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SEPTEMBER 1999, pages 121-125 Muslim-American Activism
The theme of the 24th Conference of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), held in Baltimore, Maryland July 2-4, was “Youth, the Future of Islam: Myths and Realities.” ICNA has 3,000 members and 60 local units across the U.S. and Canada. Its primary purpose is to provide intellectual, moral and physical training from an Islamic perspective to families living in North America. ICNA’s annual convention, held in different cities each year, is now a major event that attracts thousands of Muslim families, giving friends and relatives a chance to get together to celebrate their history and Islamic heritage. The convention center in Baltimore was well-equipped to handle the greater than usual numbers this year at its convenient downtown location near the aquarium and scenic harbor. Some of this year’s keynote speakers from the U.S. and overseas were: Prof. Ghulam Azam (Ameer Jama’ati Islami Bangladesh); Sheikh Muhammad Siyam (former imam of Masjid Al-Aqsa); Mawlana Yusuf Islahi (renowned scholar and writer); Abdullah Adami; Dr. Abdullah Idrees Ali (former ISNA president); Dr. Sulayman Nyang (Howard University scholar and historian); Imam Siraj Wahhaj (Famous Da’ee of Islam); Dr. Mohammad Yunus (Ameer ICNA); and Dr. Ayub Thakur (from the U.K.). Other speakers included Dr. Muzammil Siddiqui, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Dr. Mukhtar Maghraoui, Sheikh Abu Bakr Syed, Imam Muhammad Naseem, and Qazi Hussain Ahmad. There were extra programs for youths, young children and women, interfaith discussions, and many workshops, as well as family counseling and a marriage service. There were sessions in English, Arabic, Urdu, and Bangla. Young Muslims for Faith and Action programs included sessions to help youths growing up in North American society to apply the teachings of Islam to work through social and moral issues. Some of the workshops focused on Dawah (presenting the Islamic message to one’s family, friends, neighbors and society at large), organization, and training. Between sessions and meetings, visitors shopped in the ICNA bazaar area where they could find everything from incense, perfume, dresses and computer programs to books, toys and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazines. ICNA has formed several important institutions, which each had booths, such as The Message Publications, Sound Vision, MSI Financial Services, ICNA Relief (which provides humanitarian aid to Kosovo refugees in Albania and Macedonia), Muslim Alert Network, and ICNA Book Service. Participants left laden with purchases and fresh ideas and with every intention of returning next year for more. —Delinda Hanley and Sadia Razaq
As the world witnessed the humanitarian disaster in Kosovo, the children of Al-Huda School, a full-time Islamic academy in College Park, Maryland, chose not just to watch, but to act. Under the guidance of Principal Muhammad Sani, the students from kindergarten through sixth grade launched a fund-raising project. The students’ efforts, which extended to families, friends, and the community, raised $1,823 in fewer than three weeks, with nearly $900 of the total raised by the fifth-grade girls. After teachers explained to the children the perilous situation of the Kosovar Muslims, Principal Sani said, “We hoped that they would understand that regardless of race, color, nationality, social and economic status, Muslims are united by a common factor, Islam.” By taking part in the campaign, students also learned that every Muslim, regardless of age, has the capability to help others and has a role to play in the larger Muslim community, he said. Particularly touching to the teachers was the students’ reactions to the suffering of their Muslim brothers and sisters, Sani said. A second grader told him, “I wish I could go there and live with them or that they could come here and live with me.” “As Muslims in Kosovo, Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, and many other parts of the world continue to experience injustice and weakness, I hope that children and adults will follow the example of the students of al-Huda, and support their fellow Muslims,” Principal Sani said. — Sadia Razaq
At the annual dinner of the Minaret of Freedom Institute in Gaithersburg, Maryland on June 26, keynote speaker Avis Asiye Allman, a Muslim artist of combined Christian and Jewish heritage and a former visiting scholar at New York University, provided a useful review of history in examining the issue of hijab and religious freedom in Turkey. Following World War I, the victorious allied nations decreed that the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman Turkish rule could be provisionally recognized as independent, subject to assistance and advice of a state charged with the mandate for them. Britain would be responsible for Iraq and Palestine, and France for Syria and Lebanon. Of the Arab countries, only parts of the Arabian Peninsula remained free of European rule. Once the Ottoman occupation ended, Yemen became an independent state under Yahya, imam of the Zaydis. In the Hijaz, the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, the Ottoman-appointed custodian of Mecca, Sharif Hussain, who had joined the war against the Turks, ruled until the 1920s, when his domain was absorbed into the expanding nation being created by King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud from central Arabia. However, without known resources, few links with the outside world, and surrounded on all sides by British power, Yemen