Being Muslim in America (2009)

T

he young women pictured on our cover are both Muslim. They live near Detroit, Michigan, in a community with many ArabAmerican residents. Each expresses her faith in her own way, with a combination of traditional and modern dress. Here, they compete fiercely on the basketball court in a sport that blends individual skills and team effort. They — along with the other men, women, and children in this publication — demonstrate every day what it is like to be Muslim in America.

Being Muslim in America Introduction “I Am

an

American With

a

Muslim Soul” ........... 2

Photo Essay Building

a Life in

America ........... 4

Profiles

Young Muslims Make Their Mark ........... 30

Resources

A Statistical Portrait ........... 48 Neighborhood Mosques ........... 52 Timeline of Key Events ........... 56 Bibliography ........... 63

Supplement

Did You Know?/Performers Mini-poster

1

“I Am an American With a Muslim Soul”

I

l ove

Am eri ca

n ot

in

be-

W i n t h r o p ’s

Christian

c a u se I a m un de r th e

faith, and no doubt he

i l lusi o n tha t it is per-

imagined his city on a

f e c t , b u t b eca use it allow s

hill with a steeple in the

m e — the chi ld of M uslim

c e n t e r.

i m m i grants from India —

cen t ur ies , A me r i c a h a s r e -

t o pa r ti ci p a te i n its prog-

mained a deeply religious

r e s s , to ca r ve a plac e in its p r o m ise, to play a role in

Throughout

the

c o u n t r y, w h i l e b e c o m i n g Eboo Patel

a r emar k ably p l u r a l on e . I n deed, w e ar e t h e mo s t r eligio u s l y d e v ou t

i t s po ssi b i li ty.

n a t i o n i n t h e We s t a n d t h e m o s t r e l i g i o u s l y J o h n Winthrop, one of the earliest Euro p e a n

div er s e co un t r y in t h e w o r ld. T h e s t e e p l e a t

s e t t l ers in America, gave voice to this s e n s e

t h e cen t er o f t h e cit y o n a h ill i s n ow s u r -

o f po ssi b i li ty. He told h is compatriots t h at

rounded by the minaret of Muslim mosques,

t h e i r so ci ety wo uld be like a c ity upon a h ill,

the Hebrew script of Jewish synagogues, the

a be aco n fo r the world. It w as a h ope r o o t ed

ch an t in g o f B uddh is t s an gas , an d t h e s t a t u e s 2

o f H i ndu temples. In fact, there are now m o r e

A ges , my s o ul s pr ead t o t h e E as t a n d We s t ,

Mu s l im s i n Am erica th an Episcopalians , t h e

pr ay in g in t h e mo s ques an d s t ud y i n g i n t h e

f ai t h p ro fessed by man y of A meric a’s Fo un d-

libraries of the great medieval Muslim cities

i n g F a thers.

o f Cair o , B agh dad, an d Co r do b a . M y s ou l w h ir led w it h R umi, r ead A r is t o t le wi t h Av e r -

O n e hu nd red years ago, th e gre at A fr ican -

r o es , t r av eled t h r o ugh Cen t r al A s ia wi t h N a s i r

A m e r ican scholar W.E.B. Du Bois w a r n e d

Kh us r o w. I n t h e co lo n ial er a, my M u s l i m s ou l

t h at t he p ro b lem of th e c en tur y would b e t h e

was stirred to justice. It marched with Abdul

c ol o r li ne. The 21st ce n tur y migh t w ell be

Gh af f ar Kh an an d t h e Kh udai Kh id m a t g a r s i n

d om i n a ted b y a dif f e re n t lin e — th e f aith lin e.

their satyagraha to free India. It stood with

Th e mo st p ressi n g question s f or my coun t r y

Far id E s ack , E br ah im Mo o s a, R a h i d O m a r,

( A m e rica), my religion (Islam), and all G o d ’s

an d t h e Mus lim Yo ut h Mo v emen t in t h e i r s t r u g -

p e o ple may well be these: How will p e o p l e

gle f o r a mult icult ur al S o ut h A f r ica .

w h o m a y ha ve dif f eren t ideas of h e aven in t e r a c t together on Ear th? Will the steepl e , t h e

I n o n e ey e I car r y t h is an cien t M u s l i m v i -

m i n a ret, the synagogue, the temple, an d t h e

s io n o n plur alis m; in t h e o t h er ey e I c a r r y t h e

s a n g a lear n to share space in a new c i t y o n

American promise. And in my heart, I pray

a hill?

t h at w e mak e r eal t h is po s s ibilit y : a c i t y on a h ill w h er e dif f er en t r eligio us co mm u n i t i e s r e -

I t h i n k the Am eri can e th os — mix in g toler an ce

spectfully share space and collectively ser ve

a n d r everence — may h ave someth in g sp ecial

t h e co mmo n go o d; a w o r ld w h er e d i v e r s e n a -

t o c ontri b ute to th is issue.

t io n s an d peo ples co me t o k n o w on e a n ot h e r in a spirit of brotherhood and righteousness;

Am e ri ca i s a g ran d gath e rin g of souls , t h e

a centur y in which we achieve a common life

v a s t m a j o ri ty from elsewh ere. T h e A mer ican

t o get h er.

g e n i us li es i n a llowin g th e se souls to c o n t r ibu t e t h ei r textu re to th e A me rican traditio n , t o

Author Eboo Patel is executive director of the In-

a dd new no tes to th e A meric an son g.

ter faith Youth Core in Chicago, Illinois. He is a leader in the inter faith movement.

I a m a n Am eri ca n with a M uslim soul. My s o ul c ar r i e s a lo ng histor y of h e roes, movem en t s , a n d civilizations that sought to submit t o t h e w i l l o f G o d . My soul liste n ed as th e Pr o ph et Mu h am m a d p rea ch e d th e c en tral me ssages o f I s l a m, tazaaqa and tawhid, compassi o n a t e j u s t i c e a nd the o n en e ss of God. In th e M iddle 3

Building

a Life in

4

America

I

Abdul and Majida Alsaadi shop at a Wal-Mart in Dearborn, Michigan. mmigrants have come to America from every

Their initial reception was frequently mixed.

corner of the globe. The people are diverse but

These new Americans found a vast new land hun-

their reasons similar: Some sought to escape an

gry for their labor. But some, unfamiliar with these

old way of life, others to find a new one. Some

newcomers’ customs and religions, treated the new

were escaping violence, others the shackles of cus-

Americans as outsiders and believed they could

tom, poverty, or simple lack of opportunity. They

never be real Americans. They were wrong. With

came largely from Europe in the 19th century and

freedom, faith, and hard work, each successive

from the rest of the world — Asia, Africa, the Mid-

wave of immigrants has added its distinctive con-

dle East, and Central and South America — in the

tributions to the American story, enriched our so-

20th and 21st.

ciety and culture, and shaped the ever-dynamic, always-evolving meaning of the single word that

They arrived with hope, and often little else. 5

Photo

Any Day

Gallery

binds us together: American. And today, this story is the Muslim-American story too.

arrived in a nation very different from the one ex-

I

perienced by 19th-century immigrants, but today’s n 1965, a new immigration law reshaped pro-

new Americans face the old immigrant challenge of

foundly the inward flow of new Americans. No

defining their place in America’s social, economic,

longer would national-origin quotas determine

and political fabric.

