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, former President of the Islamic Society of North America and currently a member of the Shari'a Scholars Association of North America
• Sheikh Abdullah Idris Ali, former President of the Islamic Society of North America and currently a Board of Advisors member of the American Muslim Council
• Imam Zaid Shakir, Yale University's former Muslim chaplain who has expressed his desire to see the United States eventually become "a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law"
• Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, who has supported the terrorist mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman and the convicted cop-killer Jamil Al-Amin (aka H. Rap Brown)