A house-warming calls for gifts and good wishes. Both were plentiful on Thursday afternoon when more than 150 men, women and children gathered in the warm spring weather to dedicate Duke’s first Center for Muslim Life, located in a renovated building on Swift Avenue between East and West Campus. School officials such as President Brodhead and Chapel Dean Sam Wells spoke of contributions of Muslim academics to the university, after two soaring prayers led by a Duke law student and a community member.
Numerous students attended, including Menak Aziz, a Pakistani senior from Fayetteville, and Shama Milon, a Bangladeshi sophomore from Florida. Aziz had donated a hand-made wallhanging from Pakistan. Milon (pictured) had painted a picture of Musjid al Haram — the largest mosque in the world, the holiest site in Islam. Aziz said she is so grateful for the presence of the center, as well as for Abdullah Antepli, Duke’s first full-time Muslim chaplain, whom students fondly call their “Turkish Delight.” “He is doing incredible outreach,” Aziz said, noting how rare it is for U.S. colleges to have full-time Muslim chaplains and student centers. “I’m kind of sad to be leaving because being a Muslim student here has just improved so much every year.”