who could come. In their place were categories

Consider two sisters, Assia and Iman Bound-

based on family relationships and job skills. With

aoui. Their parents are from Algeria, and the girls

this change, immigration numbers soared, bringing

were raised near Chicago, Illinois, as Muslim

the first significant numbers of Muslims from South

Americans. As reported by National Public Radio

Asia and the Middle East to the United States. They

(NPR), Assia and Imam grew up watching both the 6

Opposite page: Top left, Sadaf Butt adjusts her hijab; above left, Muslim congressional staff members take a break from their work on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. This page: Above, clothing designer Brooke Samad compares fabric swatches; right, Tahqiq Abbasi at his textile shop in Union City, New Jersey. 7

children’s Nickelodeon station and the news channel Al Jazeera. When they got takeout food, they sometimes chose Kentucky Fried Chicken and sometimes their favorite falafel restaurant. “In America, we would say we’re Muslim first, because that’s what makes us different, I guess,” Assia, age 20, told NPR. “But in another country, like in a Muslim country, we would say we’re American.” Their story is both remarkable and not so, for there is nothing more American than new generations — from kaleidoscopic combinations of ethnicity and religion — defining themselves as Americans. “America has always been the promised land for Muslims and non-Muslims,” observes IranianAmerican Behzad Yaghmaian, author of Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West. She told the New York Times, “They still come here because the United States offers what they’re missing at home.” The tales of Muslim Americans track a familiar arc, but individually they add immeasurably to the vibrant diversity of a nation founded not on common ancestry, but on the shared values of freedom, opportunity, and equal rights for all. “In every era of U.S. history, women and men from around the world have opted for the American experience,” writes historian Hasia Diner. “They arrived as foreigners, bearers of languages, cultures, and religions that at times seemed alien to America’s essential core. Over time, as ideas about U.S. culture changed, the immigrants and their descendants simultaneously built ethnic communities and participated in American civic life, contributing to the nation as a whole.” 8

Clockwise from left, Abdi Mohamed says evening prayers in his Omaha, Nebraska, grocery store; at home in Brooklyn, New York, a family searches the Internet; Susan Fadlallah prepares the meal to break the Ramadan fast. Center, butcher Nehme Mansour grinds halal meat in Michigan. 9

10

M

uslim Americans possess a diversity that is extraordinary even by American standards. In sharp contrast to other im-

migrant groups, Muslim Americans cannot be defined by race or nationality; in this sense, they more closely resemble the Hispanic Americans whose origins lie in Spain, the many nations of Latin America, and the islands of the Caribbean. Muslim American diversity may be greater still, encompassing origins in South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe’s Balkan region, and Africa, as well as a small but growing group of Hispanic Muslims. Because the United States does not track population by religion, there is no authoritative count of its Muslim population. Estimates range widely, from 2 million to 7 million or more. Of that number, approximately 34 percent are of Pakistani or South Asian origin and 26 percent are Arab. Another 25 percent of Muslim Americans are indigenous, largely African American, and this adds still more layers to the rich Muslim-American experiPhoto

Careers

ence. In other words, the Muslim-American saga

Gallery

is not just one of immigration and Americanization, but part of one of the most powerful themes in American history: the struggle for racial equality. There are mosques and Muslim social and cultural institutions throughout the country, in urban centers and rural communities alike. Want to visit the International Museum of Muslim Culture — the first Islamic history museum in the United States? Forget about traveling to New York or Washing-

Clockwise from left, Dr. Maya Hammoud holds the

ton; instead you must head for the Arts District of

medical handbook in Arabic that she wrote; Samiul

Jackson, Mississippi. Dearborn, Michigan, is home

Haque Noor, winner of New York City’s annual

to the nation’s largest Arab-American population.

Vendy Award for best street vender food; Mohamad

Muslims from South Asia and Africa form vibrant

Atwi’s Wal-Mart name tag is in two languages. 11

and growing communities in the New York-New Jer-

“We all should know that diversity makes for

sey area. Somalis have settled in substantial num-

a rich tapestry,” says the noted African-American

bers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and

poet Maya Angelou, “and we must understand that

Southern California is home to the country’s largest

all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no

Iranian-American population.

matter their color; equal in importance no matter

Yet even these ethnic communities are hardly

their texture.”

monolithic. Many of the Arabs living in Dearborn

Iman Boundaoui of Chicago, for example,

and elsewhere are Christian, not Muslim, and a

found that freedom involved her decision to wear

number of Iranian Americans living in Los Angeles

a head scarf. She recalls a vivid incident during a

are Jewish.

high school trip to Paris, France, when her group

Generalizing about such a diverse a population

talked with girls at a private Muslim school founded

can obscure more than it explains. Better, perhaps,

in response to a French law banning head scarves

to study representative experiences.

in public schools: “And me and my friends were 12

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter their color; equal in importance no matter their texture.” — Maya Angelou

Clockwise from left, former director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni gives a presentation; comedian Maysoon Zayid does her stand-up routine; Sacramento Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim goes up for a jump shot; Staff Sargeant Magda Khalifa in her U.S.Army uniform. 13

Photo

Service

Gallery

14

looking at them,” Boundaoui told NPR, “and at that moment we were like, ‘Thank God we live in America,’ that I can walk down the street with my scarf on without having to decide to take it off because I have to go to school.” For Pakistani immigrant Nur Fatima, freedom instead means that after moving to an area of Brooklyn, New York, known as Little Pakistan, she could choose to remove her head scarf, reveling in the fact that Americans generally regard these social and religious choices as private matters. “This is a land of opportunity, there is equality for everyone,” Fatima told the New York Times. “I came to the United States because I want to improve myself. This is a second birth for me.” Today, in a thousand different circumstances, Americans of Islamic faith embrace their heritage as a crucial part of a self-fashioned identity in which they choose from among all the possibilities of freedom that this land bestows upon all its citizens. As they explore the possibilities, they discover that they, too, have become Americans. “We stress the American Muslim identity, that home is where my grandchildren are going to be raised, not where my grandfather is buried,” Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told California’s Sacramento Bee newspaper.

W

Clockwise from bottom left, Muslims march to support volunteerism; young Muslim activists brainstorm ways to solve problems in their community; Farooq

ith growing numbers, confidence, and organization, Muslim Americans contribute in every field, from

business and scholarship to sports and the arts.

