Engage Minnesota

By Marcia Lynx Qualey and Asma L. Saroya, Engage Minnesota

A civil rights group is working again to debunk the myth that Muslims and dogs can’t get along.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today is clarifying Muslim beliefs about dogs and expressing support for a St. Cloud State University student who felt his service dog was threatened. CAIR-MN issued a statement following a May 12 article in the St. Cloud Times, which said that graduate student Tyler Hurd left the university because he feared for the safety of his dog.

Hurd told the St. Cloud Times that while many Muslim students grew to like his dog, the dog was threatened by a student at one of the schools where he was doing his field training.

The Times article falsely states that Islam “forbids the touching of dogs.” CAIR-MN clarifies that many Muslims are uncomfortable around dogs, as they believe the saliva of dogs invalidates the ritual ablution performed before prayer. For this reason, it has become a cultural norm for individuals not to have dogs in their homes.

However, “the moral and legal need to accommodate individuals using service dogs far outweighs the discomfort an individual Muslim might feel about coming into contact with a dog, which is one of God’s creatures,” said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley. Read more »

By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

From a Taking Heart picnic, summer 2007.

Gail Anderson isn’t asking you to make a new best friend.

“I think if next Wednesday night, we get a number of Christians to walk into a mosque—
that’ve never been in a mosque before—then I think we’ve done something,” said Anderson, unity and relationships organizer with the Minnesota Council of Churches.

Anderson helps head up the interfaith project “Taking Heart,” which brings Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors together over good meals and good conversation.

The next event, set for May 14 at Masjid Ummat Muhammad, was designed for South Minneapolis residents. The program is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with two presentations: There will be a brief talk about Muslim prayer, and Anderson will discuss the Christian prayer tradition. Afterwards, free Middle Eastern food will be served, and people will be encouraged to mingle and talk.

But what if people self-segregate, and Christians sit together with Christians, and Muslims with Muslims?

“We don’t let ‘em,” Anderson said, and laughed. Read more »

Mothers in Islam

By Tamim Saidi, Engage Minnesota

There is a great deal of love and respect for mothers in Islam. Over 1400 years ago, one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked him who the most deserving person of his kindness and his companionship was.

The Prophet (p) said, “Your mother.”
The man asked, “Then whom?”
He said, “Your mother.”
The man asked for the third time, “Then whom?”
The Prophet (p) said, “Your mother.”
The man asked for the fourth time, “Then whom?”
The Prophet (p) said “Your father.”

It was after becoming the father of three-year-old twins as well as a 19-month-old toddler that I began to understand why the status of the mother is three times that of the father. Read more »

By Thasneem Ahmed, Engage Minnesota

On Friday, April 25, Hamline University had a wonderful event featuring Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi. Her lecture centered on the “Roots of Chaos in the Middle East,” and she gave an honest, frank assessment of the region’s problems as well as of potential solutions.

Dr. Ebadi also spoke passionately about women and youth, and their struggles to achieve equality and peace. She exuded confidence, courage and compassion as she touched upon the pain and difficulties of the Iranian people—but it was when she spoke of their amazing strengths and accomplishments that her spirit and pride radiated. By the end of the hour, it was clear why this amazing woman had won the Nobel Peace Prize. She truly is a powerful force for peace and a tribute to the women of the Middle East. Read more »

Five University Groups Discuss How They Can Work Together to Improve Humanity’s Future

By Heba Abdel-Karim and Lolla Mohammed Nur, Engage Minnesota

“Imagine a world where people from different religious backgrounds come together to create understanding and respect by serving their communities.” - Interfaith Youth Core (www.ifyc.org)

On April 9, the Hillel Jewish Center, in union with the University of Minnesota’s Muslim Student Association, hosted and organized an interfaith discussion that brought together people of different faiths. The topic of the event was “humanity’s future,” and representatives of a number of different faiths spoke about how they see humanity progressing, and how our differences, as well as similarities, can better the community.

A little over a hundred people entered the room, determined to try something different: to go beyond their normal routine, talk to others of various faiths, and get to know them. Unsurprisingly, that’s what made the event—believed to be the first of its kind at the U—such a success. Attendees left politics aside and peacefully interacted with one another. In the end, they saw how similar, yet diverse and unique, we all were.

