Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Pages 12-14

The 1997 Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Convention: Two Perspectives

A Graduate Student

ISNA Packs Them In as Never Before at Annual Convention in Chicago

By Raeshma Razvi

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Their annual convention over the Labor Day holiday was held in Chicago, and they found themselves with some 20,000 Muslims, a host city in fine summer weather, and a conference that only a few years back would have been unthinkable.

The 34th annual convention, entitled "Muslims for Moral Excellence," dominated the Chicago Hilton & Towers. For four days the hotel was simply an extension of ISNA headquarters, with almost all sleeping and conference rooms booked for the convention. Two hotel restaurants served special all-halal buffets. A shopping bazaar was in full force. The adjacent Blackstone Hotel also was reserved for the affiliated Muslim Student Association proceedings, and clusters of young Muslim boys and girls filled the sidewalk along a two-block stretch of Michigan Avenue. Many of the hundreds of volunteers on hand to help the convention run smoothly became traffic guards within the wildly crowded hallways of the hotel, which fills an entire city block, and on the sidewalks around its entrances.

The convention was, for most participants, an overwhelming experience. Some likened it to a hajj experience, while another likened it to the crowds that assemble in major cities for 4th of July fireworks. Both analogies are valid: An ISNA conference is religious and commemorative. It is also intensely social.

As you push through the jam-packed hallway to get to a political activism seminar, you invariably must pause to greet someone you have not seen in months. When you start moving again, someone in front of you will stop moments later for similar greetings. But if you stop too long or too often, you'll be late for the seminar.

ISNA acknowledges the dual nature of this annual conclave. Its president, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, noted in the program book that the weekend is "not a mere occasion of social gatherings" but has a "real aim and objective...to promote Muslim unity, develop Muslim consciousness on major issues of their concern; educate, inspire and motivate Muslims into individual and collective action." (It sounded similar to the program of the Democratic National Convention, held the previous summer in the same and other hotels in Chicago's lakeshore complex.)

ISNA convened under the banner of "moral excellence," and the topic became less abstract as it was approached from many aspects in a series of seminars throughout the weekend. A session on "Conceptual Foundations of Moral Excellence" led to the "Islamic Road Map to Excellence" which led to the next day's "Staying on Track" seminar.

The ISNA seminars that seemed most successful were on very particular topics with community and family appeal. Any session on political activism in America (and there were several) was well-attended. On Saturday, speaker Paul Findley, author of They Dare to Speak Out, at the session on political education said that he was there because "Muslims in America are potentially a giant politically, but most of them are fast asleep. I'm here to wake up that giant." His talk to a beyond-capacity room focused on steps that Muslims need to take to make themselves known in their immediate communities.

The next day, Sunday, ISNA president Dr. Siddiqi, American Muslim Alliance chairman Dr. Agha Saeed and American Muslim Council president Abdurahman Alamoudi, MPAC chairman Dr. Maher Hathout and moderator Jared Akhtar examined historic Muslim concerns about voting, but agreed that American-Muslim communities from coast to coast must concentrate on voter registration and then, on election day, turn out the vote. On Monday in the convention's final plenary session on the topic of Jerusalem, chaired by XXXXX XXXXXXXX, ISNA chairman Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs editor Richard Curtiss, Link editor Dr. John Mahoney, and Usama Muhammed returned to the theme with advice on organizing meetings with candidates and arriving at agreed Muslim endorsements at the congressional level in 1998 and at the presidential level in the year 2000.

In contrast to the local angle, a seminar on prominent Muslim world organizations was sparsely attended. Jamil Al Amin spoke about African Islamic organizations' aims to teach Arabic and provide services to orphans. Semsettin Turkan of Turkey advocated the creation of Muslim non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He said that "the Muslim world's three enemies are ignorance, poverty and division," which need to be fought by "education, technology and unity." Maneh Aljohani of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth spoke of his organization's activities and said that worldwide work was difficult because of "various ideologies competing for our youth."

The concurrent session on Muslim social services proved to be very interactive. The panel members were able to hear comments from the audience and to answer questions about such things as hot-line support services, premarital counseling and rising divorce rates.

Such interactive formats proved to be the most popular of the forums. Attendees wanted to know what their fellow audience members were thinking about, as well as what a speaker could offer them in terms of guidance. Many of the complaints after certain sessions had a lot to do with insufficient time for questions and for genuine discussions to take place.

At a session called "Overcoming Dualities: Muslim Youth in North America," adult speakers talked at length about organizing at the college level. However, attendees seemed to want to hear more frank interaction from audience members. One onlooker felt frustrated at the negative attitudes that often pervade such speeches. "We can complain for 30 years," he said, "but the problem is we operate with a foreigner mentality." Unfortunately, his comments were deflected, leading one Detroit attendee to say at the end that she was very disappointed at "what could have been a really interesting discussion."

The nightly sessions in the grand ballrooms were spectacles to behold. Beyond-capacity crowds crammed into ornate ballrooms to hear various speakers.