Aboelzahab talks about the diversity at his mosque;

Their stories range from Pakistan-born Samiul

religious leaders gather to celebrate peace and

Haque Noor, whose spicy halal dishes earned

tolerance; Sarah Eltantawi answers questions at a

him the 2006 award for best food street vendor

news conference. 15

Imam Hashim Raza leads the prayers during a funeral at the al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie, New York, for Mohsin Naqvi, a U.S. Army officer killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. 16

in New York City, to Dr. Elias Zerhouni, from Algeria, head of the National Institutes of Health from 2002 to 2008; from Newsweek commentator and editor Fareed Zakaria, to actor and hip-hop artist Mos Def; from professional basketball star Dikembe Mutombo of the Houston Rockets, to Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress. A new generation of Muslim Americans enriches American medicine, science, and literature. Obstetrician and gynecologist Nawal Nour, born in Sudan and raised in Egypt, pioneers women’s health issues as founder of the African Women’s Health Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She received an esteemed MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the “genius grant”) in 2003 and Stanford University’s Muslim Scholar Award in 2008. Iranian-American scientist Babak Parviz of the University of Washington has made exciting breakthroughs in nanotechnology — ultra-small electronic and biological applications at the cellular and molecular level — including tiny devices that can assemble and reassemble themselves independently. Writer Mohja Kahf, who came from Syria as a child, has skewered American culture generally and Muslim Americans themselves with gentle irony and razor-sharp observations in her poetry (E-mails From Scheherazad ) and an autobiographical novel set in Indiana (The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf) — books that have drawn fervent admirers, especially among younger Muslim-American women. She also writes a frank online column about relationships and sex for younger Muslims and believes that with such works as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner Muslim-American literature can now legitimately be considered a distinct genre. 17

Fady Joudah, born to Palestinian parents in Texas, grew up to become an emergency-room physician, now working in Houston, and has served with Doctors Without Borders at refugee camps in Zambia and in Darfur, Sudan. He is also a major new poet and winner of the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets competition for his collection The Earth in the Attic. “These are small poems, many of them, but the grandeur of conception inescapable,” wrote poet and critic Louise Glück in her introduction to Joudah’s book. “Fathers and brothers become prophets, hypothesis becomes dream, simple details of landscape transform themselves into emblems and predictions. The book is varied, coherent, fierce: impossible to put down, impossible to forget.”

A

new, truly American Islam is emerging, shaped by American freedoms, but also by the aftermath of the September 11, 2001,

attacks. Even as surveys by the Pew Research Center and others show that Muslim Americans are better educated and more prosperous than the average, the terrorist attacks — planned and executed by non-Americans — raised suspicions among other Americans whose immediate responses, racial profiling among them, triggered in turn a measure of Muslim-American alienation. Sadly, suspicions of this kind are not uncommon — in the United States or in other nations — during wartime or when outside attack is feared. But 2008 is not 2002, when fears and suspicions were at their height. Context is also important: Every significant immigrant group

Above, students and advisers paint a mural that rec-

has in the United States faced, and overcome, a

ognizes diversity in faith in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-

degree of discrimination and resentment.

vania. Right, Yasmine Asfoor answers a question in

Nur Fatima, for example, celebrated her new-

government class at Mountain Pointe High School

found freedom in a New York Pakistani communi-

near Phoenix, Arizona. 18

Photo

Education

Gallery

19

This page: Clockwise from left, Sister Hala Hazimi, standing, assists Zeinab Ghanem with a math problem in Michigan; Adnan Kasseem bows during a class on prayer etiquette in New Mexico; on a field trip, students visit the International Museum of Muslim Culture in Jackson, Mississippi. Opposite page: Clockwise from top, high school basketball players prepare for a game in Michigan; in North Carolina, Ruhi Brelvi, at left, and Hebah Sedak prepare their basketball uniforms for game day; Laila Alkahlout, front, and Sasha Khaffed battle for a basketball during a national youth tournament in Florida. 20

21

Photo

Faith

Gallery

ty where, a few years earlier, fear was high and

munities around the nation.”

both businesses and schools closed in the wake

Among the healthy responses to the tensions

of 9/11, according to the New York Times. By

triggered by the terrorist attacks is an expansion of

the time Fatima arrived, Little Pakistan had recov-

the interfaith dialogue in the United States.

ered under the leadership of local businessman

“Anytime you share a space with someone of

Moe Razvi, who helped start English and computer

another culture, you are bound to grow as an in-

classes, opened a community center, and led com-

dividual and learn to see things from another per-

munity leaders to meet and improve relations with

spective,” said Kareema Daoud, a doctoral student

federal authorities.

in Arabic language and literature at Georgetown

“The annual Pakistan Independence Day parade

University who has served as a volunteer citizen

is awash in American flags,” the Times reported. “It

ambassador for the Department of State. “There is

is a transformation seen in Muslim immigrant com-

beauty in diversity,” Daoud concludes. 22

Clockwise from left, Mohamad Hammoud prays at the Islamic Center of America mosque in Dearborn, Michigan; Mariam Motala, at right, prays at the Islamic Center of Hawthorn, California; a young boy hopes to join in on prayers in Brunswick, New Jersey; the Islamic Center of Cleveland, in Parma, Ohio, is home to more than 300 worshippers. 23

Above, top, children attend evening prayers; above, women worship at Masjid Al-Rahman in California. Opposite page: Top, Muslims pray in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.; bottom, men gather during the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago, Illinois. 24

The 9/11 attacks also galvanized the MuslimAmerican community to become more active in civic and political activities — to advocate for issues of concern, to build alliances with non-Muslim organizations — and to confront intolerance and threats of violence. “Active engagement and involvement in politics reflects the fact that American Muslims are part of the social fabric of America, and also reflects their patriotic concern for this country,” says editor and writer Nafees Syed of Harvard University in a commentary on the free-wheeling discussion Web site altmuslim.com Paraphrasing President John F. Kennedy, Syed continues, “The question is not only how taking part in the political process will aid American Muslims, but how American Muslims can help this country.” Like the global population, the majority of American Muslims are Sunni, although there are large numbers of Shia and groups who actively follow Sufi traditions. Despite this diversity, says Paul Barrett, author of the 2007 book American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion, “distinctions that possibly loomed larger elsewhere are instead in America ‘diluted’ in the deep pool of pluralism that characterizes American society. ... Many immigrants have taken the ambitious step of crossing continents and oceans because they want to escape old-world antagonisms, to pursue education, economic betterment, and a more hopeful life for their children.” Progressive forms of belief, a more prominent role for women, even the recent evolution of “megamosques” resembling in size the large evangelical Christian churches — are among the characteristics of a rapidly evolving, uniquely American Islam. 25

“I have found that Muslims in America are melding their faith, ethnic background, and the folkways of their adopted land in many different ways,” Barrett said in an interview on altmuslim.com. “There Photo

Special Days

is no one formula, just as there hasn’t been a formula for past immigrant groups. ... I’m confident

Gallery

that there won’t be one story about how Muslims assimilate. There will be many stories.”

26

Clockwise from above, Nawal Daoud holds the Quran over the heads of girls as they walk underneath it during a Takleef ceremony; Hafiz Azzubair posts a sign urging people to vote; Rutgers University students Lelia Halwani, at left, and Nadia Sheikh attend a reception at the interfaith dorm where they live in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 27

This page: Clockwise from bottom left, halal turkey is served for Thanksgiving dinner in St. Louis, Missouri; girls in Paterson, New Jersey, break the Ramadan fast with dates; Fawad Yacoob speaks during the Blessing of the Waves ceremony in California; in Tyler, Texas, men embrace during Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Opposite page: Members of the Malaysian Students Association celebrate their graduation from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. 28

“I have found that Muslims in America are melding their faith, ethnic background, and the folkways of their adopted land in many different ways. ... I’m confident that there won’t be one story about how Muslims assimilate. There will be many stories.” — Paul Barrett

29

American Profiles Young Muslims Make Their Mark Top row, from left, Imam Khalid Latif; filmmaker Lena Kahn; artist Heba Amin. Bottom row, from left, businessman Moose Scheib; fashion designers Nyla Hashmi and Fatima Monkush; singer Kareem Salama; journalist Kiran Khalid. Opposite page, far right, Bedouin Girl by Heba Amin. 30

