IN THIS ISSUE
The Muslim Community of Indiana
Hosts Tea Reception
Honoring Governor Mitch Daniels
Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 6:30 PM
Location: 7552 Chabli Circle, Indianapolis
Sponsor: $500
Tickets: $250
Organizing Committee:
Dr. Haroon Qazi, Dr. Ibad Ansari, Dr. Shahid Athar,
Dr. Salah El-Saharty, Azhar Khan, Dr. Rashid Khairi, Anwar Shah
For more info, please contact Mariyam Khan at (317)716-0744 or at mfgovdaniels@yahoo.com
To register online, please visit us at www.mfgovdaniels.com
The Muslim Alliance of Indiana has joined with national Muslim-American organizations in commending federal officials for foiling an alleged terror plot targeting Fort Dix.
During a conference call initiated by Muslim organizations, FBI Assistant Director John Miller stressed that this is a case against a group of individuals, not against a specific religious or ethnic community. Miller also thanked the communities for their outreach efforts and continued engagement. Dialogue with government agencies and law enforcement is a crucial component of ongoing Muslim-American efforts to protect the nation and preserve the rights of all citizens.
Working with law enforcement on the local level yields effective partnerships between the Muslim-American community and law enforcement. The two key cooperating witnesses who made information available for the indictment came from the local Muslim community.
MAI is outraged by the religious justifications used by suspects. At the same time, it is crucial that public officials and federal law enforcement are strategic with their characterizations of the suspects. Any affirmation of the suspects' so-called Islamic motivations serves to isolate the majority of the Muslim-American community rather than the criminal elements who mask their heinous and terrorist acts with Islam.
Shariq Siddiqui
Executive Director,
Muslim Alliance of Indiana
Plainfield
The worry is back for millions of American Muslims. Describing the six suspects of the Fort Dix plot as "Islamic militants," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said at a news conference, "The philosophy that supports and encourages jihad around the world against Americans came to live here in New Jersey and threaten the lives of our citizens through these defendants." No further explanation was given about the nature of that "philosophy," yet the defendants were branded as "Islamic." A whole religion and its adherents are included in that generalized term to describe the alleged actions of a few. There lies the cause of worry for Muslims in post-9/11 America. Like all other Americans, they are concerned about terrorism. But whenever an act of violence is perpetrated by any Muslim, they have to be doubly concerned about their own safety and security. "What we're all afraid of is a new backlash," said Hesham Mahmoud, a spokesperson of Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's New Jersey chapter.
The Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has reported almost 2,000 cases of discrimination and civil-rights violations against American Muslims in 2005, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. Also, surveys done by CAIR revealed that one-fourth of Americans consistently believe stereotypes such as: "Muslims value life less than other people" and "The Muslim religion teaches violence and hatred." Similar polls by the Washington Post and ABC News found that one in four Americans "admitted to harboring prejudice toward Muslims."
Unfortunately, the widespread use of the term "Islamic militants" by the media, to describe the alleged Fort Dix plotters, has the potential of increasing that prejudice against Muslims. Many blogs and discussion boards are teeming with anti-Muslim slurs.
The irony is that there have been similar high-profile events of so-called "Islamic militancy" in recent years that finally proved to be overblown cases. In 2003, federal authorities charged 11 Muslim men in Virginia with participating in paramilitary training. In 2004, two Muslim men were indicted in Albany, N.Y., for allegedly conspiring to launder money and promote terrorism. In 2005, a group of Muslims in Lodi, Calif., were indicted on terror charges. But all of these cases resulted in prosecutions that failed to live up to the initial hype. Also, most of these cases involved the use of paid FBI informants who sometimes instigated the perpetrators to act on the alleged crimes. Even though the use of paid informants is legitimate and may have resulted in some symbolic victories under the paradigm of "early intervention," overuse of this tactic may indicate zealous actions by law enforcement agencies and prosecutors under pressure from the authorities.
The fight against terrorism has to be fought by all Americans, including Muslims. And it should be fought without political agenda or prosecutorial zeal. Terrorism is a real threat that affects all people. American Muslims have consistently condemned the acts of terrorism plotted or perpetrated by any of their coreligionists. They have repeatedly expressed their willingness to work with law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism. And they have voiced their displeasure at equating the criminal acts to their religion. Indiscriminate and vague use of terms, such as "Islamic" or "Muslim," to identify the actions of a handful of criminals has the effect of alienating a section of American population that can be of crucial help in the fight against terrorism.
Faiz Rahman, originally from Bangladesh, is a professor of geography at Indiana University. He is a practicing Muslim who is involved in social activism to promote understanding and harmony among Americans of different backgrounds.
An Islamophobic speech given by Retired Colonel J. Tyler Ryberg, USMC at a church in Terre Haute last Sunday has gotten a lot of attention from the local peace communities after being reported on the front page of the Terre Haute newspaper. Nancy Anders wrote the following letter to Sen. Bayh in response to Colonel Ryberg's sermon. There are links after the letter if you want to hear Ryberg's sermon or investigate his Christian missions operating near US military bases for hundreds of active duty military personnel.
