November/December 1994, Pages 62-64

American Muslim Activism

By Greg Noakes

ISNA Hears Call for Muslim Unity

The 31st Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), held in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend, brought together more than 15,000 Muslims from across North America. Conference activities included workshops on youth and the family, finance, the media and relations with the American justice system, as well as special sessions on Algeria, Bosnia, Kashmir and India. The convention also featured a "Resource Room," where speakers demonstrated "how-to" skills as diverse as estate planning and the use of electronic mail for Islamic work.

A number of prominent speakers addressed the conference, including Imam Siraj Wahhaj of New York, American-Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf, Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University, Canadian scholar Jamal Badawi and Muzammil Siddiqi of Orange County, CA. In addition, four major North American Muslim leaders, Imam W. Deen Muhammad, Imam Jamil al-Amin of the National Community, Abdul Malik Mujahid from the Islamic Circle of North America and ISNA's Abdalla Idriss Ali, pledged to make their joint Islamic Shura Council of North America a more effective body. The leaders agreed to prepare a joint working paper to be submitted and ratified by their respective shura ("consultation") councils, according to Islamic Horizons editor Omer Bin Abdullah. For more information, contact ISNA, Old State Road 267, P.O. Box 38, Plainfield, IN 46168, telephone (317) 839-8157

Islamic Convention Draws 10,000

The 1994 Islamic Convention, sponsored by the community of Imam W. Deen Muhammad (above), drew 10,000 participants to Washington, DC over the Labor Day weekend, conference organizers said. The convention theme, "Education: The Main Influence Behind Progress," was reflected in some 75 workshops conducted during the conference. Although most of the convention attendees were African-American, the Muslim Journal noted that Muslims from all ethnic backgrounds were present, and that "the convention provided an opportunity for Muslims from across the country to network, strategize, and develop associations that will help ensure the proper development of the community."

A highlight of the four-day program was a public address at the Washington Convention Center by Imam W. Deen Muhammad, the son of the late Elijah Muhammad who broke with his father's Nation of Islam teachings to become one of the pre-eminent spokesmen for mainstream Sunni Islam in America. Washington, DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly also addressed the convention, which was attended by diplomats from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan and Bosnia. Information about conferences, publications and other activities can be requested from the Ministry of W. Deen Muhammad, P.O. Box 1061, Calumet City, IL 60409.

AMC Sponsors "Islam in Africa"

The American Muslim Council co-sponsored a four-part Capitol Hill seminar on "Islam and U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa: Political Participation, Pluralism and Human Rights in North, West and East Africa" on consecutive Monday afternoons in September and October. The luncheon discussions, which also were sponsored by Churches for Middle East Peace, the Washington Office on Africa, and Georgetown and Howard Universities, examined political developments in different regions of Africa, as well as U.S. foreign policy toward African Islamic movements. Seminar speakers included Emad Shahin of George Washington University, John Entelis of Fordham University, Washington consultant Graeme Bannerman, Howard University's Sulayman Nyang, John Esposito of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, University of New Hampshire historian John Voll, Lansine Kaba of the University of Illinois-Chicago and retired U.S. diplomat Amb. Herman Cohen.

Cassette tapes of the seminar proceedings and other information are available from the American Muslim Council, 1212 New York Ave. NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. AMC also participated in ceremonies honoring Nelson Mandela during the South African president's recent U.S. visit, and sponsored a candidates' forum in Maryland.

SIHR Deplores French Hijab Ban

Solidarity International for Human Rights (SIHR), an American-Muslim human rights organization, criticized French Education Minister Francois Bayrou's decision to ban the hijab, or headscarf, from public schools, saying it was "very concerned about the future of social accommodation and religious freedom in France." Bayrou reversed previous French government policy, which allowed individual public schools to set policy on the admittance of students wearing hijab, by declaring that "ostentatious" religious symbols will be banned from the classroom. SIHR President Yaser Bushnaq said, "If freedom of conscience means no one can force a girl to wear a scarf, then it means no one should force them not to, either."

SIHR recently released an information bulletin on the arrests of a number of Islamic scholars and educators in Saudi Arabia, as well as special reports about the detention of several dozen intellectuals, businessmen and officials in the Sultanate of Oman and the continuing human rights emergency in Algeria. To rerquest copies of any report, contact SIHR, 1220 L St., NW, Suites 100-400, Washington, DC 20005, telephone (202) 347-9801.