Artist Heba Amin The

t o t h e r ich n es s o f A r ab an d E gy p t i a n c u l t u r e t h at s h e h ad “pr ev io us ly o v er lo o ke d or t a k e n f o r gr an t ed.” Fo r s ev er al y ear s , A min ’s w o r k r e v ol v e d ar o un d po r t r ait s o f B edo uin w o men , wh o, s h e s aid, “ar e k n o w n f o r t h eir embr oi d e r e d a n d

c on te mporar y

beaded cr af t s .

ar t -

“T h e E ur o pean U n io n h ad a p r og r a m d e -

ist Heba Amin, 28 , h a s

s ign ed t o pr es er v e t h es e cr af t s , f u n d i n g t h e

bee n drawin g f or as lo n g as

she

can

work and encouraging older women to teach

reme m b e r,

younger ones. I became interested in that and

but pursuing ar t fu l l - t i m e

s t ay ed w it h dif f er en t t r ibes t o s ee t h e p r oc e s s

d i d not occur to her until she was a jun i o r i n

w o r k in g. I als o appr en t iced w it h a B e d ou i n

c ol l e ge. At the time, A min , w h o n ow liv es in

ar t is t w h o cr eat ed s an d pain t in gs . ”

Mi n n e a p o li s, was a math major an d f ir s t en -

As Amin spent time with different Bedouin

v i s i oned herself as an arc h ite ct.

t r ibes , s h e r ealiz ed s h e w as ev en m or e i n t e r -

A min was bor n and raised in Cairo, E g y p t .

es t ed in t h eir w ay o f lif e t h an t h ei r c r a f t .

H e r late father was an interior designe r ; h e r

“I w as s t r uck by h o w at t ach ed t h e y we r e

m o t h er, a n a d m in istrative worke r at the pr i-

to their surroundings and the land, and how

v a t e Am eri ca n sc h ool A min atte n ded f ro m k in -

s ad it w as t h at t h eir cult ur e w as de t e r i or a t i n g

d e r g a r ten thro ugh 12th grade .

due to urban sprawl and modernization,” she

After hi g h sc h ool, A min travele d t o t h e

r ecalled.

U n i t ed States to attend Macalester Co l l e g e ,

A min beg a n p a i n t i n g

a p r i va te, li b era l ar ts sch ool in St. Paul, Min -

brightly colored portraits

n e s o ta. By her third year, Amin realized t h a t

o f B edo uin w om e n j u xt a -

h e r hear t lay in ar t, not math, and in 2 0 0 2

po s ed w it h ur b a n g e om e t -

s h e ear ned a bachelor’s degree in studi o a r t ,

r ic pat t er n s . “Th e p a t t e r n s

w i t h a co ncentration in oil pain tin g.

o v er w h elm t h e p a i n t i n g s ,

L i ving in the United States, she told F a y e q

representing how the city

O w e is, ed i to r of th e Encyclopedia of A r a b

is t ak in g o v er t h e B e d ou -

Am e ri ca n Ar ti sts, allowed her “to take th e r o l e

in cult ur e,” s he s a i d .

o f t h e outside obser ver” and opened her e y e s 31

“I f o un d t h at pain t in g w as a l i t t l e r e s t r i c t iv e — I co uldn ’t r eally r elay t h e e m ot i on I w as af t er,” s h e s aid. “I w an t ed t o m ov e i n t o s o met h in g t h at w as mo r e ex per ien t i a l . I n s t a l lat io n ar t allo w ed me t o cr eat e a s p a c e t h a t ex pr es s ed t h e emo t io n al ideas I wa s a f t e r. ” A m i n ’s w o r k h a s b e e n s h o w n a t a n u m b e r o f galler ies in Min n eapo lis , New Yor k , a n d Wa s h i n g t o n . “I lo o k at cit y in f r as t r uct ur e as r ep r e s e n t a t i on o f t h e pr o gr es s io n o f a s o ciet y,” s h e wr ot e on h e r We b s i t e . “ U r b a n p l a n n i n g i s i n d i c a t i v e o f a s o ciet y ’s po lit ical s it uat io n , a n d I a m i n t er es t ed in in v es t igat in g Middle E a s t e r n c i t i e s where the infrastructure is an obstacle and a bur den t o peo ple’s daily liv es . I am i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e c i t y ’s e f f e c t o n p e r s o n a l s p a c e , w h e r e city structure begins to take precedence over individuality and where buildings and humans

E v e ntua lly, Am in ’s Be douin pain tin gs led h er

begin t o o v er lap an d lay er o n t o p of on e a n -

i n a di f ferent a r tistic direc tion , tow ard t h r ee-

o t h er in s t ead o f co ex is t in g.

d i m e nsional installation pieces. “As I di d t h e

“These installations are simply intended to

p or t r a i ts, I fo u nd I w as really in te re ste d in t h e

a d d r e s s t h e i d e a t h a t o n e ’s s u r r o un d i n g s p l a y

c i t y stru cture fo r mat,” sh e ex plain ed.

an immen s e r o le in beh av io r,” s h e wr ot e .

T h e next time she was in Cairo, Amin s a i d ,

I n addit io n t o h er in s t allat io n s , Am i n r e -

“ I n oticed how many abandoned stru c t u r e s

cently illustrated a book that profiles Muslim

t h e r e were — ex pan sive masse s of lan d w er e

w o men in h is t o r y called E x t r a o r d i n a r y Wo m e n

c ov e red wi th unfin ish e d buildin gs. I took ph o -

f r o m t h e Mus lim Wo r ld.

t o s o f these struc tures, and then star ted d o i n g

In spite of her artistic success, Amin is

a s e ries of works about them, investig a t i n g

reluctant to depend on her art for her living.

t h e m . Wha t they were, w h y th ey were aban -

“I’m not focused on selling my work,” she

d on e d , thei r ef fe ct on people.”

s aid. “A n d t h at f r ees me f r o m t h e ob l i g a t i on

Amin became fascinated with the thought of

of making work that other people want. I’ve

the city as an emotional idea, rather than a struc-

been in s ch o o l n o w f o r 1 0 y ear s , a n d u l t i -

tural one, and that led her to a different medium.

mat ely, I ’ d lik e t o s t ay in academi a . ” A s f o r liv in g in t h e U n it ed St a t e s , s h e

Above, installation piece Root Shock by Heba Amin. 32

s a i d , “I love it. I love being in the aca d e m i c

ning an ambitious fundraising campaign that

e n v i r onm ent, where I h ave time to e x plo r e my

he hopes will allow him to hire a full-time

i de as a nd ho w to e x pre ss th em.”

s t af f an d appo in t a s ch o lar - in - r es i d e n c e wi t h in t h r ee t o f iv e y ear s . H o w e v e r, L a t i f n e v e r f o r g e t s t h a t h e i s , abo v e all, t h e s pir it ual leader of a y ou n g an d v ar ied co n gr egat io n . Mo s t a r e s t u d e n t s s eek in g t o f in d t h eir s pir it ual pat h a s M u s l i m s