May 10, 2007
The Honorable Senator Bayh
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Bayh:
I am concerned about the prevalence and influence of anti-Muslim religious bigotry among US military personnel. Religious bigotry has no place in the United States military and can seriously harm our mission in ongoing conflicts in the Muslim world.
Retired Colonel J. Tyler Ryberg, USMC, gave a speech in Terre Haute, Indiana this week that received front page media coverage. Colonel Ryberg has a ministry that operates missions near US military bases targeting US military personnel. His speeches are filled with factual inaccuracies, religious bigotry against Muslims, and a horrifying view of Jesus "coming back as the commander-in-chief to set up a pure military dictatorship" in Jerusalem and "slaughtering 200 million people until the blood on earth is as deep as the bridle of the horse." He uses the term 'Global War on Terror' as code words for a religious crusade by the United States military against Islam lumping all Muslims; secular, moderate, extremist, in one group. It is very disturbing to see media pictures of Colonel Ryberg in his US military uniform while they report his bigoted and un-American statements. It is even more frightening to think that he has hundreds of active duty US military personnel following his ministries. In Ryberg's bio it states that he was a presidential adviser for military strategy. How could a man with his extremist views ever have advised the American president on US military strategy? He has no understanding of the American values enshrined in the US constitution, and even makes false statements about the loyalties of Muslim US Congressman Keith Ellison.
We cannot achieve our essential strategic goals in the Middle East, if we have US military personnel believing they are fighting a Christian crusade against Islam to usher in an apocalyptic second coming of Christ in Israel. Colonel Ryberg claims that God sent the US military to Iraq - into the 10/40 Window - to 'save' 50 million Arabs by converting them to Baptists. He goes on to say, if "you don't save them, smite (kill) them. That's it...there it is. Hey, this is a just war now. Please remember now, it is an act of love" to kill them. These statements are damaging to our counterinsurgency mission. As stated in the new US Army Field Manual on Counterinsurgency, "political power is the central issue in insurgencies and counterinsurgencies" (I-3). "Tactical (military) success guarantees nothing" without gaining essential political goals. In fact, "lives and resources may be wasted for no real gain" if we do not win political legitimacy for the host government among the majority of the host nation population.(I-156). If the Colonel's unconscionable speech about converting or killing Muslims reached the Muslim street, it would be very harmful to the US counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Religious bigotry in the US military has reared its ugly head in cases from the torture death of Dilawar in Afghanistan in 2002, to the accusations against Guantanamo Muslim Chaplain James Yee, to statements in the Abu Gharaib Prison victims' complaints, and it continues to infect our mission. It is time the military does something to investigate and fix this serious problem. I have provided links below to Colonel Ryberg's recent speech, his organization World Military Baptist Missions, and his church, First Baptist Church, located next to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Let's work to make sure all military personnel understand our American values of freedom of religion, justice, equality under rule of law, and liberty and respect for all peoples in today's diverse world.
Sincerely,
Nancy Anderson
915 Park Ridge Court
Bloomington, IN
812 336-5607
Audio Sermon of Colonel Ryberg at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in April (31 minutes)
http://www.mbbc.edu/sermons/sermon.aspx?s=272
Partial transcript from this speech:
0:22 " We are gonna talk a little bit about how God worked in my life and then talk about a three front war that our nation right now is facing as a nation... Then you are gonna see some pictures of our men and ladies in the best and most wonderful mission field in the world, the United States military."
6:03 "Here's part two of the brief this morning. 'The time is at hand' (from biblical prophecy)...You know Israel is a nation now... They have been attacked ever since (their establishment)... This may be a prophetic sign that we ought to take heed to, but I believe 'the time is at hand' right now and if you look at this, we are in a global war on terrorism. I did not say the war in Iraq. You will not find that statement, that phrase, anywhere in the Department of Defense terminology. That is a coined phrase by CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox News, There is no such thing as a war in Iraq. ..This is a global war on terrorism, on blood thirsty killers that are trying to kill all innocent people that do not believe Allah is God and Muhammad his prophet. So think about that. We didn't start this war. This was a mighty start and we have to finish this war, but this war started well before 9-11. I was in Beirut, Lebanon 23 and one half years ago and Yassir Arafat (sic) was over there plotting the demise of my 241 buddies and comrades in this barracks where a terrorist blew us up. And it has gotten worse since... terrorism has just increased... Our military forces ...are operating in 165 out of 226 nations...God and war, are they compatible? Hey, 237 times the word war, 235 times the word sword, 165 times the word 'armies'..(in the bible)."
(Quotes on ENEMY #1 - 'radical Jihadists': his definition seems to include all Muslims)
10:22 "So here we go. God has enemies...(America's) "enemy number one is radical jihadists...Hey, why don't they like us? You know why? Because my bible tells me that our God is not Allah and our prophet is not Muhammed. Our constitution, our Magna Carta, our Mayflower Compact, our Declaration of Independence, all tell me that our God of our nation is the God of the bible, the triune God. Our Declaration of Independence talks about the creator, gives rights to the people who form governments to protect those rights. Where do you get evolution out of that? So we have a God of the bible. These Jihadists do not like Americans and Jews because our God is the God of Israel. And we have this Islamic brotherhood; al-qaeda, Syria, Hizbollah, Taliban, PLO, Hamas; they are all in one game to destroy Israel and wipe it off the map..."