“I think that what group representatives, members, and the audience all liked the most was the atmosphere: nobody was on the defensive, nobody was being hostile, no group was being labeled with negative stereotypes,” comments EngageMN writer Lolla Mohammed Nur, pictured above to the left of Heba Abdel-Karim.

“The positive atmosphere was almost contagious!” says Mohammed Nur. “Some asked very insightful and sincere questions, and it was obvious that all audience members were there to genuinely learn about different faiths and beliefs. Everybody was there to help promote the message of religious tolerance and awareness.” Read more »

By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

Several years ago, I would have told you confidently—if haltingly—that I worked in a madrassa. Ana bashtaghal fi madrassa, I would’ve said. I worked there as a mudarissa, a teacher.

Madrassa and mudarissa were two of the first words to drop into my growing Arabic vocabulary. After all, I’d traveled all the way to Cairo, Egypt to take a job teaching pre-K at an international school. The words were useful.

For me, the word madrassa was almost empty of connotations, like escuela or école. When I first learned them, the words had no layers: They were attached to no stories, no sayings. All the word madrassa meant to me was a collection of beige buildings in the desert where I wrangled four-year-olds all day. Read more »

By Fedwa Wazwaz and Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

On April 9, we read Katherine Kersten’s column in the Star Tribune, and the e-mail exchange between Kersten and Asad Zaman, executive director of Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), and were compelled to respond.

I (Fedwa) have an eight-year-old daughter. I visited TIZA and decided not to enroll my daughter, choosing instead Al Amal School in Fridley. The primary reason is that I was convinced TIZA is not an Islamic School and does not teach Islamic Education to kids. I pay from my own pocket to put my daughter in Al Amal, the only Islamic school in the Twin Cities.

I (Marcia) have a four-year-old son, enrolled in a private Montessori school in St. Paul. While the school is housed adjacent to a Jewish temple—as TIZA is housed adjacent to a mosque—my son has learned nothing about Judaism by mere contact with the building. The school’s vacations are, as you might imagine, focused around Christian holidays.

Both of us work at the University of Minnesota, a public institution that receives taxpayer money. This school also closes on Christian holidays. Tests and school breaks are planned around Christian holidays to allow Christians time to celebrate. The floating holiday this year was on the Christian Good Friday, right before Christian Easter. There are “holiday parties” around Christmas Day—not, for instance, Ramadan.

However, the University of Minnesota presents itself as a secular university. Read more »

Since Katherine Kersten’s column regarding Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) in yesterday’s Star Tribune, the Minnesota Department of Education has been inundated with negative calls.

Kersten’s column claims that TIZA is violating its charter and the “church and state” separation. She bases this largely on the observations of one short-time substitute teacher who was immersed in a different school culture, and could easily have been mistaken in her impressions and interpretations.

However, whether or not TIZA has violated the strictest interpretation of religion-state separation is not the issue. What school in Minnesota has not? Indeed, last December, the Minneapolis public schools launched a large faith-based initiative weighted almost entirely to Protestant congregations. Read about it here.

If we are going to examine TIZA’s practices with a fine-toothed comb, then surely all faith-based initiatives, Easter pageants, Christmas trees, and even our choice of holiday vacations should come under strict scrutiny.

If you would like to urge the Minnesota Department of Education to be fair in its scrutiny of Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy, and to be wary of Islamophobic motivations, the department is steering all calls to this number: 651-582 8570.

Clinic Based in Islamic Center Helps Uninsured and Underserved Patients Treat Disease and Lead Healthier Lives

By Corey Habbas, Engage Minnesota

As health care costs increase in Minnesota and the uninsured rise in number, the Islamic Center of Minnesota (ICM) has taken on the role of a first-access, primary care clinic for anyone who needs it, through the Al-Shifa Clinic.

“It is our Islamic duty to address the issue of providing people with equal access to health care. We serve anyone in the community, both Muslim and non-Muslim,” asserts Sobia Sarwar, full-time coordinator for Al-Shifa Clinic. Al-Shifa is an Arabic noun for healing.

Since hiring Sarwar, the clinic’s committed doctors, who serve walk-in and scheduled patients, can concentrate on health care and not have to worry about administrative tasks like before.

She adds, “It’s the volunteer doctors that really make it happen. Without their skill set we really would not be able to contribute to the community. The fact that they dedicate their time and effort is enormous.”

