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Bradenton Herald Today - Posted on Sat, Mar. 04, 2006
American Muslims reconcile faith with U.S. life
By Khalid Moss
DAYTON, Ohio - Islam is the fastest-growing religion in America. But American Muslims who work, raise families and worship in the states are often faced with a delicate task.
They must find ways to reconcile their beliefs and practices with American culture, which by definition, is inconsistent with certain aspects of the Muslim faith.
"We try to find a middle point between our Islam and American culture," said Dalia Muhammad, office manager at Council for American Islamic Relations. "We don't try to ignore American culture. We try to take the good from it that we learn and apply it to our religion. As much as there are differences, there are also similarities."
One major cultural distinction is the way food is regarded.
America is a super-size-me smorgasbord of fast food and unlimited second-helpings. Some people might rather climb Mount Everest than deprive themselves of food or drink for the greater part of a day.
For Muslims, the dawn-to-dusk fast during Ramadan is a path to spiritual enlightenment.
"One of the reasons we fast is for self discipline," Muhammad explained. "Americans seem to have self discipline when it comes to going to work and making money. You don't find that in many other places. We take that characteristic from Americans and apply it to our religious practice, because it helps us get through the day. By having that characteristic in us as American Muslims, it's easier for us to fast, because it's just another form of self discipline."
Muhammad said Muslim men and women are equal in the eyes of Islam. Especially in the United States.
"I am a Muslim woman and I wear a scarf," she said. "But I was born in the United States and raised Muslim here, so I'm as American Muslim as you can be. In my family and a lot of other Muslim families, a woman and a man are equal. I work just as much as my dad and my husband. My husband helps out in the house just as much as I do.
"Our faith doesn't say a woman has to clean, cook and to take care of the kids. In the Middle East, women aren't as powerful as we are here in America, and their fate is determined more by culture than by religion. In America, we have a lot more power and freedom to practice our religion. We have a stronger voice here, which helps us express ourselves."
Bashir Ahmed is the president and CEO of Kettering, Ohio-based SAMAD Group, a financial services company. In addition, he spends countless hours on the lecture circuit promoting fellowship, cooperation and mutual understanding among Muslims, Jews and Christians.
"A lot of times people look at Muslims and Americans as 'we and they,' " he said. "We have to get away from that. Americans are Muslims, too. Millions of Muslims have been born in this country. Many who came with here with us in the '60s have raised children and grandchildren.
"We don't think there is a problem in terms of the cultural aspects. What we are always careful about, however, is to make sure our children and families know what the Islamic values are. But what we find, in many cases, is that Islamic values are not very different from the values of the general public."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/living/religion/14013785.htm
The Courant - March 5 2006
CAIR Executive Director, Connecticut speaks
on challenges currently facing the Muslims
Badr Malik, executive director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Connecticut chapter, speaks to The Courant reporter, Frances Grandy Taylor, about some of the challenges currently facing Muslims in the state.
Q 1: What sort of an environment is Connecticut for American Muslims?
A: There is one case where a woman walked into a Wachovia Bank with her head scarf, and she was told by the branch manager to leave the branch right away or take the head scarf off. That case is pending. She went to another Wachovia [branch] that they didn't have any problem with that. So it looked like only this one person overreacted on that. We are fighting the case. There are numerous other cases like that. But in general, compared to other states, Connecticut is very comfortable for Muslims. There haven't been very many severe cases here compared to other states that I see.
Q 2: Stories have been in the news lately about the FBI monitoring mosques throughout the United States in an attempt to detect sources of radiation. What do you think about that as an American Muslim?
A: I was very depressed to find out that the trust level is not there. A mosque is a place to pray and worship God; it is not a place for a hideout or a place for a terrorist organization to work. There should be a trust level enough so that they trust American Muslims. There are 10 million American Muslims here. They are part of the American fabric, going about daily life. They are just like any other Americans, and they should be treated like that. This incident didn't reflect that. The trust level of the government is not there. They can build that trust easily, but they don't want to, in my opinion.
Q 3: Can you talk about what happened to you when you were in Canada recently and were attempting to return to the United States?
A: I've been here 30 years. I went to college here. And I went in and out of the border maybe more than 10 times already. Since 9/11, I think I've been to Canada three times, in the same car. I was questioned but never had to go to an interrogation room. This time, I handed them my American passport, me and my family - I have four kids and my wife - it was 8 o'clock in the morning, the day after New Year's. We were coming back after spending holiday with my relatives in Canada.
