The club brings several lecturers to campus each semester. Recent lectures have included talks on "Women and Islam," "Islamic Spirituality" and "Islamic Mysticism and Sufism."
Noor also hosts dinners to celebrate important holidays and events. The dinners often include performances and student or professor led discussions.
The club is currently co-chaired by Sahar Siddiqui '02 and Sabrina Saleem '03. Siddiqui has served as president for the past year and a half, serving as secretary-treasurer when the club was first created.
"The focus of the club is to increase awareness of Islam and provide support for Muslim students," said Siddiqui.
The club attains this goal by attracting participants from the Five-College community. "We draw much of our audience from the Five Colleges and from community members. We have a lot of help from the Muslim students organizations at the other schools," said Siddiqui.
The club strives to appeal to the diverse interests of the Five-College community by organizing events on diverse topics. Beginning on April 5, The Noor club sponsored a lecture series that lasted through April 14. The first lecture, which was cosponsored by Hillel was titled "One God, One Goal: Jewish and Islamic approaches to the Divine." The final lecture was given by Professor Ornid Safi of Colgate University: "Of Rumi and Related Matters: Love and Beautiful Manners in the Sufi Path to God."
Siddiqui is impressed by the varying rhetorical styles of the speakers. "Our speakers have had very different styles. Some give very academic, formal lectures, others are more emotional, and still others are very casual and open."