Imam K halid Latif

w h ile f acin g t h e ch allen ges o f y o u n g c ol l e g e age peo ple an y w h er e. I n 2 0 0 7 , h e w as n amed as o n l y t h e s e c o n d Mus lim ch aplain t o t h e New Yor k P ol i c e Depar t men t . L at if , w h o s er v es w ith C a t h ol i c , Pr o t es t an t , an d Jew is h cler gy, a l r e a d y h a s

At

th e

ag e

of

been called t o h o s pit als s ev er al t im e s t o c om -

25, Imam K h a l i d

fort injured officers and their families, none

Latif already h a s

o f w h o m h as h appen ed t o be Mus l i m .

ach ieve d

impo r -

L a t i f g r e w u p i n E d i s o n , N e w J e r s e y, t h e s o n

leade r s h i p

o f Pak is t an - bo r n par en t s . H e w as on e of on l y

r e s p onsi b i li ti es as c h aplain an d dire ct o r o f

a s mall n umber o f Mus lim s t uden t s a t s c h ool .

t h e I slamic Center at New York Univ e r s i t y

B ut in a pat t er n t h at h as car r ied on t h r ou g h

( N Y U) and the Muslim chaplain for the N e w

h is lif e, L at if als o s o ugh t o ut w ider l e a d e r s h i p

Yo r k Po li ce D ep ar tme n t.

positions, becoming student council president

tant

“The uni versity an d polic e de par t men t

an d capt ain o f h is f o o t ball an d t r a c k t e a m s .

a r e ob vi o usly ve r y dif f e re n t,” Latif said . “B ut t h e y’ re a lso ver y similar as A me rican i n s t it u-

Inquiry Into Faith

t i o n s with growing Muslim populations w h o

L at if majo r ed in Middle E as t er n a n d I s l a m i c

a r e t r yi ng to fi nd th e ir w ay.”

s t udies at New Yo r k U n iv er s it y an d f ou n d h i m -

L a ti f i s d eep ly c ommitted to in te r f aith dia-

self continuing his inquir y into his faith and

l o g u e and community ser vice as integral p a r t s

h is r o le as a Mus lim A mer ican in p e r h a p s t h e

o f w h a t i t m ea ns to be M uslim in a mo der n ,

mo s t et h n ically an d r eligio us ly div e r s e m e t r o-

m u l t i cultural world. “Each of these interac t i o n s

politan area in the world.

c an b e a n o p p or tun ity f or spiritual gro w t h ,”

H e als o began t o per ceiv e t h e e xt r a or d i -

he said.

n ar y div er s it y o f I s lam it s elf . “A s a f r e s h m a n ,

As head of the rapidly growing Is l a m i c

I met an Indonesian with a scraggly beard

C e n t er a t N ew York Un ive rsity, Latif is plan -

— an d a s ur f bo ar d. T h at w as s o m e t h i n g n e w. 33

t h e n o n den o min at io n al H ar t f o r d S e m i n a r y i n Connecticut, the only accredited program of i t s k i n d i n t h e c o u n t r y. A r o un d t h e s ame t ime, L at if v o l u n t e e r e d a s t h e f ir s t ch aplain o f NY U ’s I s lamic C e n t e r. H e also co-taught courses on conflict resolution at A br ah am’s Vis io n , a Mus lim- Je wi s h i n t e r f ait h o r gan iz at io n f o r y o un g peo p l e . I n 2 0 0 6 , L at if accept ed a par t - t i m e p os i t i o n a s t h e f i r s t M u s l i m c h a p l a i n o f Princeton University in New Jersey; s o o n h e w a s c o m m u t in g bet w een Pr in cet o n an d NY U . B ot h s c h ool s o f f er ed h im f ull- t ime po s it io n s , an d L a t i f a c c e p t e d N Y U ’s o f f e r t o s e r v e a s d i r e c t o r o f i t s I s lamic Cen t er. School Chaplain In many respects, Latif is a pioneer at a t ime w h en t h e gr o w in g Mus lim s t u d e n t p op u lat io n , co upled w it h lar ge n umbe r s of i n t e r n at io n al s t uden t s , h as gr eat ly in c r e a s e d t h e n eed f o r Mus lim ch aplain s o n cam p u s . O n e o f L a t i f ’s m o s t s u c c e s s f u l u n d e r t a k i n g s

Bu t I a lso m et M uslims wh o were Af r ican

was almost an afterthought: podcasts of his

A m e r ican, African, conver ted Muslims, a n d

2 0 - min ut e Fr iday s er mo n s . A f r ien d s u g g e s t e d

t h e c hi ld ren o f con ver ts.”

t h ey r eco r d an d po s t t h em o n t h e Is l a m i c C e n -

T hro u g ho ut his un iversity years, Lati f co n -

t er Web s it e.

t i n u e d his infor mal study of Islam, and a t a g e

T h e r es po n s e f ar ex ceeded exp e c t a t i on s .

1 8 h e was cajoled into giving his first se r m o n .

T h e po dcas t Web s it e av er ages 1 5, 000 v i s i t s

“ I t s eemed to go fairly well, and I was a s k e d

a mo n t h . H e h as lis t en er s f r o m 4 0 t o 50 d i f -

t o g i v e them o n a regular basis,” h e said.

f er en t co un t r ies , n o t ably I n do n es i a a n d M a -

I n 2005, after graduating from NYU , L a t i f

lay s ia, alt h o ugh h e als o r eceiv es a p p r e c i a t i v e

e n t e r ed the Islamic Chaplaincy Progra m a t

mes s ages f r o m s ch o o lt each er s an d f ol l owe r s in E ur o pe.

Above, the cover of Newsweek magazine featured

L at if r egar ds h is co mmit men t t o i n t e r f a i t h

American Muslims from all walks of life. Khalid Latif

act iv it ies as cen t r al t o h is mis s io n a s a n i m a m

is at center left in cap and police uniform. 34

i n t o day’s multicultural world. “Inter faith w o r k

ar e s t uf f ed w it h giz mo s , gadget s, a n d c u r i -

c a n be frustrating at times,” Latif said , a n d

osities that help make the magic of cinema.

r e qu i res b o th ti me an d h ard work.

Wear in g a pale gr een h ead s car f a n d a d e -

H e ci tes a tri p to New Orle an s w ith mem-

mur e beige car digan , Kh an dis c ov e r s a n d

b e r s of the Islamic Center and NYU’s J e w i s h

unsheathes a two-foot long ninja sword with

Br o n fm a n Center to h e lp with Hurricane Ka-

a mischievous look on her round, pale face.

t r i n a reco ver y ef f or ts.

“T h is w ill w o r k ,” s h e s ay s .