Hamza Yusuf, an imam and active speaker, proved a particular crowd favorite. His Saturday night session was literally overrun by the ISNA attendees, young and old. They filled two ballrooms, with his speech telecast from one into the other.

Early on the charismatic speaker had to calm the eager crowd with exhortations to "resist anarchy." His subsequent talk revolved around the idea of using time wisely, saying that "one of the greatest diseases is procrastination" and that Muslims "have the IBM syndrome: inshallah [God willing], bukra [tomorrow], and mumkin[maybe]." His thousands of listeners were almost pin-drop silent as he exhorted the gathered community to use time wisely, or "evil will occupy you."

Oiling ISNA Engines

At this convention, discussion of spiritual growth did not come at the expense of material growth. There were sessions on estate planning, Islamic investment and banking, charitable planning and financial prosperity. All sessions were well-attended, and many speakers simply ran out of time to answer questions and address concerns of the attendees. Most questions concerned "correct" methods of financing, and the financial burdens of new organizations.

ISNA itself planned to raise some money and did so at a luncheon to attract donations to its development fund. The keynote speaker was Dr. Malik Hasan, president and CEO of Foundation Health Systems based in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Hasan's is the classic American success story. A physician from Pakistan who settled in Colorado, he eventually established FHS, the nation's fourth largest publicly traded managed care company.

Dr. Hasan called this room full of people "the 1,200 most fortunate in the world because we're Muslims and in America." Most of his talk centered around the idea that Muslims live in a good time and in a good place. "Only in America can a Muslim be a Muslim without arguing about what kind of Muslim you are, " he said.

He contrasted the mix of religious freedom and business opportunity in the U.S. with his native Pakistan and other countries-of-origin of Muslim immigrants. "Islam is the first religion that is a free-enterprise religion, and that's why in spirit Christian America is really closer to being Muslim," he said.

Appropriately, the lunch ended with outgoing ISNA president Abdalla Idris Ali's emotional appeal for funds to continue ISNA operations. "Ya Ikhwan [oh brothers]!," he said, "if ISNA dies, then Islam dies on this continent. Only sincere efforts will survive."

A Day in the Park

The Congregation for Peace planned in Grant Park, between Michigan Boulevard and the Lakefront, was blessed with wonderful weather and good attendance. It gave ISNA an opportunity to showcase some more speakers, including Hon. Ibrahim Rasool from South Africa and State Senator and Minority Leader Emil Jones. This was the day that the convention attracted most of its mainstream media coverage, and many attendees held placards up that read, "American Muslim Community wishes you Peace and Goodwill," and "Register to Vote Today." The program ended with afternoon prayer and with one of ISNA Secretary-General Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed's famous dua's [supplications], calling for peace, betterment and understanding. X

An Academic Consultant

Teeming ISNA Convention Shows Muslims Playing Growing Role in American Society

By M.M. Ali

Attending the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is always a rewarding experience, and it was no different this year. This is the single largest annual gathering of Muslims in North America. After a decline from 1983 to 1993, ISNA has turned itself around and has been gaining rapidly in strength. According to the ISNA organizers, "around 22,000" people attended the convention that was held in Chicago, Illinois, between Aug. 29 and Sept. 1, 1997.

A Chicago Tribune article, published midway in the convention while participants still were arriving, placed participation close to 20,000. The newspaper noted, however, that Warith Deen Mohammed's Muslim American Society, which is the largest African-American Sunni Muslim organization, also was holding its convention in New Jersey over the same Labor Day weekend, taking away many who otherwise would have been at the ISNA meeting in Chicago.

Going to any weekend conference or convention in America entails considerable cost and expenditure of time. The ISNA convention came almost on the heels of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) convention in Pittsburgh, PA over the July 4 weekend (see Oct./Nov. issue, p. 55). Although many people attended both the ICNA and ISNA events, others could not afford to attend them both. As a result, a tacit understanding now has been reached between all of the major American Muslim groups to hold their annual gatherings at more widely spaced intervals.

Islam, as is so often repeated, is the fastest growing religion in America. But estimates of the actual number of practicing Muslims in the U.S. vary widely, from four to eight million. While the total size of the Muslim population remains a matter of contention, the composition of the Muslim community is not in dispute. African Americans are the largest component, at 42 percent; 24.4 percent are South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis) and their descendants; 12.3 percent are Arabs; 3.6 percent Iranians; 2.4 percent Turks; 2.0 percent Southeast Asians (Indonesians, Malaysians, Philippinos and Singaporeans); 1.6 percent Americans of European ancestry; and 5.6 percent are unspecified.

In an Aug. 28 article before the convention opened, the Chicago Tribune reported that "in greater Chicago...Muslims now number between 350,000 and 400,000, substantially more than the metropolitan area's Jewish population, and second only to Christians."

ISNA's claim that it is a national umbrella organization for U.S. and Canadian Muslim groups is largely valid. Today, it loosely oversees more than 1,400 mosques and community centers scattered all over North America. Besides its annual convention, it also organizes conferences and seminars on topics relevant to the current affairs that directly or indirectly affect the Muslim community, works with other major religious groups to promote better mutual understanding, and encourages its membership to become active in American politics. It also offers economic and financial advice and counseling and, above all, provides leadership to Muslims in the new continent.