11:49 (The Arabs) "have souls and need to be saved. ... If you don't save them, smite (kill) them. That's it...there it is. Hey, this is a just war now. Please remember now, it is an act of love" to kill them.
13:12 "God gives war to judge nations, but He also uses war to open the door to help stop the tears of those living in tyranny and cruelty. 50 Million Arabs are hearing the gospel of Christ. The '10/40 Window' in the Middle East was pierced in that darkness through the US military forces. Right now, over there, we have the New Testament Baptist Church, Bible Baptist Church, Baghdad Baptist Church and they're getting the gospel through FBN radio in Iraq, passing out bibles and the gospel for 24-7s, getting out because of war, opening doors of the gospel through war through love and compassion now as we minister to those needs. That's enemy number one, is Jihadists blood thirsty killers."
(Quotes on ENEMY #2 - 'Evil nations' defined as those working against Israel and the second coming)
13:56 "Enemy number two, evil nations..." (Osama bin Laden, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, China).
17:09 "When will Jerusalem have peace? When Jesus Christ returns... in prophecy, He's coming back as the commander-in-chief to set up a pure military dictatorship as the king of kings, as the lord of lords with his right of iron in the sword of the lord and where is he coming to? Jerusalem."
17:57 "You see this weapon? That's a great weapon. It's an F-16I. It can reach the nuclear reactors and nuclear plants that are enriching weapons grade plutonium in Iran. They're practicing a strike. The United States gave them the aircraft, gave them the weapons, we gave Israel one hundred nukes. So now we are over there with Israel. We are on the team. You and I could wake up one day and see smoking holes in Iran... Isn't this a great time to get serious about our Christianity?... (When Jesus returns to Jerusalem) 200 million slaughtered and the blood is gonna come up to the bridle of the horse."
(Quotes on ENEMY #3 - 'Our own political system', includes an attack on Muslim Congressman Ellison)
19:27 "Enemy number three; our own political system...with evil ideologies. Pray for our president, young people...biblically we are commanded to. Right now in our American culture...every man did that which was right in his own eyes... Can we do anything we want to and get away with it? I'll tell you what our Supreme Court, they're not supreme, all right? We have a book that gives us the supreme rules and justice of a God almighty and if God said it; it's right, it's true, it is absolute. You don't go any farther than that. So here we are now in our nation with a culture ... (rants about lack of biblical laws in US legal system.)"
21:26 "We have people over negotiating with terrorists undermining our policy and our war. So this is the state of our nation. We have our first Muslim elected to congress. After being sworn in on the Quran, he would not answer questions whether he would put America before the Quran. When I took my oath of office I took it with the word of God and I swore that I would defend the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic. He didn't do it. He holds the Quran above our constitution. Look at this; our next ambassador to the United Nations is a what? A Muslim."
World Military Baptist Missions
http://www.wmbmissions.com/military_service_centers.php
The Colonel's 'World Military Baptist Missions' specializes in missions next to military bases in the United States.
http://www.faithbaptist-church.org/sc.htm
First Baptist Church, Belleville, IL Military Service Center - Scott Air Force Base
http://www.faithbaptist-church.org/sermons.htm
Sermons (Audio), includes Islamophobic commentary by minister
Newspaper article on Terre Haute sermon May 2007:
Retired Marine preaches, says killing terrorists is an 'act of love for our nation'
By Laura Followell
The Tribune-Star
May 6, 2007
http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_126235058.html
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- They are devoted to Islam but increasingly skeptical of Muslims.
This is the strange paradox Darfuri refugees in Fort Wayne are facing: A fundamentalist government in Sudan turned on them, and the Muslim world has largely stood by silently.
Here in Indiana, the Darfurians say, mosques and Muslim groups have offered little help. Abu Baker Suliman-Mahaht, 37, a recent Darfuri immigrant, says that when he needed money to pay for his wife's doctor visits, a mosque turned him down. A local church gave him the money.
Another Darfurian, Suliman A. Giddo, said groups such as the Islamic Society of North America, based in Plainfield, could have made a difference early in the conflict by calling on the Sudanese government to stop the killing. Instead, a delegation ISNA sent to Darfur in 2004 came back saying there was no sign of genocide.
The greatest irony for many Darfuri immigrants is who has helped: Jews and Christians.
Giddo, 44, said the Sudanese schools he attended taught that Jews and Christians were the enemies.
"I was excited to find out that the thing that everybody has in his mind is completely wrong. We found that we are respected here," said Giddo, co-founder and president of Darfur Peace & Development in Fort Wayne.
Christian churches and Jewish community leaders have offered humanitarian aid, such as paying medical bills; helped refugees through the process of gaining political asylum; and engaged in grass-roots activism and political lobbying on their behalf.
Beth Reilly, a Fort Wayne stay-at-home mother of three, became interested in Darfur after reading that children the same age as her own were being raped and killed in Darfur.