By wo rki ng an d livin g toge th er o v er a

Though she defies expectations of what a

p e r i od o f ti m e, h e said, th ey overcame t h eir

f ilmmak er s h o uld lo o k lik e — s h e i s y ou n g , f e -

m i s t r ust “ a nd they all lear n e d n ot to def in e

male, dev o ut ly Mus lim, an d I n dia n Am e r i c a n

s t u d e nts by religion or background a s t h e

— t h e 2 4 - y ear - o ld f ilm s ch o o l gr ad u a t e wr i t e s

‘ O t h er. ’”

an d dir ect s mus ic v ideo s an d s h or t f i l m s , a s

“ Thi s i s rea l, e f f e ctive ch an ge ,” Latif s aid,

well as commercials for a restaurant called

“ c h a nge that can emanate into the br o a d e r

Cr av e. ( I n o n e ad, a n in ja t h r o w s wh i r l i n g

c om m uni ty. ”

s amo s as ) . Kh an w o n $ 5 ,0 0 0 f o r B as s em i s Tr y i n g , a o n e- min ut e s h o r t t h at h umo r o us ly d e m on s t r a t e s how a Muslim-American man tries to fit in — f o r in s t an ce, by blas t in g h ip- h o p m u s i c on

Filmmaker

h is car r adio . H er t h r ee- min ut e s h or t A L a n d Called Par adis e, e s s e n t i a l l y a m u s i c v i d e o s e t

Lena Khan

t o a s o n g o f t h e s ame n ame by M u s l i m c ou n -

On

pa r c h e d

o f div er s e back gr o un ds t o h o ld u p h a n d wr i t -

August afte r n o o n

t en s ign s t h at ex pr es s mes s ages t he y wa n t t h e

in

w o r ld t o k n o w abo ut t h em as Mu s l i m Am e r i -

a Los

gr an d pr iz e f r o m O n e Nat io n , a M u s l i m a d v ocacy gr o up t h at s po n s o r ed t h e f i l m c om p e t i tion. Khan directed dozens of men and women

Ang e l e s ,

Le n a

Kh an

ruses of

t r y s in ger Kar eem S alama, w o n a $20, 000

pe-

can s . T h e s t at emen t s ar e as w h im s i c a l a s “ I ,

the

aisles

t o o , s h o p a t Vi c t o r i a ’s S e c r e t , ” a n d a s s e r i o u s

Hand

Prop

as “My s is t er died o n S ept ember 1 1. ”

R o o m, a company that supplies stage p r o p s

On e o f t h e judges f o r t h e 2 0 0 7 O n e N a -

f or m a j o r Ho llywood movies such as T h e Av ia-

t io n co mpet it io n , f o r mer pr o f es s io n a l b a s k e t -

t o r and The D epar ted. From f aux me at car -

ball play er Kar eem A bdul- Jabbar, g a v e A L a n d

c as s es to b ro nze T h ai Buddh as, th e sh elv es

Called Par adis e h i g h m a r k s f o r i t s “ b e a u t i f u l 35

cin emat ic lan guage,” w h ile jo ur n a l i s t M a r i an e Pear l co mmen ded t h e f ilm “for i t s f r e s h ness and sense of humor while addressing v it al emo t io n s f elt by t h e Mus lim p op u l a t i on an d t h e r es t o f us .” Pullin g o f f A L an d Called Par a d i s e w a s a majo r ef f o r t , Kh an r ecalled. T h e p r oj e c t s t a r t ed w it h a ques t io n : “I f y o u co uld s a y s om e t h in g t o ev er y bo dy in t h e w o r ld wh o i s n ot Muslim, what would you say?” “I sent out e-mails; I went to mosques; I used ever y major Muslim Listser v I could think o f ,” s h e s aid. T h e f ir s t r es po n s e Kh an r eceiv e d wa s “ I s l a m i n h i b i t s m y s u i c i d a l t h o u g h t s . ” “ T h a t ’s w h en I k n ew t h at t h is w as t h e v ide o I wa s g oi n g t o d o , ” s h e s a i d . “ I w o u l d n ’t ha v e t h o u g h t of that. I was tr ying to fix the representations o f M u s l i m s , b u t I d o n ’t t h i n k I c a n s p e a k f o r all of them. And this was my first clue. I got 2,500 responses, collected them, narrowed t h em do w n , an d made t h e v ideo .” S in ce t h e v ideo ’s laun ch , Kha n h a s r e ceiv ed h un dr eds o f e- mails f r o m p e op l e wh o s a y t h e v i d e o h a s m a d e t h e m c r y, i n s p i r e d t h em t o o pen a dis cus s io n abo ut I s l a m wi t h their families, or broken down walls built by s t er eo t y pes . T h e v ideo als o o pe n e d p r of e s s io n al do o r s f o r Kh an , s uch as a m e e t i n g wi t h t h e do cumen t ar y f ilmmak er Mo r ga n Sp u r l oc k . T h e Mus lim Public A f f air s Co un cil, a t a d i n n e r in Hollywood, recognized her as a filmmaker t o w at ch . “ I f I h a d n ’t e n t e r e d t h e c o n t e s t , I ’ d b e a t

Top, still frame from Bassem is Trying . Below, three

the same place as I was before,” said Khan,

stills from A Land Called Paradise . Opposite page,

a graduate of the University of California,

filming Bassem is Trying . 36

t h e bes t w ay t o t ell a s t o r y — t h at ’s wh e n p e o-

L o s A ng eles (UCLA ) f ilm sc h ool. Kha n b eca me in terested in cin ema as a

ple really listen and relate to people who are

f or m o f so ci a l a ctivism, w h ic h sh e con s ider s

going through those things.” She went on to

a n i mp o r ta nt ten et of h er f aith . Be caus e s h e

get a mas t er o f ar t s degr ee in f ilm a t U C L A.

i s ab o ut to g et marrie d, sh e w as e x pec t ed t o

Back at Hand Prop Room, Khan digs into

a c c e pt a diamond engagement ring. “I d i d n ’t

a box of ninja stars. Once she has selected

w a n t to have anything to do with the dia m o n d

h e r p r o p s , s h e h o p s i n h e r d u s t y r e d To y o t a

i n d u s tr y, the blood diamonds. It’s just r e a l l y

Pr ius an d dr iv es o v er t h e H o lly w ood H i l l s t o

b a d , ” Khan said. “My parents are like, ‘ W h y

We s t e r n C o s t u m e C o m p a n y i n s e a r c h o f n i n j a

a r e y o u b ei ng s o lame? Just go buy a dia-

mas k s an d s uit s .

m o n d . It’s no t that big a de al.’ But I do t h in k i t ’s a big deal. It’s a test to see if you c a n s ac r i fi ce yo u r o wn th in gs f or oth er pe o ple.” S h e c ho se a b i g moissan ite rin g in stead . A nd when shooting on location, she i n s i s t s o n u si ng ca terers wh o c ook on ly f ree - r an ge c h i c ken. “My brother always makes fun o f m e a n d ca lls m e L i sa Simpson ,” Kh an said, r ef er r i n g to the wonky, intellectual younger s i s t e r f r o m the American car toon television s e r i e s Th e Si m p so ns. A s an underg raduate majoring in po l i t i c a l s c i e nce and histor y at UCLA, Khan no t i c e d

In addition to her ninja commercials, her

t h a t students would become intereste d i n

f ut ur e pr o ject s in clude a s et o f c om m e r c i a l s

g e n o ci d es such as th ose in Rw an da an d Dar -

about the presidential election and another

f u r o n ly i f they saw a movie about th e t o pic

mus ic v ideo f o r S alama.

o r i f an actor publicized the cause. She a l s o

But when it comes to a 40-minute personal

w a s tired of seeing Hollywood films su c h a s

f i l m t h a t s h e i s m a k i n g , s h e s a i d o n l y, “ T h e y

Th e S i eg e a nd Black Haw k Dow n use im a g e s

ex pect s o met h in g big an d po pula r. So y e a h ,

t o c onnect terro rism to ritual ablution s and t h e

I h a v e a l i t t l e b i t o f p r e s s u r e t h e r e . ” I t ’s u p t o

c al l to p ra yer.