Sarwar works in the banking industry, but says that her most rewarding job is her role as coordinator for Al-Shifa Clinic. But Al-Shifa is more than just a clinic. Read more »

By Owais Bayunus, Engage Minnesota

Hajj is considered the fifth pillar of Islam, meaning every Muslim who can afford it and is in good health has to perform Hajj (at least) once in his lifetime.

My very first recollection of people going to perform Hajj was in my childhood in Karachi, where all the pilgrims from Pakistan used to assemble at the harbor to board ships heading towards Saudi Arabia. There was a distinct difference between them and the rest of the people who were not going to Hajj. The men were all dressed in white, women well covered, and you could see children running around dressed similarly. They were more organized than other people and always remained with their group, lest they get lost and be a problem for themselves and others.

When one of my father’s friends went to perform Hajj, my father took me along to bid him farewell at the passenger ship. In those days, the rich pilgrims normally flew to Jeddah directly and the middle class and the poorer people would take a ship to Jeddah, a journey of almost seven days. Read more »

By Fedwa Wazwaz, Engage Minnesota

I like to read books on self-help and psycho-therapy. Recently, I read a book called Stop Walking on Eggshells by Paul T. Mason and Randi Kreger. In the book, Kreger and Mason talk about projection as “denying one’s own unpleasant traits, behaviors, or feelings by attributing them (often in an accusing way) to someone else” and then attacking that person for those traits.

In their interview with psychotherapist Elyce M. Benham, projection is defined as “gazing at yourself in a hand-held mirror. When you think you look ugly, you turn the mirror around. Voila! Now the homely face in the mirror belongs to somebody else.” Mason and Kreger refer to this projection game as “Tag, You’re It.”

In the past weeks, there have been a series of attacks against Barack Obama based on statements made by his spiritual adviser, Jeremiah Wright.

As a Muslim who’s heard a deluge of inflammatory and racist language directed at my faith and my Arabic ethnicity by the leaders of the Republican Party and White Evangelical leaders, I can sympathize.

Wright is certainly not the only spiritual adviser who has made inflammatory remarks. Let me share a few from the other side of the mirror. Read more »

By Emily Bright, Engage Minnesota

On the night of January 27, three men entered Mohammad Ismail’s Blaine Dairy store as he was closing shop and threw flaming glass bottles at the walls, destroying everything in the store. Ismail escaped through the smoke-filled store with minor cuts and burns. A strong expletive directed at the word “Arab” was founded spray painted on the side door that same night. The FBI is investigating the possibility of a hate crime.

Exactly two months later, on March 27, roughly 75 community leaders and concerned citizens gathered at Anoka Technical School to talk about what they were going to do about hate crime in their community. The crowd looked small in the auditorium, but the conversation was constructive, with many speakers stressing the need to forgive those who cause harm, educate the public, and get to know one’s neighbors. As an example of the meeting’s overall goals of unity, the event was cosponsored by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Lake Harriet United Methodist Church, the Anoka Technical Student College Senate, and the NAACP.
Read more »

By Rafi Sohail, Engage Minnesota

Conservation of natural resources is a key to ensuring the longevity of our planet and its inhabitants. Islam has a rich tradition of drawing our attention to properly taking care of the environment.

The teachings of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) point toward conservation, sustainable development, and resource management. The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) remarked, “The Earth is green and beautiful, and God has appointed you his stewards over it.”

This holistic environmental philosophy assumes a fundamental link and interdependency between all natural elements; if one of these is abused, then the natural world as a whole will suffer on account of this.

The following article is a humble attempt to help the readers conserve energy. This effort is inspired by Islam’s exhortations to safeguard the rights of the environment and to adopt moderation in the use of natural resources.
Read more »

By Lolla Mohammed Nur, Engage Minnesota

There is little doubt that many Minnesotans misunderstand Islam and the Muslim community. Misconceptions of Islam, however, did not arise out of empty air; the actions of a radical few have led people to see Islam as a barbaric religion. Although the frustration of “radicals” may be understood, there certainly are more peaceful ways of expressing one’s Islamic beliefs to the non-Muslim community, namely through spreading knowledge (da’wah).