She asked her Methodist pastor to devote a Sunday to Darfur awareness, even taking an offering. Dozens of Methodist churches followed the example, and a movement was born: the Indiana Coalition to Save Darfur.
The Rev. Joe Johns of Fellowship Missionary Church in Fort Wayne first tuned in to the developing tragedy in Darfur when a friend introduced him to some local Darfurians over coffee at Starbucks. Eventually, he would make two trips to Darfur.
"This isn't just a world away," Johns said. "This is business that is in our own backyard."
That was never clearer than on Johns' second visit to Darfur. In a dusty desert village, he found the father of a Darfurian he had met in Fort Wayne and had the man sign an affidavit confirming his son's story of torture and persecution, which might help his asylum case.
The man said he never expected to see his son again and asked Johns to look after him.
"He bequeathed his son to me and basically said, 'Now you are a father for my son,' " Johns recalled. "It is something that is pretty meaningful to me."
Local Jewish leaders have publicly likened the genocide in Darfur to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, and worked vigorously for a bill requiring Indiana to divest its pension money from companies doing business with Sudan's government.
The Darfurians say Muslim apathy is due to racism and that Arab Muslims see black African Muslims as inferior. They also say Muslim governments don't want to accuse another Islamic government of mass murder.
Local Muslim leaders agree that the Islamic world has done little to end the crisis in Darfur. But they say the situation is not about racism. They say the problem is systemic.
"Now that we have built our mosques and our schools, we really need to build a social services infrastructure so that we can reach out to people that are poor and needy within our community," said Shariq Siddiqui, executive director of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana.
ISNA joined the Save Darfur Coalition in December 2005, a year and a half after it formed. And Muneer Fareed, ISNA's secretary general, calls the situation there a tragedy. But Giddo and other Darfurians in Fort Wayne don't understand what took so long.
"If from day one all the Muslim communities, especially here in the United States, had stood up and said, 'We are Muslims, and we don't want your Muslim country to kill your own Muslims,' that may have made a lot of difference," Giddo said.
"Instead, we the people of Darfur paid that price."
I was a member of a majority group in India. Hence over there, I had difficulty in placing myself in the shoes of various minorities... However, like you, I am also a minority in the USA. As a minority you enjoy the reflected glory of being associated with someone who may look like you. But sometimes if one of the minorities were to be involved in a crazy act, you also get tarred unfairly with the same brush. It was a proud moment for Asian golfers when Vijay Singh dethroned Tiger Woods to become the world's number one golfer after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship 2004-2005. Of course, Vijay doesn't want to be identified as an Indian (He insists on being identified as a Fijian) .Vijay might want to be identified as a Fijian of Indian descent, but to the rest of the world he looks like an Indian. Recently Sanjeev Milkha Singh (if you recall his father was the sprinter in 1964 Olympics) became the Asian champion in golf. Laxmi Mittal of Mittal steel engaged in a huge merger and acquisition without any help from major financial institutions of the world. When the Americans read about the above mentioned items they identify you with those persons.
Though India has been a political entity for nearly 60 years Desis who live in the US sometimes identify themselves as belonging to some linguistic or geographical groups than being simply another Indian. Desis can spot some subtle differences in facial features and body habitus and can place an individual in some linguistic or geographical groups of India... Sometimes we goof up by our own ignorance of geography. For example, Aishwariya is more of a Southie (12..00 N) than a typical Madarasi (12.58 N) To an Indian it may mean a lot. But to the Americans, they are all the same.
When Americans watch Sanjay Gupta on CNN or Deepak Chopra or Sanjaya Malakar, and then they see you; they ask you about them as though they are your cousins. Someone recently commented to me that "you Indians vote from all over the world and keep him (Sanjaya) win the competition though he is not talented (rumor had it that it was Howard Stern who was instrumental in keeping Sanjaya going). Soon after the Virginia Tech shooting, it was announced that the shooter was an Asian. I was hoping and praying that it won't be an Indian student who got upset because he didn't get the marks he wanted. As you know there are 700 students of Indian descent studying at Blacksburg. Likewise, whenever I hear news about a murder-suicide in a family or accidental stove burn, I speculate whether it might be an Indian. I sensed the agony the parents of the shooter Cho must have gone through when they said they were horrified, ashamed and helpless, by their son's act; but more so they were worried about the bad name that the Korean community would suffer on account of his act. It is true that when a member of a majority commits a heinous crime, that individual is the only one blamed. However, when a member of a minority commits a horrible act the whole minority community (that the individual belongs to) is viewed suspiciously. It happens even in India. Asian and Indian communities in the US have earned the reputation of being studious, hard working and non-violent and law abiding folks. That is because most of them have brought the values from the old countries. As the second and third generation, rooted in American culture, will they have the same value system? Being physically different, they will not be identified as American of such and such descent. This is a point the immigrants and the second and subsequent generations should keep in mind.
I am sure some of you may have been asked questions related to public display of affection in India following the news event involving Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere (having served notice by a judge for kissing in public). So, even a minor event that happens in a far away India also reflects on us here. It is somewhat true that a member of a minority group has to be twice as good as a member of a Majority to get the same recognition and likewise their faults, weaknesses, and mistakes get overblown and twice as much. As a minority you can bask in the reflected glory or get tarred by the same brush. Your actions are not yours alone.