Kh an t o mak e it lo o k lik e magic.

“ These things ate at me. So I decide d t h a t

L en a Kh an ’s v ideo s B as s em is Tr y i n g a n d

i n s t e a d o f co m plain in g about th e m, I wo uld

A L an d Called Par adis e can be s e e n on You -

e n t e r the field and do something abou t i t , ”

Tube.co m.

K h a n said. “I wanted to make movies a b o u t s oc i a l i ssues b ecause it se ems like movie s ar e 37

lat er w r o t e, “S uch ex per ien ces ... i n s t i l l e d i n me an unwavering passion for the pursuit of k n o w ledge an d jus t ice.” T h e f amily o f s ix immigr at ed t o t h e U n i t e d

Businessman Moose Scheib

S t at es w h en S ch eib w as s ev en y e a r s ol d , l i v in g f ir s t in To ledo , O h io , an d t he n i n D e a r bo r n , Mich igan . W h en h is f at h er s u f f e r e d t h e f ir s t o f s ev er al s t r o k es , S ch eib’s m ot h e r b e came a f ull- t ime r es t aur an t co o k . “My mother never complained,” he said. “ ’ Yo u r f a t h e r c a n ’t d o i t , I w i l l , ’ s h e s a i d , a n d

It could be a s c e n e

took a tough job at minimum wage. ... All

from a movi e . A young

man,

s h e t o ld us w as t o f o cus o n o ur edu c a t i on a n d

the

mak e s ur e t o get s ch o lar s h ips , ‘ as m on e y f or

son of immig r an t s ,

co llege is s o met h in g I do n ’t h av e f or y ou a t

ex c els in h is s t ud-

t h is po in t in o ur liv es .’ ”

ie s, atte n ds a dis -

S ch eib gr aduat ed w it h h o n or s f r om Al -

t i n g u ished law school, and lands a j o b a t

bio n Co llege in Mich igan , w h er e h e f ou n d e d

a t op la w fi r m . On e day, h e w alks int o t h e

t h e Mus lim S t uden t A s s o ciat io n , th e n a t t e n d -

r e s t a urant where his mother has worked a s a

e d C o l u m b i a L a w S c h o o l i n N e w Yo r k C i t y,

c oo k fo r yea rs, take s of f h is gloves, an d s ay s :

where he ser ved as a board member for the

“ Mo m, co m e ho me w ith me. You’ re n e ver go -

Mus lim L aw S t uden t s A s s o ciat io n .

i n g t o ha ve to w ork again .”

S ch eib’s o n e es cape f r o m t he u n r e l e n t -

B ut it’s not a movie. It is par t of the s t o r y

in g pr es s ur es o f w o r k an d s t udy wa s s p or t s

o f Moose Scheib, 28, who today hea d s a

— especially American-style football. “On the

c o m pany that has saved thousands of fa m i l i e s

f i e l d , I s h e d b a r r i e r s t h a t l a n g u a g e , p o v e r t y,

f r om lo si ng thei r h omes th rough f ore clos ur e.

an d r ace h ad pr ev io us ly impo s ed on m e , ” h e

“ The m a i n th in g is to be able to h elp

w r o t e in h is law s ch o o l applicat ion .

p e o ple stay in their homes — that is the m o s t e x c i t ing thi ng fo r me,” Sc h eib said. School

and

The Legal World Scheib found law school a challenge. “The

Work

co mbin at io n o f law s ch o o l an d th e b i g c i t y

Schei b wa s bor n in Beirut, Le ban on, an d

was a big shock — and Columbia was the

s o m e of his early memories are of the s h o c k

mo s t co mpet it iv e en v ir o n men t I ’ d e v e r b e e n

a n d s tra ng eness of a c h ild’s lif e durin g w ar -

in ,” h e s aid.

t i m e . In his application to law school, S c h e i b 38

gav e h er t h e gif t o f bein g able t o q u i t wor k

Bu t S chei b p erse vered an d suc ce ede d. H e

f o r go o d.

r e c e i ved an award for public ser vice fro m t h e Ar a b Am eri ca n In stitute in 2004 an d s er v ed

“My parents sacrificed so much for us,” he

a s a clerk fo r a Ne w York Supre me Co ur t

s aid. “T h ey gav e up a go o d lif e i n L e b a n on

j u s t i c e.

f o r us , t h eir ch ildr en , an d I w an te d t h e m t o k n o w t h at t h e s acr if ices h ad been wor t h i t . ”

In 2005, Scheib joined the presti g i o u s N e w York law fir m Proskauer Rose LLP. H e

In 2006, Scheib returned home to Dearborn

v a l u ed the business and legal experien c e h e

t o laun ch h is bus in es s v en t ur e, L o a n M od . c om .

g a i n ed there — e ven th ough h e kn ew the co r -

LoanMod renegotiates home mortgages to

p o r a te world didn’t represent his long - t e r m

avoid foreclosures in a “win-win” manner that

f u t u r e.

benefits both the homeowner and the bank or f in an cial in s t it ut io n h o ldin g t h e mor t g a g e . W it h a s ucces s f ul r es t r uct ur in g of t h e m or t gage loan — usually a simple lowering of the in t er es t r at e — t h e f amily s t ay s i n i t s h om e an d t h e ban k av o ids t h e much h ighe r e xp e n s e o f t ak in g co n t r o l o f a f o r eclo s ed p r op e r t y. Scheib believes his company is the first o f i t s k i n d i n t h e c o u n t r y. “ We p i o n e e r e d t h i s business, starting by helping my uncle out, t h en f r ien ds , an d r ealiz ed t h at we h a d a v i able bus in es s mo del,” h e s aid. The company has completed more than

“ O ne o f the factors th at led me to Pros k au-

5 ,0 0 0 s ucces s f ul n ego t iat io n s t h a t h a v e a l -

e r i s because it’s the largest Jewish law f i r m

lowed families to keep their homes and banks

i n t h e world,” he said. “I’m all about bu i l d i n g

to avoid the high costs of foreclosure. The

b r i d ges b etween our diverse commun itie s .”

company anticipates completing 20,000 loan mo dif icat io n s by t h e en d o f 2 0 0 9 .

