Islam in America

Assalamu aliukum,

I published a small book that I pray may be of benefit, or add a new perspective to Islam in America.  It captures the highlight of my experience as a Muslim activist in the past 20 years.

You can download a free PDF (A_Vision_For_Islam_In America), purchase it online for Kindle (here), paper book format from CreateSpace,  or Amazon. Proceeds go to MAS Boston and ISBCC.

I am interested to hear your feedback, reviews, comments and questions. Please feel free to leave them in the comment section below, and share with others who may be interested.

I received the question below from a Muslim sister in college. (Answer is here and here)

….I was wondering about the challenges in calling America “our people”. I was discussing with some sisters today about how we should be praying for “our people”. The ultimate response was, if they were our people or considered us their people, we wouldn’t be facing as much Islamophobia as we are today. We watched the youtube video on “Hate has come to Orange County” and it sparked quite a discussion about us Muslims here in America, and Islamophobia.  Based on what I have learned from your presentation, I tried to see if I can get them to see it from the perspective of what the Prophets and Messengers went through and how they still said “ya qawmi” (Oh, my people).  They, as Muslim Americans, truly feel as if they can’t really think of most Americans as “their people” due to the constant negativity and discrimination they feel as Muslims. Although, alhamdulilah, this discrimination and fear does not cripple us as Muslims or as a community, rather encourage us to give more to our country; the sisters truly felt that they cannot connect with the American society though they grew up in it because of the hate and alienation. The more Islamophobia and bigotry they see, the more they distance themselves and just stay with the Muslim crowd. I wasn’t too sure how to respond here. They understand there is good and bad to America, but they feel the bad has caused them to feel hurt and sidelined, so they are not as passionate about accepting this ideology. They were not against the idea of being American or anything, it was just that their heart wasn’t in it in calling them “our people”, so they became comfortable just staying in the “Muslim bubble”.

Also,  Subhana Allah, I went to a recent CAIR banquet and I truly loved it. It motivated me to think of my rights and fight for my rights. But I felt something missing and the discussion I had today with the sisters reminded me of the presentation and I realized that the aspect that was missing was what you said about why we are here, as vicegerents. Yes, alhamdulilah we do have organizations that will ensure us our rights, but we are also here to capture the hearts of people. As a MAS member, how do you reconcile or draw the line when to not fight for your rights but capture the hearts of individuals towards Islam and when to claim your rights? For example, at (University) we had an Islam Awareness Week, and we had few Christian hecklers with signs and pamphlets come to us, and screaming “you’re going to hell”. As an MSA, we had the right to ask them to move from our area or call Security on them. I personally was of the mind set of let them just stay and ignore them so that we concentrate on the rest of the campus. I was hoping that if people passing by saw how unaffected the Muslims were and how we were still smiling and raising awareness, people will be more interested in coming up to us and us giving up our right to ask the heckler’s to leave wouldn’t matter.

I apologize for the long email and I hope my questions made sense. Jazakal Allahu khair for the presentation, Subhana Allah, it showed me a different way of looking and approaching this very important concept.

—–

The two blog entries below this piece address key issues raised in the question above.

– America as “our people” ;

– How the prophet dealt with Islamophobia

–

Too tired to take care of the family, career, and community development on top of all that?

Read these 6 ways to refuel your energy every day.

The 7th is a daily Quran exercise. You see, just like our bodies need water, food, sleep and exercise; our spirit needs spiritual nourishment. If you don’t nourish your spirit, then it can eventually die

An Alert to American Muslims

The Muslim American Society (MAS) has launched a national initiative, currently called the Straight Path Campaign, addressing the issue of extremism in our community. We are calling on all Muslims to contribute to this important discussion. Below is some background and starting point for the discussions.

NOTE: view more information about this campaign here : islampath.org

Discussion 1: Why is this initiative important, and what are its key goals?

1. Muslim youth across America are exposed to extremist ideas, whether through interaction with radical groups, or through the internet.
2. The goals are to (a) provide people with an alternative way to express themselves aside from violence; (b) provide young people with positive tools for social change; (c) educate people about the high cost of extremism for their communities and for themselves.
3. Extremism is a big problem in many countries around the world. It is also highly contagious. This is our chance to address it early on, before it becomes an even bigger problem in our own country.

Discussion 2: What Obstacles or challenges might we face in addressing these issues?

1. Some external elements will not desire the call for moderation to prevail amongst Muslim youth
2. Finding creative ways to connect effectively with a positive message to all Muslim youth
3. Overcoming misconception that extremism is part of Islam
4. Islamophobes misrepresenting our efforts
5. Full engagement from all segments of our community in this effort.
6. Some may believe that the issue is mostly media-hype, and that it is not a real problem.
7. Raising funds to sustain the initiative.

Discussion 3: Why should the Muslim community address this problem?

1. Peace and moderation are key Islamic concepts.
2. An opportunity to connect, mobilize, and organize Muslim youth around a positive message.
3. An opportunity for Muslims to play a key role in addressing a need that is clearly a priority to our country.
4. Sends a clear and actionable message, that Islam stands against extremism

What you can do:

During the next few weeks, please take the following action

1. Initiate a discussion on the topic with your family, friends, in your study circles, in an Islamic center, in town-hall meetings, and in your organizations. Start with the points mentioned above. Add other discussion questions such as : what is extremism, is it a threat to your community, what fuels extremism, what is the cost of extremism, what are the arguments used by extremists and how do we refute them, how is Jihad misinterpreted by extremists,  who are our allies in this campaign, what are creative means to combat extremism?
2. Send this blog to your friends and your local email lists
3. For discussion leaders, share your discussion notes using this new online survey. Also, pass on this other survey to discussion participants after the discussion.
4. Volunteer, identify and recruit individuals who have interest to work on this project locally and nationally. Fill out this online survey to volunteer for this initiative. You will be placed in local and national teams, based on your skills, interests, and availability.
5. Recommend candidates to apply for the full time position of Director for this national campaign.

We plan to synthesize all your inputs to shape our current plans

The Muslim American Society (MAS) has the largest network of dedicated Muslim youth and volunteers across America. We have a duty to answer the call to address this challenge facing our country and our community.

Hossam AlJabri

Executive Director, Muslim American Society