Youth from several schools in Indianapolis representing mosques, synagogues and churches are gathering regularly at each other's schools to talk and learn more about diverse faiths.
The program is part of the International Interfaith Initiative based in Indianapolis and is an extension of "Bridging the Gap," an adult interfaith conversation group in the city.
The youth program involves mostly eighth-graders and is a collaborative effort of community groups including the Center for Urban and Multicultural Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the Peace Learning Center.
The safe environment of the youth events has allowed the kids to "broaden their ideas of each religion," says Levi Vonnegut-Gabovitch, a 14-year-old Jewish participant who is a student at The Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis and a member of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck.
"Before I came to youth dialogue, I thought I knew a lot about other religions," says Zoe Turi, 14, a Catholic who attends St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and School.
"But now I see other religions in a whole different way because my friends here explained them to me firsthand because they've been around their religions their whole lives."
In addition to St. Thomas and the Hebrew Academy, other schools in the program include Indianapolis Public Schools' School 91, a Montessori public school; School of Knowledge, a private Muslim school; and The Oaks Academy, a diverse private Christian school.
The schools take turns hosting meetings. The hosts decide on a topic that impacts faith and society.
Wafa Zyadah, 14, a Muslim who attends the School of Knowledge, says that teaching her peers about her faith has helped her to learn how to "really communicate with other people from different religions."
Maryam Muhammad, 13, a Muslim also at the School of Knowledge, says she learned much from other students about Christmas and Christianity and the celebration of the birth of Christ.
Many students have found the forums to be an excellent way to provide new perspective on their own faith.
Zakarya Mitiche, 13, has tried to clear up misunderstandings about Islam.
"The media says a lot of things about some religions that aren't necessarily true," says the School of Knowledge student. "And sometimes they base the whole group of people on one person's actions."
The youth hope their experiences will be helpful later in life.
"Down the road when I meet people of new different faiths again, I hope to better understand the way they think," says Zoe.
For more information, call youth program coordinator Charlie Wiles at (317) 466-0114.
REPORTERS: Quinn Andrews, 12; Max Gabovitch, 14; and Bekie Stergar, 12.
As a college student, Eboo Patel was dismayed as he looked around the world and saw young people of different faiths fighting and killing each other.
He was saddened that so few young people attended international conferences that brought together people of various faiths to talk about peace.
Patel and other like-minded young adults founded the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core in 1998. Patel, 31, is executive director. He has a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University.
Much of the nonprofit group's work involves training grassroots groups to engage youth in interfaith communication. More than 770 organizers trained by IFYC now lead their own interfaith youth service branches on five continents. They've reached more than 10,000 young people.
The IFYC also supports local efforts to further youth interfaith interaction. It works with 40 different faith communities and six universities in the Chicago area.
Thousands of youth have participated. One particular program is the Chicago Youth Core, a group of high school students from different faiths who meet weekly to develop leadership skills and organize social-action programs in their communities.
Tariq Weaver, 16, says his CYC participation has helped him learn about who he is. Now he asks questions, such as: "What am I doing wrong in my religion? What can I do right to help me be a better Muslim?"
It's also helped him clear up misconceptions about his spiritual identity.
"Since I'm African-American and I'm Muslim, a lot of people think that I might be with the Nation of Islam, but I'm not with the Nation of Islam," he says. "I'm a Sunni Muslim."
Talking and having fun with people of different backgrounds is the best part of the Interfaith Youth Core, says CYC member Cassandra Kildow, 18.
"We talk about what people do when they go to mosque, what Ramadan is (the most blessed month of the Islamic year filled with fasting, charity work, praying and celebrating) or different Buddhist changes," she says.
Mariah Neuroth, senior director of leader cultivation for IFYC, has been a lifelong believer in the value of interfaith dialogue. She wishes she could have joined a group like this as a teen.
"I oftentimes felt like I had to leave my spirituality at the door, and the Interfaith Youth Core helps people to find a way to represent their whole self at any time," says Neuroth, 27. "And that was -- and is -- really important to me as a young Christian."
Patel was also called to found the IFYC in response to the violence and bigotry he has witnessed.
For example, in his high school, Patel recalls that thugs scrawled anti-Semitic words on desks and shouted them at his Jewish friend. Patel did nothing to stop the hatefulness that hurt his friend, and he still regrets it.
"I realize now that to believe in pluralism means I need the courage to act on it," says Patel in a commentary for National Public Radio. "Action is what separates a belief from an opinion."
The IFYC also coordinates service projects, such as today's annual National Days of Interfaith Youth Service.
REPORTERS: Quinn Andrews, 12; Max Gabovitch, 14; and Bekie Stergar, 12.
Over the past year, we've become acutely aware that most brands and marketers are turning a blind eye to the multibillion- dollar American Muslim market. Maybe they don't recognize that there is an opportunity. Maybe they harbor some of the anti- Muslim fears and prejudices that are so apparent in American media and public life. Maybe they are scared of offending American Muslims, or they fear that by embracing Muslim consumers, they will alienate non-Muslims. Whatever the reason, they are failing to connect with consumers whose combined disposable income is well in excess of $170 billion a year in the U.S. alone.