As soon as I handed the passport, they asked me to step out of the van. On the back of the van, while everybody else was waiting in line, I was supposed to spread my hands and legs. They searched me for weapons, which is highly unusual. Mostly people are told to go into the back room and park the car. Then I was followed by two other officers who led me to an interrogation room. They had my pockets all emptied. And they searched me again. They asked me normal questions, "Where were you? How long were you there? Why did you go there?" Those questions could have easily been asked out there [in the customs line]. It was just a harassment. We had to wait three hours for that, and my family had to go through all that hardship for nothing. Then they took my van to the garage. They checked the van with the canine and probably with X-ray. It was totally checked. They took my briefcase out, my laptop. They checked everything, all the documents. After two hours, they said they can't release [the items and car] until the Homeland Security person could come from Buffalo, which would take about an hour. When he came, within five minutes, he let us go - without asking me any questions.
By knowing the plate of my car, they know who I am. And we're not in profile with a terrorist when traveling with a family. Mostly the terrorist profile is under 30, traveling alone. I was traveling with my family. This was a harassment. That's how I looked at it. I have filed a complaint with one of the legal organizations in Washington, D.C. - the National South Asian Bar Association - and a formal complaint with the Department of Justice.
Q 4: There is a lot of outcry and rioting now in the Muslim world about the depiction of Mohammed in newspaper cartoons. Can you talk about that?
A: It's not an overreaction in my opinion. Because it's just like anti-Semitism is wrong, you don't put down a religion just because you are not of that religion. It's not supposed to be happening. Making fun of religion, making a joke of a prophet just to provoke people's emotion, it's not right. It's basically bashing a religion. The CAIR president has made a statement about that, and CNN said they would not publish [the offending images].
(Badr Malik, 53, is executive director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Connecticut chapter (www.cair-ct.com) an organization dedicated to promoting better understanding of Islam and Muslims, and to defending the civil and human rights of Connecticut Muslims. A mechanical engineer by profession, he has lived in Old Lyme for the past eight years. He spoke to reporter Frances Grandy Taylor about some of the challenges facing Muslims in the state during a time of terrorism and war with Iraq.)
http://www.courant.com/news/local/northeast/hc-3q0305.artmar05,0,611861.story
Broadside – March 3, 2006
Students speak out on discrimination in America
By Amy Hamilton
Are Muslims discriminated against? Some Muslim students at George Mason University say they face discrimination based on their religion and ethnicity.
Afnan Abdul, a senior history major and Islamic studies minor, said that she and her husband called about vacancies at an apartment complex and were told that there were units available. “Once we got there however, they saw my husband and I -- I wear a scarf and my husband has a beard-- and they told us there were no openings,” she said.
Senior communication major and Sunni Muslim Nargis Zalmai said after Sept. 11, 2001, people yelled at her on the highway and told her to go back to her country when they saw the “Afghan love” sticker on her car
Some students say people make an almost subconscious connection between Muslims and terrorism. Zalmai said, “That’s the biggest misconception. [That] Muslim equals terrorist.”
Mahdi Gharavi, president of Mason’s Shi’a Islam Student Association, also recognized this misconception that connects all Muslims with terrorist leaders such as Osama bin Laden. Gharavi said that many white Anglo-Saxon Protestants feel they are bin Laden’s main targets, however he said that bin Laden’s No. one enemy is the West, No. two is Iran (partly because of its large Shi’a population) and No. 3 is all Shi’a. So since Gharavi is American, of Iranian descent and Shi’a “I’m more of a target than [most Americans] are.”
The media is not helping to fix this misconception, said Sana Kazmi, a senior biology major.
“I believe the media tries to link terrorism with Islam, which is very untrue. One of the meanings of Islam is keeping peace. Islam does not permit terrorism or violence,” said Kazmi.
Are all Muslims Arab?
Although Zalmai is of Afghan descent, she has always lived in the U.S. However, many will not accept “here” as an answer when they ask where she is from. They continue, “No, where are you really from?”
When faced with similar questions, Abdul responds that “One, I'm American and have lived here for 19 of my 21 years and two, I've never even been to the Middle East or Southeast Asia. I would say my English is pretty good thanks, and I wouldn't know [about] ‘my country’ because I've never been there.”
Gharavi said that often things are said about Arabs that would not be considered acceptable if directed toward any other race.
Can we change?
Mason students offered suggestions to people hoping to end discrimination against Muslims. Kazmi said “Mason students should not trust the news 100 percent” because it’s not always accurate.
“All 22 years of my life I’ve never heard anything good about Muslims in the media,” said Zalmai.
“There’s a lot more of a sense that people want to know more before they make a judgment and that really helps,” Gharavi said.
Zalmai said, “when it comes down to it, it’s all about respecting each other.”
http://www.broadsideonline.com/article.php?date=02-27-2006§ion=news&article=discrimination.txt
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