and Saudi Arabia were independent only within limits. Of the former Ottoman territories, the only truly independent state which emerged from the war was Turkey. Established in Anatolia upon the framework of the Ottoman administration and army and dominated until his death by Turkish military hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey embarked on a path which led it away from its Oriental past and from the Arab countries with which it had been so closely connected. It sought to re-create society on the basis of national solidarity, a rigid separation of state and religion, and a deliberate attempt to separate from the Middle Eastern world and become part of Europe. In the 1930s in the new Turkish republic the Islamic shari’a was formally abolished and replaced by secular laws derived from European models. Part and parcel of Ataturk’s disestablishment of Islam was using the term hijab to make a connection between the veiling of women and the lack of democratic values and progress. As Allman explained, for Ataturk, the embrace of hijab by the Islamists was indicative of both their desire to control women and their lack of democratic values. “In a 1925 speech Ataturk claimed: ‘In some places I have seen women who put a piece of cloth over their heads to hide their faces. Can the mothers and daughters of a civilized nation adopt this strange manner, this barbarous posture? It is a spectacle that makes the nation an object of ridicule. It must be remedied at once.’” Allman continued by saying, “From its creation, the Republic of Turkey has represented a secular democratic experiment in a Muslim country. However, Turkish-style secularism is not the same as its Western counterpart. Secularism in Turkey does not mean a complete separation between religion and state. In contrast to America, the state openly controls religion and the limits are numerous: open displays of religion are forbidden, male public servants cannot grow beards and female civil service workers are not allowed to wear hijab.” The recent incident involving Merve Kavakci, a 31-year-old veiled Turkish Muslim woman elected to serve in the Turkish parliament, revealed not only the profound impact of Kemalism and its efforts to erect a monolithic secular society, Allman said, but the extreme polarization within the general population. When Kavakci attempted to take her oath while wearing a headscarf this past May, deputies from the Democratic Left Party rose to their feet, clapped rhythmically and chanted, “Out! Out!” Allman recounted. Only a few days later, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit announced that President Suleyman Demirel had signed an official decree stripping Kavakci, who held both Turkish and U.S. nationality, of her Turkish citizenship. Allman, who has worked for many years on issues of religious freedom abuses in Turkey, explained that although Kavakci’s case received public attention, it is only one of a thousand like it. Many women in Turkey have been prevented from obtaining an education and employment because of their religious convictions, Allman charged. “Beginning in the 1998-99 school year, the National Board of Higher Education issued a ban against wearing the head scarf which applies to all universities in Turkey,” Allman stated. “An estimated 40,000 students wearing headscarves in about 60 universities in Turkey have been deprived of their right to education.” Female professors who chose to wear the head scarf also were affected. In an effort to protest against the government’s policies, three million people from all over Turkey joined in a nonviolent demonstration, Allman said, adding that one day after this act 25 medical students were arrested and now 22 medical students are being prosecuted. In Turkey today, a fierce battle continues to rage over the status of veiled Muslim women. As Allman said, “For many modern, non-veiled Turkish Muslim women, Ataturk freed the women of Turkey and for many Turkish intellectuals, the head scarf represents backwardness.” As Turkish elites continue to regard any gain in Islamist political influence as a disastrous regression in Turkish democracy, they must be cautioned, Allman said. The practice of veiling is not antithetical to democratic values. The problem, Allman said, is that women do face oppressive conditions in Muslim countries, as do their counterparts in the West, but the problems of women in the Islamic world do not derive from the veil or Islam, as imagined from a Western frame of reference. In Turkey, women are not being oppressed by the veil or Islam, but rather by the Turkish state in which they live. —Sadia Razaq
Congressman David Bonior, second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, spoke to Muslim activists from the Virginia suburbs of the U.S. national capital at a July 13 buffet reception at the Dar Al Hijra mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. Calling the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 “the worst law ever passed by Congress,” the Michigan congressman said its provision “allowing secret evidence is being used to discriminate against Arab Americans and Muslim Americans who have come from the Middle East.” Citing discrimination by successive past generations against native Americans, African-Americans, German Americans in World War I and Japanese Americans in World War II, Bonior said, “The story is not new but every time it has reared its head, people have banded together to fight it, and that is a very good thing.” Bonior described the Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 1999 he and “about 20 co-sponsors “are