March 1991, Page 68

Islam In America

By Dima Zalatimo

American Muslim Council Discusses with Pentagon Needs of Muslim US Soldiers in Gulf War

A delegation from the American Muslim Council (AMC) recently met with Col. Meredith R. Standley, executive director of the US Armed Forces Board of Chaplains, to discuss the status of Muslim American soldiers stationed in the Persian Gulf area.

During the meeting, Standley assured AMC members that "every effort is being made to see that every soldier is allowed to carry out his or her customary religious practices." For Muslim GIs, who total 2,700 in all divisions of the armed forces, this included the rights to perform customary prayers, on and off military sites, and to receive boxed religious materials properly posted through US Centcom Headquarters.

The AMC delegation, which included Abdurahman Alamoudi, Isa Smith and Ghayth Kashif, raised other concerns regarding the welfare of Muslim GIs stationed in Saudi Arabia. Standley said the delegation's request for the accommodation of the desires of Muslim soldiers to perform Haj and Umra rituals at the Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia would be considered. When the AMC delegates also requested that Muslim soldiers be permitted to monitor Saudi television for religious programming and counseling, they were informed that permission already had been granted.

The question of a Muslim chaplain was raised, as there presently are none in the armed services. Standley provided the delegation with the procedural format for recommending qualified applicants for accreditation.

"We are presently reviewing such a request from the Buddhist community," said Standley. A possible war-front visit by an American Muslim religious delegation, as requested by AMC members, was ruled out due to the war situation at the time of the meeting.

Given the nature of military life, Standley was asked about the military's sensitivity to the possibility of anti-Muslim epithets, jokes, or parodies. He said he would look into media reports of such incidents.

Another issue, this one raised by the chaplain, concerned current reports of scores of US soldiers in the Gulf converting to Islam.

"We have received a number of letters from congressmen about this issue," he stated. Standley cited a report that 25 soldiers reportedly accepted Islam after hearing an "overzealous lecturer" describe Islamic culture at one camp site.

AMC sources seemed to confirm these reports of new Muslim converts in the Saudi desert, saying they had heard that as many as 325 American soldiers had converted to Islam since the first deployment of troops to the Persian Gulf in August.

"Our conversation with Col. Standley was encouraging, " said AMC director Alamoudi. "We believe him to be a man of his word and we look forward to assisting him and the board in providing religious guidance and support for all of the American soldiers, regardless of their religious persuasion."

Following these discussions, AMC began consultations with other Muslim organizations in an effort to facilitate the process of accrediting a Muslim chaplain. AMC is also seeking to include Muslims in armed forces informational and promotional material.

In related developments, the Department of Defense held a meeting on religious and dietary accommodations for the troops. The meeting was attended by representatives of Christian denominations and Jewish and Muslim groups, including Ghayth Kashif of AMC, and Sgt. Lyndon Bilal of the US Air Force and Saleem Abdul-Mateen of the US Navy, both representing the Muslim Military Members (MMM).

The discussion centered on how to meet a high-level order to provide the service members with foods meeting their religious requirements. Recognizing the special dietary requirements of Adventists, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims, steps were taken to provide soldiers with halal (Islamic dietary standards), kosher and vegetarian food rations. For Muslim GIs, however, arrangements for the distribution of halal meals were already underway in conjunction with the Saudi government, Information the Pentagon solicited regarding Muslim dietary requirements was provided by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFNCA).

Muslims are prohibited from consuming pork, alcohol, intoxicants (other than for medicinal reasons) and meat upon which the mention of Allah was not made during slaughter.

According to the IFNCA report, exceptions can be made under emergency situations. A soldier who is cut off from his or her supply lines in wartime is considered such an exception.

Dima Zalatimo is the features editor for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.