Ramadan will be the most noticeable absence in the event

By Muneeb Nasir, IOL Correspondent

CHICAGO, August 29 (IslamOnline.net) - Thousands of Muslims are expected to descend on Chicago next weekend for the 41st Annual Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) Convention in what is shaping up to be the largest Islamic gathering on the continent.

The pre-registrations for the convention have reached record high numbers and all surrounding hotels have been booked out.

“We expect over thirty thousand people to attend the Convention. From pre-registrations and advanced booking of hotel accommodations, it appears that this year’s convention will see numbers greater than last year,” Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, ISNA Vice President-Canada, told IslamOnline.net.

Every year during the Labor Day weekend in the United States, thousands of Muslims from across the continent come to the ISNA Annual Convention to enrich their faith, celebrate the diversity of Islam, take advantage of the wealth of knowledge at seminars, enjoy ethnic delicacies and browse through the colorful bazaar.

The theme for this year’s convention is: “Islam: Dialogue, Devotion and Development” and will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois from Friday, September 3, 2004 to Monday, September 6, 2004.

Prominent Speakers

“A very large number of speakers, some among them very prominent, will be addressing the gathering in plenary sessions, workshops and dialogue groups,” said Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad, adding, “The topics show a corresponding degree of diversity, depth and breadth.”

The scheduled speakers include: Sheikh Muhammed Nur Abdullah, ISNA President and Director of the Islamic Foundation of Greater Missouri; Dr. Ingrid Mattson, ISNA Vice-President and professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut; Hamza Yusuf, founder of the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, California; Jamal Badawi, a professor at St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Abdul Hakim Jackson, professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

However, one of the main keynote speakers, Dr. Tariq Ramadan, who is scheduled to address the convention may not be able to do so because the US government has barred him from entering the country.

Professor Ramadan, rated by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, was granted a visa in May to begin a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame only to have it revoked on August 2 by the US State Department on the recommendation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Diverse Program

Convention's logo

One of the major events of this year’s convention will be the Unity Banquet, scheduled for Friday evening.

The banquet, according to convention organizers, will provide an opportunity for leaders of diverse religions, including the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities, to come together, renew their bonds and forge a path of unity for the future.

The convention will also be hosting parallel conferences for youths, university students and will include the Fifth National Qira'at (Qur’an memorization and recitation) Competition.

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad says that these sessions will be as prominent as the ISNA program.

“Both the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA) have their annual conferences with many sessions as prominent as those of ISNA."

Election Season Fever

However, in this election year in the United States, the Muslim involvement and participation in the November elections is expected to be a hotly debated topic during the convention.

In the 2000 election, immigrant Muslims followed the recommendations of the national leadership and voted for the Republican Party and current President, George W. Bush.

A nationwide poll conducted in June by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found a major swing towards the Democrats by American Muslim voters.

The poll results showed that 54 percent of eligible Muslim voters said they would vote for Democratic candidate, John Kerry, while 26 percent favored independent candidate, Ralph Nader.

A sizable 14 percent of Muslim voters said they are still undecided. Fifty-five percent of the poll respondents said they voted for President Bush in the 2000 election.

During the convention, Muslims will deliberate over a unified American Muslim Action Plan for the November election.

Chicago’s location has been important to the convention’s past success. The city is home to one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the United States and its central location has been able to attract Muslims from across the country and Canada.

The Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago, an umbrella organization representing over 400 thousand Muslims in Metropolitan Chicago, will host the four-day convention.