Islamic Awareness Week is an example of such peaceful expression. The week includes a range of activities, from a simulation of “flying while Muslim” to a lecture on “Science in Islam.” The 2008 event is set to take place March 31 through April 4, and is sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Muslim Student Association and Al-Madinah Cultural Center. Read more »

By Emily K. Bright, Engage Minnesota

It’s not the first time you’ve been a victim of a hate crime, nor is it the last. It’s 8:30 on a winter evening, and you’re closing up your store. The entrance door is locked, half the lights are off, and you’re mopping at the far end of the room when three men barge in the exit door as though they mean to rob you. Two of the men have their hooded backs to you. One of them you can see. He’s over six feet tall, with short reddish blonde hair and a goatee. You observe this in the moment before he stands and hurls a glass bottle directly at you. You duck. It slams into the wall and explodes into flames. All around you, you hear the sound of glass exploding. The store fills with smoke in seconds. You can’t tell if the men are still there and if they’re waiting for you, but you have to get out. You race through your burning store and out to the road. You wave your arms until a woman stops and calls 911 for you. Read more »

By Fedwa Wazwaz, Engage Minnesota

On March 5th, House Resolution 951, which condemned Palestinians for rocket fire at Israel, passed in a vote of 404 to 1.

The lone voice of dissent was that of Congressman Ron Paul, who rose against the resolution, saying it was unfair and inflammatory in its condemnation only of Palestinian attacks. What was alarming was that all Minnesota Congresspeople voted in favor.

I want to openly and publicly ask these Minnesota Congresspeople some questions.
Read more »

Talk-Show Host Aims to Correct Distorted Picture of Muslims and Islam

By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

It was 1998 when Basimah Hasan left her hometown of Chicago for Minneapolis.

In the Twin Cities, she attended nursing school and began her career at North Memorial Hospital. She says that there is a “big difference” between the Minneapolis and Chicago Muslim communities.

“[There are] more Muslims in Chicago, and they’re more active. Here, everyone seems to be in their own ethnic groups. You don’t see a lot of activities going on, versus in Chicago.”

But, if there’s not enough activity, Hasan (pictured above) is not one to sit back and wait for someone else to start it up. The nurse, talk-show host, screenwriter, community activist, and producer is stirring up all sorts of action.

Through her nonprofit Hasan Publications Dawah Center, Hasan launched the “Islamic View.” The talk show aims not just to reach the Muslim community, but, more importantly, to reach non-Muslims with positive stories about Islam.

Why television?

“It’s images,” she says. “This is where we get our information from.”
Read more »

Islam Condemns Racism

By Tamim Saidi, Engage Minnesota

Even a quick and cursory review of Islamic teachings and a quick visit to local mosques prove that Islam condemns racism and tribalism and promotes equality and brotherhood of humankind. This equality of humankind in front of God has attracted many people to Islam, including Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and countless others.
Read more »

By Ramla Bile, Engage Minnesota

The mudslinging has reached the level of flagrant Islamophobia. In the past few months, I have seen my faith reduced to a smear tactic.

I witnessed political pundits attempt to capitalize on the public’s misconceptions about Islam and Muslims to delegitimize another candidate. The RNC and McCain repeatedly apologized over some “disparaging remarks” made by their supporters, primarily regarding the usage of the name Hussein, Obama’s middle name. An analyst on MSNBC’s “Hardball” even said, “Unfortunately, his middle name is Hussein,” as if there is something inherently tragic or wrong with having a Semitic name. A rather alarmist Rep. Steve King of Iowa recently said that if Obama is elected, Al-Qaida would be dancing in the streets.

We are witnessing the rejection of anything from or perceived to be from the broader Islamic world—even when they have no connection to Islam, the religion.

Read more »

By Thasneem Ahmed and Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

Many, perhaps most, of us want to make our voices heard. We want to affect the political process, but may not know how or where to begin. Is it enough to phone in our opinions? To send an email? What is the best way to communicate with our legislators? Many Minnesotans, perhaps, could use a “beginner’s guide” to political advocacy.

The fourth annual Muslim Day at the Capitol, scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 at the Capitol Building in St. Paul, provides just such a guide.

Thasneem Ahmed was able to attend last year’s Day at the Capitol (pictured above), and says: “It was wonderful to hear our representatives speak to the Muslim community, and to realize that we are all working on the same side—the side of making Minnesota a better place for all of its citizens.”

Any Minnesotan—Muslim or non-Muslim, beginner or seasoned advocate—is welcome to show up at the Capitol on Tuesday at 9 a.m., to participate and to learn. Read more »