introducing into the House of Representatives and also expressed concern about reports of airport profiling, saying he had brought the FAA administrator and eight FAA assistants to Detroit to meet with constituents who felt they had been discriminated against. He also deplored the withdrawal by House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of an invitation to join the congressional commission on counter-terrorism to Los Angeles Muslim activist Salam al-Marayati, whom Bonior called “a good man and a member of the Human Relations Commission in Los Angeles.” In answer to questions from the floor, Bonior said, “I want us to recognize the significance of the diversity of Jerusalem.” He also said he believes that the Palestinians should have a state. Asked to comment on reports that in pursuit of a Senate seat from New York, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had called for moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Bonior said, “If the reports are correct, I am saddened as well. I think you should ask for a meeting with her.” Concluding, Bonior pledged, “I will do all that I can to speak out for what is in the best interest of peace.” —Richard H. Curtiss
Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Robert A. Seiple chaired a June 22 meeting at the Department of State between American Muslim leaders and representatives of several U.S. government agencies to discuss issues concerned with Muslim civil rights. Muslim groups represented were the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)—all represented in the American Muslim Political Coordination Council—American Muslims for Jerusalem, the Islamic Institute, the North American Council for Muslim Women (NACMW), the Islamic Supreme Council of America, and others including Arab-American groups with Muslim members. Government officials included Harold Hongju Koh, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and representatives of the Department of Justice, the White House and the Federal Aviation Administration. CAIR executive director Nihad Awad expressed concern about the use of secret evidence by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in deportation hearings, calling it “unconscionable that those facing deportation are not allowed to see the evidence that is being used against them.” Calling it “a clear violation of the Constitution and of basic human rights,” Awad said “the Muslim community feels that it is under siege.” He added that “people are afraid to go to mosques that are under surveillance” and charged that “many people have been approached by the FBI and asked to work with them to monitor what goes on in those mosques.” The CAIR director stated that, “The Clinton administration at the political level has been very open to the Muslim community. But at a lower level the opposite has been the case. Frankly, we believe that the law enforcement operations have become an extension of the pro-Israel community,” Awad said. Former American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) legal director Houeida Saad, now an attorney in private practice, provided several examples of discriminatory treatment of Muslims, both American citizens and aliens, by federal authorities. Other Muslim leaders attending the meeting suggested that airport security profiling targets Muslim and Arab Americans. In response, a government representative said that “the Department of Justice civil rights division has reviewed all aspects of security profiling and is convinced that no such [religious and ethnic] profiling exists. “That said,” the representative added, “all ethnic groups are going to be affected. Be advised that the people who are selected for additional security are selected quite at random.” Khaled Suffuri of the Islamic Institute and Abdurahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Foundation took issue with the statement, citing apparent evidence of specific ethnic or religious profiling. Hesham Reda of MPAC said that to date secret evidence has been used almost exclusively against Arabs and Muslims. Expressing appreciation for the frankness of the discussion, a State Department spokesman said, “We get numerous requests from Jewish groups to discuss Middle East issues.” He said that before the meeting, he had checked with the State Department spokesman’s office, which confirmed that “we rarely get requests from Arab and Muslim groups.” Hedieh Mirahmadi, general secretary of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), which is often critical of other U.S. Muslim groups, complained that “there are thousands of Muslims who are not represented here and who do not agree with the leadership which is here.” She added that “we can’t stand up in every case where secret evidence has been used and say this is unfair. In some cases the use of secret evidence is fair.” Her colleague, Dilshad Fakroddin, editor of the Supreme Council’s The Muslim Magazine complained about leaders at the meeting speaking for “the entire Muslim community” when “there are Muslims who disagree with the positions being expressed.” Abdurahman Alamoudi invitedthe two ISCA representatives to submit the names of other leaders who should be invited to such meetings. Executive Director Aly R. Abuzaakouk of the American Muslim Council brought up the lack of Muslim representation at government policymaking levels, noting that “inclusion of Muslim and Arab Americans is of importance.” He cited the incarceration for more than two years of Dr. Mazen Al-Najjar of Tampa, Florida solely on the basis of secret evidence. “We want the rule of law,” Abuzaakouk said. “We