Marketers are consummate opportunists, constantly looking for new angles, new ways to sell products and new target markets to address. The best among them have an intuition for identifying significant shifts in societies. The marketing industry was the first to recognize "teenage" as a life stage, in the 1950s, and has helped popularize notions of social segments ever since, from yuppies, empty nesters and boomers to Gen Xers, metrosexuals and singletons, not to mention dinks (dual income, no kids) and skis (spending the kids' inheritance). More often than not, the labels they come up with seem familiar even before they are explained. They are intuitively right, sometimes to the point of being blindingly obvious with hindsight.
So it's all the more mysterious that global marketers have overlooked a social segment of truly global proportions. Around the world, well over 1 billion people identify as Muslim. Islam shapes their sense of identity, their beliefs and values, and their behavior. From a marketing perspective, it's unthinkable that Islam would not influence them as consumers, too. Yet there is a gaping void in the global marketing industry's knowledge of Muslims. Where do global marketers turn for guidance about Muslim consumers? At the moment, there is no single resource.
That is why JWT commenced a study late last year on marketing to Muslims in the U.S. and U.K. As a global organization-with offices in 87 countries, including Muslim-majority nations such as Pakistan and Turkey, and countries with growing Muslim populations, such as the U.S., U.K., France and Germany-we needed a solid body of knowledge about Islam and its followers.
Our initiative-which has included desk research, interviews with experts, face-to-face ethnographies, focus groups and large-scale, in-person surveys-is driven by a conviction that the growing influence of Islam is bound to have a widespread effect on Muslims' consumption. The aim: to explore how Islam is reflected in the attitudes, behavior and preferences of Muslim consumers, and to identify which brands and products Muslims are more likely to favor, which ones they avoid and which factors determine their preferences.
Why this group? Why not another growing niche consumer segment that may prove less challenging to understand? Let's face it: Religion is a sensitive issue, and religion and business seem like an uncomfortable combination. Why not steer clear of Islam rather than risk offense?
Four reasons spring to mind immediately. First, Muslims are numerous and demographically vigorous, with high birth rates and a young age profile. While most live in Muslim-majority countries, populations in the U.S. and U.K. are growing. Estimates of the Muslim population in the U.S. vary, but the most widely cited numbers are in the range of 6-8 million, or 2 percent of the population, roughly equal to the population of Jordan or, ironically, Israel. In the U.K., 2001 census data puts the Muslim population at between 1.8 and 2.2 million, or about 3 percent of the population. And while much of the world is aging, British Muslims have the youngest age profile among the country's religious groups-about one-third of Muslims were under 16 when the 2001 census was conducted.
In the U.S., the sheer demography is compelling: Where 67 percent of the total U.S. population is over 40, 67 percent of the U.S. Muslim population is under 40. Also, 67 percent of U.S. Muslims have a college degree, versus 44 percent of the general population. The U.S. average income is $42,000; 66 percent of U.S. Muslims earn over $50,000, and 26 percent over $100,000, according to Allied Media Corp.
Second, Muslims' sense of identity is growing. Ever since the Iranian Islamic revolution of the late 1970s, Islam has become an increasingly important factor in the identity of Muslims, especially young Muslims. Many are demanding that their Muslim identity be acknowledged and taken seriously.
Third, most global brands and marketers have not gone out of their way to examine Muslims in depth. They have shied away from addressing Muslims or taking them into account-except at a local level and with products dictated by pure adherence to religious dictates and practices: halal meats; Sharia-compliant ( i.e., non-interest-bearing) financial products; and "modest" dress, including the traditional hijab head covering for women. Our research shows that while Muslims are actually more brand aware than the general population, they see themselves as largely ignored by marketers.
The fourth reason, and by the far the most complicated, involves the crucial social role that brands and marketers play, often inadvertently. Brands and products can unite different peoples in shared experiences and values, providing common reference points-or they can divide them. As uncomfortable as it may sound, where there is consumerism, there is the potential for bridging divides. Consider this: Muslims represent one-fifth of the U.S. market for kosher goods, according to the Agricultural Marketing Research Center.
In the 1960s, Bill Bernbach created ads with the slogan, "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's real Jewish rye," along with images of various ethnic groups enjoying the bread. Those ads straddled the social issues of the day and helped lead to a subtle shift in attitudes toward Jews in America. That is the kind of comfort marketers need to welcome Muslim friends, neighbors and colleagues into the shopping fold. Put aside all of the criticism that marketers suffer for glorifying consumerism, and there is a genuine truth in the bridges brands have built over the years. Think of McDonald's and single moms and working moms in the early '90s; Volvo, Absolut and Ikea, among others, and nontraditional couples; and the Virginia Slims campaign that "codified" women's advance to the mainstream ("You've come a long way, baby").
NEW YORK -- Determining the exact contents of a meal at a restaurant can be stressful for Jews and Muslims who choose to follow their faiths' dietary restrictions.
Dinner at a friend's house can be a balancing act between trying to be polite and keeping true to your choices. Travel can test the best of intentions.