Muslim Student Interns "Graduate"

The Muslim Student Action Network concluded its first Washington, DC summer intern program with a July 24 "graduation" ceremony for 14 students drawn from all over the United States, and from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The Muslim interns spent the summer working in the offices of members of Congress, non-governmental activist groups, or both. Speakers at the program included Ahmed Taha; Saleemah Abdul Ghafur; Imtiyaz Mahida; Abrar Hussain; Abdurahman Alamoudi, executive director of the American Muslim Council; Richard Curtiss, executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs ; and Khalil Munir from the office of Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY). The speakers emphasized the importance of such programs in correcting the present imbalance between the size of the U.S. Muslim community, estimated at between 5 and 12 million Americans, and its sparse representation in Congress, the media, and political and activist organizations.

Information on next year's program can be obtained from the Muslim Student Action Network, 974 Commercial St., Suite A, Palo Alto, CA 94303, telephone (415) 852-9052.

CAIR Counters Anti-Islam Card

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is coordinating nationwide protests over a get-well card printed by Recycled Paper Greetings which CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper says "perpetuates stereotypical and bigoted sentiments toward Muslims that create a climate of hostility." The card, whose cover features a veiled woman and the words, "Rather than confront her morbid fear of germs, Millicent changed her name to Yazmine and moved to Tehran," includes the inside lines, "So, you're feeling like Shiite. Don't Mecca big deal out of it."

Chicago-based Recycled Paper Greetings refused CAIR requests for a public apology and the card's recall, despite several hundred telephone complaints. CAIR proposed a boycott of the company and staged several public demonstrations, while an American Muslim in Lawrence, KS undertook an 18-day hunger strike to protest the card. In response to Muslim concerns, Hallmark Cards alerted its 9,000 independently owned stores about the card, and noted that its corporate outlets carry no Recycled Paper Greetings products. "The card is most inappropriate and should not be marketed," one Hallmark official wrote to CAIR. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America endorsed the protest, telling the card company the church's 5.3 million members would join in the boycott "should the request for a public apology to our Muslim brothers and sisters fall on deaf ears."

CAIR also is monitoring the case of a Muslim woman in St. Paul, MN who was ticketed by police for wearing a face-veil in a shopping mall. Tayyibah Amatullah, a 21-year-old college student, was cited for violating a state law which prohibits people from concealing their identities behind "a robe, mask or other disguise." CAIR notes that "according to most Islamic scholars, a covering over the face is not a requirement, but is permitted if the woman so chooses." For more information, contact CAIR, 1511 K St., NW, Suite 807, Washington, DC 20005, telephone (202) 638-6340.

Library Exhibitor Prevails

Last spring Shireen Jaouni, a student at Maryland's Montgomery Community College, decided to put together an exhibit on Middle Eastern culture for display at the college's Rockville campus library. After first being assured that her exhibit could be displayed for three weeks, Jaouni received a different response when library administrator Harriet Reiter learned the student was a Palestinian Muslim, Jaouni said.

After repeated inquiries from Jaouni, the library offered to make space available in the summer—when there would be few students on campus. After a number of requests, Jaouni finally was given an application for display space in the fall to produce an exhibit on Islam.

While assembling her display, Jaouni said she received unsolicited advice from Harriet Reiter about what the exhibit would contain, including a list of books that should be included. Jaouni contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations for help in reviewing the suggested materials and dealing with hostile library administrators.

Watched closely by library staff, Jaouni and Samira Hussein, a local resident who contributed several pieces of Middle Eastern handicrafts and artwork for display, assembled the exhibit for its six-to-eight week run at the library. Since the exhibit opened there have been instances where the accompanying video and display case lights have been turned off, only to be turned on again after Jaouni's complaints.

Shireen Jaouni considers the exhibit an expression of her identity not only as a Muslim and a Palestinian, but as an American. "Since America is a melting pot, I don't feel that anybody has more rights than somebody else, or that anyone is 'more American.'" Through her library display—and her persistence—Jaouni is sharing that message with others at her campus.