are law-abiding citizens. But we say, charge him or release him. As American Muslims we do not stand for any criminal act. We stand for the law. But don’t keep him rotting in jail.” A State Department representative said that when personnel officers visit university campuses “we do make a point of contacting Middle East policy centers” and “we also contact diplomats in residence” to make known State Department interest in recruiting qualified Muslims. Nihad Awad reminded him that “Muslims in America are your gateway to one-fifth of the world’s population.” At the meeting’s conclusion, Hesham Reda invited the State Department representatives to this year’s convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago, Sept. 3-6, which some 20,000 U.S. Muslims are expect to attend. The Muslim leaders expressed thanks for, in the words of Nihad Awad, “the Clinton administration’s openness to the Muslim community” and “other efforts to promote inclusion.” Ambassador Seiple responded, “If we don’t get [religious freedom] right in this country, we have nothing to say to the rest of the world.” —Richard Curtiss
Hosting the June 27 semi-annual meeting of the American Muslim Political Coordination Committee (AMPCC), its chairman, Dr. Agha Saeed, general secretary of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), arranged three events for one day in Sunny-vale, California. The program started with a meeting of AMA Northern California chapter leaders. (AMA Southern California chapter leaders had met the previous day in Orange County.) The chapter leaders were then invited to join Dr. Yahya Bashaof Detroit, national board member of the American Muslim Council (AMC), Omar Ahmed, national chairman of the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Dr. Maher Hathout, chairman of the Muslim Political Affairs Council, at a luncheon with Northern California mayors and state and federal officials. After introductory statements the government officials fielded questions from the Muslim leaders during an hour-long discussion which dealt with a wide variety of mutual concerns. In the afternoon the AMPCC officers met to adopt an action plan which was then submitted to the Council of Presidents of Arab American Organizations for joint efforts on the issues of secret evidence and elections in the year 2000. (See text on p. 13 of this issue.) —Richard H. Curtiss
Texas chapters of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA) held a training conference in Austin on April 22 to educate current and future American Muslim leaders on the U.S. election process. Four state legislators and state Republican party and Reform party directors addressed the conference, which was attended by about 40 Texas Muslim leaders as well as a number of young Muslims from Austin schools and universities. Chairman Syed Ahsani, of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of AMA, a retired Pakistani ambassador, coordinated and chaired the conference. Representative Talmadge Heflin (R-Houston) opened the conference with a presentation on the duties of state legislators, how committees work in the Texas House of Representatives, and the process of introducing and approving a bill in Texas. Representative Toby Goodman (R-Arlington) described how to get involved in Texas politics and how to campaign for elective office. He said that of the 120,000 to 130,000 registered voters in his district, only 12,000, fewer than 10 percent, actually voted in the last election. This underlined the importance that Muslim voters can have in influencing local politics. Representative Al Edwards (D– Houston) also spoke about the low level of popular participation in the election process. Suggestions raised by the audience included more accessibility to voter registration cards, possible changes to current laws to allow same-day registration and voting, and the need to educate the community. Representative Lon Burnam (D–Fort Worth) spoke about his involvement in international politics, mainly in South America, and how holding elective office can further personal goals in international politics. Representative Burnam is also the president of the Fort Worth chapter of Peace Action, the largest peace group in the U.S., and perhaps in the world. Linda Curtis, a member of the Reform Party’s State Executive Committee, spoke about “the need for a third-party reform agenda—the Jesse Ventura phenomenon.” She explained that an increasing number of Americans (30 percent) identify themselves as independent. As a result, she said, most voting decisions are based on a candidate’s personal credentials, and not his or her party affiliation. Chairwoman Suzan Weddington of the of the state Republican party described many ways to participate in political activism, as did Wayne Hamilton, who advocated getting involved by volunteering and interning in the offices of elected officials. Eric Vickers, a member of the AMA executive committee, described the need for Muslim participation in the political process. He spoke of the lessons learned from his experience in running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri and concluded that getting involved should start at the local level by building name recognition and acquiring local experience. Hala el-Ali, media coordinator for the D/FW chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), introduced ADC and spoke of the need for alliances between Arab-American and Muslim-American organizations and the role that the newly formed alliance between nine Muslim and Arab organizations can play. —Hala el-Ali |
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