Lindsey Blank, who usually observes strict Jewish kosher rules, says she has had her share of those experiences, choosing to be flexible in rare occasions.
Last summer, while visiting Morocco, she was faced with eating an entirely vegetarian dish or consuming halal meat, which conforms to Muslim tradition.
"I ate the meat," she said, "because I knew it was halal."
In strict religious terms, Jewish kosher and Muslim halal foods are different from each other.
But they are similar enough to appeal to an interesting mix of consumers.
American Muslims, for example, now make up 16 percent of the market for U.S. kosher food, according to the Mintel Organization, a global supplier of consumer research.
The reason: There are 90,000 kosher-certified products and only about 1,000 halal products available in the United States, according to Forbes magazine and Kosher Today, a Web site for food professionals. Kosher and halal foods are similar: Both prohibit the use of pork, pork products and blood in food. Animals are slaughtered in a similar manner: as painlessly as possible for the animal with one clean cut to the neck. The blood is fully drained from the body and spinal cord matter is cleaned. Animals must be slaughtered in the name of God to be halal, and the premises must be blessed by a rabbi for the food to be considered kosher. Only healthy animals can be used.
But there are differences. Alcohol, even in tiny amounts, is forbidden in halal foods, but is not an issue in kosher. Mixing dairy and meat is prohibited in kosher foods, but is not an issue in halal.
In Brooklyn, where Jews, Muslims and myriad other religious and ethnic groups live side by side, Khalid Mustafa and his brother have been running a halal butcher shop for 18 years.
His customers are mainly Arabs, but he said Jews and other neighbors, such as Italians and Latinos, often visit the store to buy halal meats.
"They buy the meat because it's halal," he said. "It's fresh, never frozen and it tastes good."
The store is filled with other products considered halal, from nonalcoholic Dutch beer to canned Brazilian corned beef slaughtered in accordance with Islamic practices. But most products come from Arab distributors.
International companies such as Kraft and Nestle also have products on the shelves of New York halal stores, but they are largely imported from Arab countries, Mustafa said.
"They are not Muslim companies, so they have to work harder to prove that the product is halal," Mustafa said, adding that American products that are certified to be kosher are generally safe for Muslims to eat.
Many of the products in his halal store, such as American hummus and Israeli tea biscuits, also have kosher certification, proven by a tiny OU trademark, which means the product has the approval of the Orthodox Union, the largest American kosher certifier. The organization says it certifies more than 400,000 products in 80 countries.
The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America is the largest issuer of the halal certification in North America.
The organization says requests for halal certification have steeply increased, and it now certifies products for 2,000 companies worldwide.
"There are over 9 million Muslims in North America," the organization's Web site says. "The market for halal-certified products is huge."
In 2000, New Jersey passed the first halal certification law. Other states have since followed suit.
Muslim and Jewish leaders in Virginia successfully lobbied for enactment of a state halal and kosher labeling statute.
Virginia law now requires that any food offered for sale as kosher or halal be labeled with the name of the person or organization certifying the item.
Eissa Walim, who works at a Lebanese restaurant in New York, said Muslim and Jewish customers often come in to enjoy the pork-free cuisine.
"We don't serve pork," he said. "But if they are really religious, they will go for a vegetarian dish because our meat is not halal."
Mintel's research shows that 55 percent of people who buy kosher food do so not for religious reasons alone but also because they believe the products are healthier and safer.
Arab Americans and Muslims account for nearly 6% of the workforce and earn between $5.4 billion and $7.7 billion a year in southeast Michigan, according to a Wayne State University report released Wednesday.
Still, businesses often fail to recognize their economic power.
The 28-page WSU study titled "Arab American Economic Contribution Study" and a recent J. Walter Thompson survey called Marketing to Muslims, provide a fuller picture of the economic contributions of Arabs and Muslims.
"In the U.S., the Arab and Muslim communities are small but generally very affluent and highly entrepreneurial," Nasser Beydoun, chairman of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday in Dearborn.
The WSU paper, researched and produced by the Center for Urban Studies, cites figures from the 2000 U.S. Census for Macomb, Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties.
Only a few Detroit-area companies actively cultivate Muslims as consumers. Staff members from Comerica Bank, Ikea and AT&T have participated in awareness programs to address needs of Muslim consumers.
Michigan is home to the third largest concentration of Arab Americans outside the Middle East -- after California and New York.
Nationwide, with an estimated population of 6 million to 8 million, Muslim Americans' purchasing power is estimated to be $170 billion annually.
Although often associated with Arabs, Muslims represent dozens of ethnic groups, including whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians.
Understanding the differences between ethnicity and religion is one barrier that often confounds advertisers interested in selling to Muslim populations.
Dearborn Heights resident Nadia Khalil sees little effort being made by major corporations to cater to Muslim consumers.
The 28-year-old registered nurse and married mother of an 8-month-old rarely sees advertising for foods Muslims favor, such as Happiness Bread, and has rarely come across mainstream retail shops that sell Muslim-specific clothing, such as head scarves.
"I think it would help to have advertising geared toward us, but I don't think people expect to see it anyway," Khalil said. "During Ramadan, for example, we get recognized, but it's not as much as say Breast Cancer Awareness month or the African-American one. I feel we still don't have as much of a voice as other communities."