ISNA's mission statement asserts in part: "ISNA's mission is to provide a unified platform of expression of Islam, to develop educational,da'wah and social services that translate the teachings of the Qur'an and sunnah into everyday living, and to enhance the Islamic identity in the society at large."

On a regular basis ISNA also reaches out to the Muslim community through its bimonthly magazine, Islamic Horizons.

ISNA has just inducted into office its new majlis es-shura (consultative council), which has broad representation of all segments of the Muslim population in the United States. Its new president, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, of Southern California, who was elected prior to the convention, brings with him the modesty of a scholar, the humility of a leader and an unflinching willingness to serve the community. This strength at the helm is further enhanced by the sagacity, dynamism and dedication of ISNA's secretary-general, Dr. Sayyid Syeed, and the professional team he has brought to the organization's Indiana headquarters.

The Convention

Proclaiming Aug. 29-Sept.1, 1997 to be "American Muslim Community Week in Chicago," Mayor Richard Daley urged all "to be aware of the many contributions that American Muslims have made to our city, state and country." This may have been a courtesy that a mayor extends to all significant groups who meet in his city, but the compliments paid by a Chicago fire marshall and the city's police chief rang with sincerity and attested to the laudable reputations of expanding Muslim communities all over America. "The city has no problems with the congregation of Muslims because they do not pose any law-and-order situation and conduct themselves in an exemplary, peaceful manner," said the police chief, in contrast to the normal panic-stricken reaction of officials when huge numbers of almost any other group gather in one place.

Chicago's Grant Park on the shore of Lake Michigan was a feast to the eye when, at 1 p.m. on Sunday of the Labor Day weekend, Muslim guests streamed out of the Hilton Towers, the main site of the ISNA convention, and all of the nearby major hotels to participate in a peace demonstration and be welcomed by city, county and state officials.

In fact, however, the sidewalks in the hotel district bustled with Muslims almost round-the-clock for three days.

According to one source, of the 20,000-plus attendees, approximately 50 percent were women and between 5,000 and 6,000 were young people. This was a clear sign that Islam in America is healthy, growing and here to stay.

ISNA manages to attract a broad ethnic cross-section of South Asian, Arab and indigenous Muslims. They comprise an equally wide social spectrum from well-established professionals to less affluent but equally serious young couples and groups passing children back and forth as they hurried from ballrooms to seminar rooms with frequent stops in the "bazaar" area that encompassed three vast rooms with a total area almost equivalent to a full city block.

Among the many known and familiar scholars of Islam that ISNA brings to its platforms each year, it always produces a luminary who draws the attention of everyone. Last year it was eloquent scholar Dr. Murad Hofmann from Germany and Turkey. This year it was Hamza Yusuf, a young American-born imam from California who displayed an exceptional command of the Arabic language as he quoted from the Holy Qur'an and the shariah with facility to make his points. There was not even standing room left in the huge Hilton Hotel banquet halls whenever Hamza Yusuf addressed the audience on Islam and current affairs. Strikingly clad in his black robe and white turban, he is a scholar and an orator of no ordinary merit.

This year's convention theme, "Muslims for Moral Excellence," once again reflected the concern of a deeply conservative community that finds itself in the midst of a rather permissive society and confronted by an avalanche of visual, electronic and print media that invade every home in America. The emphasis, as is evident, is not just on the preservation of the moral values as propounded by Islam, but in excelling in those values.

A vast majority of the rank-and-file of ISNA attendees consists of first-generation immigrants to the United States who now find their progeny coming of age, and in some cases already producing a third generation, who are exposed to the moral trepidations of the times. Reiteration and serious study of the Islamic moral code is, therefore, considered essential.

The convention theme was expressed in different sessions through such topics as Staying on Track; Overcoming Dualities; Muslim Youth in America; Developing Skills in the Use of Media in Building a Moral Society; Fiqh of Parent-Child Relationships: How Close is Too Close?; and Using Qur'an in More Ways Than One. The convention program also addressed problems arising from observing Islamic values while participating constructively in American society. Questions of Islamic banking and particularly the issues of interest ( ri'bah) were examined in the U.S. context; the matter of Islamic personal law and its application in the framework of American jurisprudence was discussed; the opportunities and avenues of financial investments in the country that are permissible in Islam were probed; methodology for political empowerment of Muslims in America was examined; international sore points like the future of Jerusalem were pondered; and the need for inter-faith communication occupied a whole breakfast session. The compendium of papers read and speeches delivered at the 34th annual convention of ISNA will make good reading for those who could not physically attend all sessions, and the many others who could not make it to Chicago.

The progression from the 3,000 who came to the ISNA convention a decade ago to the 20,000-plus this year reflects not only the growing numbers of Muslims in America but also their growing self-awareness. The fact that it was a uniformly happy and uplifting experience, and the palpably warm and sincere welcome extended by the host city to our colorful and varied multitude, also reflects the willingness of our chosen homeland not only to accommodate but actually to rejoice in diversity.