April/May 1995, Pages 73-75

American Muslim Activism

By Greg Noakes

Coalition Criticizes Terrorism Bill

American-Muslim organizations are building a coalition with Arab-American and civil rights groups to lobby against the "Omnibus Counter-Terrorism Act of 1995," which has come under fire from critics who believe it would grant law enforcement agencies sweeping powers in violation of the U.S. Constitution (see story on page 106). The American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) are joining with the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Arab American Institute (AAI) and civil rights organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild to formulate a unified response to the proposed legislation.

Leaders of these organizations are voicing their concerns to officials from the Justice and Commerce Departments in addition to mobilizing their members to lobby Congress and the Clinton administration against the bill. The Council on American-Islamic Relations suggests concerned readers contact President Bill Clinton and members of the House Judiciary Committee, which is holding hearings on the counter-terrorism law, particularly committee chair Henry Hyde (R-IL).

UASR Hosts RAND Scholar

Springfield, VA's United Association for Studies and Research (UASR) hosted a January round-table discussion with RAND Corporation Senior Analyst Graham Fuller. The seminar, which focused on "Islamic Movements and Western Interests: Strategic Imperatives," was moderated by Imad ad-Dean Ahmad of the Minaret of Freedom Institute and attended by a number of Muslim scholars and activists from the national capital area.

Fuller told discussion participants that relations between the West and the Muslim world currently are being re-evaluated by both sides. "We are coming into a new era where the United States is going to have to think in fresh terms about its goals—how American goals can coexist with the goals of other countries and, particularly, the Muslim world. How can we be more sensitive to the goals of other countries and still pursue our interests?" he asked. Fuller warned against the self-fulfilling prophecy of the "clash of civilizations" put forth by Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington. "Christ versus Muhammad is just not the issue," he said. "The issue is very much more complicated than this."

The RAND analyst argued that "the United States faces the major dilemma of change versus stability," pointing out that while preservation of the global status quo was a major element of the Cold War American fight against Communism, "today most of the non-Western nations are in desperate need of political reform, social reform and economic reform, and this will take the form of democratization, among other things. Democratization is desirable and it's necessary, yet it's also destabilizing, and this is where Washington gets very nervous."

MPAC Launches Newsletter

The Los Angeles, CA-based Muslim Public Affairs Council has created a newsletter, Counter-Terrorism Chronicle, "to understand the broad aspects of terrorism, to provide policymakers with critical information on American Muslim efforts to create an atmosphere of constructive dialogue in combatting terrorism, and to engage in a debate on terrorism without bias." The publication will be bi-monthly, according to MPAC.

The newsletter's inaugural March 1995 issue contains terrorism facts and figures compiled by the U.S. State Department, reprints of relevant articles from the mainstream press, and original essays by Muslim scholars Maher Hathout, Aslam Abdullah and Muhammad Fathi Osman. For information on Counter-Terrorism Chronicle or MPAC's other activities, contact the Muslim Public Affairs Council at tel. (213) 383-3443, fax (213) 383-9674.

Ad Campaigns Altered

Protests from the Muslim community have resulted in a change in DoubleTree Hotels Corporation's recent television advertising campaign, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The ads emphasized hotel staff's quality of service by showing men wearing "Arabian" clothing prostrating themselves to guests in the same way Muslims perform their prayers. Greg Malark, an official with the Phoenix, AZ-based hotel chain, told CAIR the ad "has been revised" in response to Muslim concerns.

CAIR recently has responded to a number of advertisements deemed offensive to Muslims. Anheuser-Busch apologized to the Muslim community for a December ad which featured a model wearing a tank-top decorated with Islamic calligraphy; Timeslips Corporation redesigned a print ad in which business executives kneeled on prayer rugs to "worship" a box of computer software; and the Seagram's distillery recently pulled an ad for an alcoholic beverage which featured the Taj Mahal, a classic example of Muslim architecture from India's Moghul dynasty.

Muslim Public Library Reopens

California's first Islamic lending library, the Muslim Public Library, reopened its doors in Canoga Park after doubling the size of its facilities and building up its collection. In addition to offering library patrons a selection of 2,000 books, magazines and videotapes, the institution also provides classes in Arabic, the library's Egyptian-born founder, Khaled Ahmed Soliman, told the Los Angeles Times. A wide array of children's books and the children's self-defense classes offered by the library are an important part of the institution's appeal. "We wanted children to come and when they come, to bring their parents," Soliman said, adding that his purpose in starting the library was not to convert non-Muslims, but to acquaint them with the teachings of Islam.

New Publications of Note

Oxford University Press has released a four-volume, 1,900-page reference work on contemporary Islam edited by Georgetown University scholar John Esposito containing articles by 450 Muslim and non-Muslim contributors. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World contains entries dealing with Islam as a faith, politics and current affairs, culture and society, economics, arts and culture, and women and Islam. In addition to an overview article on Islam by Dr. Esposito, U.S. and Canadian Muslims will be interested in the encyclopedia's wide-ranging coverage of Islam in the Americas. For more information, contact the Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016.