By
Ayub Khan, IOL
Chicago
correspondent
CHICAGO
, July 9 (IslamOnline) - The Islamic Society of North America’s
“Islam in
Americas
” conference came to a close on Sunday, July 7. The three-day
conference witnessed some vigorous and stimulated dialogue and debate on
a variety of issues related to Muslims in contemporary
America
.
In
one of the sessions on Islam and media, writer and producer Alex
Kronemer discussed his feature length documentary on the Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) to be broadcast on 353 PBS stations this December.
Kronemer
said Americans love storytelling, and the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
is a quintessential American story. He said that the project was a
challenging task for him, but that he was ultimately able to finish it.
Kronemer
stressed that visual media is a powerful tool in getting messages across
since most Americans get their information from television. He hoped
that his documentary would create a positive image of Islam and Muslims.
In
a related session, Anas Malik, from Depauw University, elaborated on the
dominance of media by corporate powerhouses like AOL TimeWarner, CNN,
ABCNews and CBS. “By setting agendas, framing issues, and defining
language and discourse, the corporate mass media establishes the terms
and scope of policy debates,” he said.
He
argued that while media outlets like IslamOnline and others are a good
start, they are not an end in themselves. “Muslims need to invest
heavily in long term, strategic public relations efforts to have an
impact on the corporate mass media.”
Malik
also stressed the importance of “flak” campaigns, which refer to
negative responses to media reports, involving letters, phone calls,
petitions, speeches, legal and parliamentary action, and other forms of
complaint. He said that even though it is unclear as to how many people
participate in CAIR’S Action Alerts, they nevertheless serve an
important purpose in mobilizing the community.
Speaking
on constitutional rights, noted columnist Muqtedar Khan said that a new
legal environment has developed in America since September 11 and that
the civil rights of Muslims are being violated at various levels. He
said that in a democracy, civil society stands up for the underdog. He
opined that Americans didn't trust the government, but the scenario
changed after September 11, and emphasized the urgent need of Muslims to
build bridges with the civil society.
Khan
also warned Muslims against supporting U.S. President George W. Bush’s
faith-based initiative, as it would strengthen the hands of the
Christian Right. He urged Muslims to work towards the secularization of
United States.
Incidentally,
during a later session, Syed Sayeed, general secretary of ISNA, informed
the audience that his organization has received a federal faith-based
initiative grant.
Scott
Alexander, associate professor of Islam at Catholic Theological Union in
Chicago, in his speech entitled “Inalienable Rights: Muslims in the
U.S. after September 11th,” said that he has come with a heavy heart
because of the lost opportunity of peace caused by the events of
September 11.
“If
this country fails to embrace its Muslims, then we would not only have
done injustice but we have turned our back to the very foundations that
this country was built upon,” he said.
The
“Islam in America” conference, which was held concurrently with
Islam in American Prisons Conference, on “Islam Among Latino Americans
and the Annual Conference on Muslim Refugees in America”, attracted
widespread media attention with correspondents from several publications
attending, including those from Time magazine and the Chicago Sun Times.
Sayeed
said one reason for this was the televised announcement by U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft from Moscow in which he said that alleged dirty
bomber Jose Padilla, is a Hispanic-American and that he converted to
Islam while serving time in prison. He said that when the journalist
searched for Islam and prisons on the Internet, they were directed to
the ISNA’s website on these conferences.
Thomas
J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, also
spoke during the conference. “We are trying to keep all families safe.
At the same time, I don’t want to see the rights of anyone
sidelined,” he said. The FBI will aggressively pursue cases in which
there is an indication of terrorism, he added.
Mary
Ann Peters, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, was the keynote speaker on
Saturday, July 6. Sayeed said she was invited by ISNA after learning
that she had spoken to a conference of 2,000 Bangladeshi Imams on
women’s rights.
Peters
said that the U.S. embassy in Bangladesh received countless letters of
support immediately after the terrorist attacks of 9-11. She
acknowledged that Islam does not support terrorism and said she was
disappointed to read about harassment faced by U.S. Muslims.
“There
is no such thing as an acceptable level of intolerance,” she added
Peters
expressed the need for building better relations between U.S. and the
Islamic countries, saying the U.S. government has accepted her
suggestion to have regular exchanges of religious scholars between the
two countries.
Responding
to a question by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf about arsenic poisoning in
Bangladeshi water, Peters said that the United States is doing its part
in alleviating the problem. “Initially it was thought that other
countries would take the lead but nothing happened...We are doing some
work but not enough,” saying Columbia University and the U.S.
Geological Survey are trying to find the cause of this problem.
A
Muslim participant in the audience asked Peters about the shutting down
and freezing of funds of Islamic relief organizations. Peters responded
that care has been taken to target only those organizations that have
misused the funds. She said that out of many, only two subsidiaries of
the Al Harmain Foundation have been designated on the terrorist list.
She pointed out that Al Harmain’s subsidiary in Bangladesh is not on
the list and is still operating.
Also
on Saturday, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf spoke to jam-packed crowd. He observed
that there is a lack of leadership among Muslims in America. “I was
never comfortable of being a leader,” he said.
“The
leadership failed the Muslim community. The leadership also failed to
come together...Our Imams have failed us. Our Khutbas are an
embarrassment.” He acknowledged that even he is embarrassed of some of
his pre-9-11 Khutbas.
He
said that before doing or saying anything Muslims should always ask: Is
this the best way? Is it consistent with the sunnah of the Prophet
(SAW).
“We
shouldn’t be ashamed of anything we say. There is nothing which
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ever said that we should be ashamed of.”
Yusuf
said that throughout his life, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was never
harsh except in cases of treachery. He reminded the audience that during
the eight-year boycott of Muslims by the Qureish, the Holy Prophet (SAW)
never used any harsh words against them.
“That’s
the only way in a powerless situation where you can maintain your
dignity.” At the same time he emphasized that this does not mean that
we compromise our religion and our legitimate right to dissent.
“The
only America that I am proud of is the America of dissent,” he said.
Yusuf
said that instead of just criticizing the media, Muslims must recognize
that we need some organization similar to the Anti-Defamation League.
“We need someone who can monitor anti-Islamic activities and also
recognize the good people. I found people working in the media to be
good.” he said.
“We
have become so engrossed in our complaints that we have lost our
mission. The present configuration is unpleasant, but we have to
recognize that we are still believers. We don't need to lose our voice,
but find a new voice. We need to speak the truth and there is a lot of
truth to be said,” he concluded.