Comerica may soon offer products that conform to Muslim traditions concerning the lending of money.
Under Islamic Law, a person is not allowed to earn or pay interest on a solely owned loan. To address that, Comerica is considering accounts in which both the bank and the individual would be jointly liable for the loan.
"We hope to offer a full suite of retail and small business products," said Amal Berry-Brown, National Arab/Chaldean American Business Affairs Manager for Comerica. Those products would include business and personal loans and lines of credit.
The bank also has printed its brochures in Arabic.
Nationwide, the food, finance and apparel businesses appear to be the most influential markets for consumers who follow Islam. According to the Thompson study, the global halal market -- food prepared in accordance with Islamic law -- is worth an estimated $580 billion annually.
"We need to educate ourselves and gain a broader understanding of the Muslim population," said Ann Mack, director of trend spotting for Thompson and one of the authors of the study.
The study, which was conducted earlier this year, interviewed 350 Muslim Americans in 20 states including Michigan. It found:
- Muslims make up at least 2% of the U.S. population and two-thirds are under the age of 40.
- About 21% of Muslim Americans between the ages of 25 to 34 are registered voters, compared with 15% of people in that group across the country.
- Nearly 30% of U.S. Muslims are converts to Islam.
- 71% of Muslims believe advertisers rarely show anyone of their faith or ethnicity in advertizing. That compares with 34% of the general population that believes the same thing.
- Around 70% of American Muslims over 25 have a college education, compared to 26% of the general U.S. population.
Contact ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA at 313-222-5008 or abodipo@freepress.com.
(ANAHEIM, CA, 5/3/07) - The Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today joins the Orange County Human Relations Commission in honoring distinguished people from our local communities, schools and law enforcement agencies for their contributions to and promoting human relations in the County of Orange.
CAIR-LA Area congratulates all Award 36 recipients for their exemplary work and dedication. Among the Awards 36 honorees are two distinguished members of the Southern California Muslim community:
- Anaheim Police Officer Omar Adham
- Executive Director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California Shakeel Syed
"We congratulate both Officer Omar Adham and Mr. Shakeel Syed as they are recognized today for their dedication, commitment and efforts toward improving relations among all people of Orange County," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA Area.
The honorees will be recognized at the Awards 36 dinner scheduled for 6 p.m. today at the Grove of Anaheim. For more information, please contact Gary Carter at (714) 834-7181 or gary@ochumanrelations.org .
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CONTACT: CAIR-LA Area Communications Coordinator Munira Syeda, (714) 776-1847 or (714) 851-4851; E-Mail: socal@cair.com
Friday, May 11, 2007
9:30 AM-11:30 AM at Masjid Al Fajr Library
Chaplain's Support Group
Saturday, May 12, 2007
9AM-11AM at Masjid Al Fajr
Food Pantry
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
7PM at Masjid Al-Fajr
Imam Jamil Al-Amin Fund raiser
Special guest Imam Siraj Wa Haj, Amir Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA)
Saturday May 26, 2007
12 Noon at Masjid Al-Fajr
"WELCOME HOME" Masjid Bar B Que
For more information contact Masjid Al-Fajr at 317-923-2847
Summer 2007 Semester Schedule
www.legacyin.org/courses.html
We are pleased to present the following two new course offerings for the summer:
Pearls of our Past: Muslims Who Changed the Course of History
A 7 week course with each lecture dedicated to the following personalities; men and women, scholars, reformers, and luminaries who helped shape human civilization:
- Saliha Rabia Al-Adawiyyah
- Umar ibn Abdul Aziz
- Hassan Al-Banna
- Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani
- Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi
- Al 'Izz ibn Abdus Salaam
Instructor: Shaykh Tewfik Choukri
Wednesdays, Starting May 16th
7:00 - 9:00pm
Cost: $30
Salat Explained
A 6 week seminar highlighting the obligation of prayer in Islam focusing on the following topics:
- Inner Dimensions of Salat
- Central Role of Salat in the lives of Muslims
- Consequences of Neglecting Salat
- Complete Salat of the Prophet (saws)
- The Special Prayers (Janazah, Taraweeh, Witr, Jumuah)
Instructor: Shaykh Tewfik Choukri
Fridays, Starting May 18th
7:00 - 9:00pm
Cost: $25
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Legacy Institute
9721 Kincaid Dr
Fishers, IN 46037
317-842-7300
www.legacyin.org
info@legacyin.org
MUSLIM ALLIANCE OF INDIANA is dedicated to empower Muslims through social engagement and developing awareness of public issues among Muslims and connecting 280,000 Muslim Hoosiers with the leadership.
To learn more about past activities and accomplishments, please visit at www.muslimalliancein.com
To be involved with MAI mission, please contact muslimalliancein@yahoo.com
To strengthen and disseminate the vision, please forward this message to others in Indiana or send email list to muslimalliancein@yahoo.com
This is intended for Muslim Hoosiers and friends promoting peace and harmony, mutual respect and making Indiana strong. If you want to be off this list, please advise.
Thank you.