S av i n g H o m e s L o o k i n g A h e ad

I n Octo b er 2 005, with law sc h ool beh in d h i m , Scheib deci ded the long-anticipate d d a y

S ch eib plan s t o h av e mo r e t h a n 100 p e o-

h ad arri ved . He wen t to th e restauran t w h er e

ple o n s t af f t o meet t h e in cr eas in g n e e d f or

h i s m other had cooked for so many year s a n d

h is s er v ices . A s go v er n men t put s p r e s s u r e on lenders and mortgage ser vicers to modify their portfolios to help homeowners avoid

Above, Moose Scheib, center, celebrates his grad-

f o r e c l o s u r e , L o a n m o d . c o m i s w e ll - p o s i t i o n e d

uation from law school with members of his family. 39

w i t h its network of 19,000 notaries in a l l 5 0 s t at e s . “Our co un se lors w ill guide h om eo w n e r s t hrough the loan mod process, an d o u r n ot a ri es wi ll help th e m properly e x ec ut e t h e

Fashion Designers Nyla Hashmi

p ap e r wo rk a t their kitch e n table,” h e sa y s . “ Help i ng p eople save th e most imp o r t an t m a t e rial thing in their life is the best rew a r d o f a l l ,” S chei b sa i d . “Wh e n you save a h ome, it h e l p s the nei g hborh ood, th e commun ity, an d u l t i ma tely the whole c oun tr y.”

and Fatima Monkush

S cheib has big changes happening c l o s e t o h i s ho m e a s w ell: A daugh ter, n amed S o p h i a June, was bor n in 2008. Scheib g r e w u p i n the same D earbor n neighborhood a s h i s w i f e , N a ta li e, w h o is h alf Leban e se and h alf Am e ri ca n Ind i a n. “ I a m luck y ... an d truly ble ssed, n o

Nyla Hashmi, 23, and Fatima Monkush, 25,

d o u b t,” Scheib said. “But I’ve also foun d t h a t

are uncommon women with a lot in common.

t h e h a rd er I wo rk , th e luc kier I am.”

T h ey gr ew up bes t f r ien ds in H ar t f or d , C on n ect icut . B o t h o f t h em h av e Mus l i m f a t h e r s from South Asia and American mothers who co n v er t ed t o I s lam. A n d n o w, bo t h ar e co mmit t ed t o d e s i g n i n g ch ic clo t h in g t h at o f f er s Mus lim w om e n a wa y t o dr es s bo t h mo des t ly an d f as h io n a b l y. The two hope to launch their new clothing lin e, called E v a Kh ur s h id. A lt h o u g h t h e d e s ign er s h av e a s pecif ic mar k et in m i n d , t h e y als o h o pe t o r each a br o ad bas e of p ot e n t i a l cus t o mer s . “T h e n ame w ill be r eco gn iz ab l e a s M u s lim, but an y w o man w o uld lo o k g r e a t i n ou r c l o t h e s , ” s a i d H a s h m i . S h e d e s c r ib e s t h e l i n e as “A mer ican clo t h in g f o r w o r k in g wom e n 25

Above, Moose Scheib, wife Natalie, and daugh-

t o 3 4 y ear s o ld w it h an o n - t h e- go l i f e s t y l e . ”

ter Sophia June pose for a family portrait. 40

v er y co n s er v at iv e h o me, an d my p a r e n t s we r e

Clothing Dilemmas H ashm i a nd Mon kush f irst be came in t er es t -

a d a m a n t a b o u t d r e s s i n g m o d e s t l y, ” H a s h m i

e d i n clothing design in their teens. Ha s h m i ’s

explained. “I eventually found my comfort

f am i l y m o ved to Pakistan in 1995, w h en s h e

z o n e. I w ill w ear s h o r t s leev es , b u t n ot h i n g

w a s 1 0, a ltho u g h sh e con tin ued to spe n d s um-

low cut or body hugging. Ever yone has their

m e r s in Connecticut. (The family moved b a c k

o w n co mf o r t lev el.” Mo n k us h ’s appr o ach “is n o t a b ou t r u l e s ,

t o t h e Uni ted S tate s per man e n tly af ter the t er -

but about what feels right,” she said. “For

r o r i s t a tta cks o f Septe mber 11, 2001.) “ When we came back the summer I w a s

myself, I’m not going to walk around in a

1 3 , I went through a huge culture sh o c k , ”

t an k t o p o r a s h o r t dr es s — I ’ m ju s t n ot c om -

H a s h mi sa i d . “ I saw h ow dif f eren t th e Pak i-

fortable. I do cover my hair and have since I

s t an i a nd Am eri can adole sc en t cultures w er e.

w as 1 4 .”

M y parents wanted me to star t dressing m o r e Growing Up

m o destly, b eca use I was grow in g up. I w an t -

in a

M i x e d F a m i ly

Nyla Hashmi’s mother was raised a Catho-

e d t o d ress co o l like th e oth e r kids, but t h er e

lic. Her father, a Pakistani, came to the United

w a s n o thi ng i n the stores.” M onku sh ha d a similar ex pe rien c e. “I t w as

States in the 1970s and is a U.S. citizen. “ M y

r e al l y d i f fi cult to f in d an yth in g re ady- made

mo t h er w as s t udy in g t o be a n ur s e wh e n s h e

t h a t I could wear,” she said. The girls o f t e n

m e t m y f a t h e r, w h o ' s a h e a r t s u r g e o n . M y

r e s o r ted to layering, “the Muslim girl's b e s t

mo t h er w as s o in s pir ed — h e is s o k i n d a n d

f r i e n d , ” Mo nkush said with a laugh .

gen er o us — t h at s h e became in t ere s t e d i n h i s r eligio n an d co n v er t ed,” H as h mi s a i d .

B oth Hashmi and Monkush lear ned to s e w f r o m their mothers. “My mom taught m e t o f ol l o w a p a tter n an d also to c h an ge it t o cr ea t e s o m ethi ng comple tely dif f eren t, some t h in g t h a t was exactly what I wanted,” Mo n k u s h s ai d. “ I wa s 16 w h en I star te d makin g all my o w n clothes. That was the summer Nyla a n d I s e t ou r co u rse. ” Comfort

and

Clothes

B oth wo m en h ave de veloped th e ir own def i n i t i o ns o f a p p ropriate attire . “I grew up in a

Right, Fatima Monkush models for Elan magazine.

41

— but bo t h w o men ar e co mmit te d t o t h e i r

H ashm i a ttend e d Islamic sc h ool on Sun day s

dream.

i n H ar tfo rd , a lo n g w ith h e r th ree siblin g s . Mo nkush’s fath er is f rom Ban glade s h . H e

The thought behind their clothing extended

c am e to the Uni te d States in 1971 to sta y w it h

to their choice of a name. “Eva is the name of

a c o usin in Wes t Virginia. Monkush’s m o t h e r

Fat ima’s mat er n al gr an dmo t h er,” H a s h m i e x-

m e t him while visiting a friend, and she , t o o ,

p l a i n e d , “ a n d K h u r s h i d i s m y d a d ’s m o t h e r ’s name.” Like their designs, it marries the two

c on v e r ted to Islam be f ore th e tw o married. P at h

to the

cult ur es . H a s h m i a n d M o n k u s h a r e n ’t q u i t t i n g t h e i r

Fashion World

day jo bs jus t y et , but t h ey ’ r e h o p e f u l t h e i r

After public high school, Monkush w e n t

c o l l e c t i o n w i l l f i l l a n e e d i n t h e i n d u s t r y. “ We

t o t h e Uni versi ty of C on n e cticut an d Cen t r al

w an t t o be t h e bigges t an d bes t in wh a t we ’r e

C o n necti cu t S ta te Un ive rsity, wh ere she ma-

do in g,” H as h mi s aid. “T h is is n o t l i k e a n y ot h -

j o r e d in ar t. After graduation she mov e d t o

er br an d.”

N e w Yo rk Ci ty an d sh ared an apar tme n t t h at f i r s t summer with Hashmi, w h o wa s a stude n t at th e F as h i o n Insti tu te of Te ch n olo g y ( FIT). A r med with a bachelor’s d e g r ee

from

FI T,

Hashmi

f ou n d a j o b creatin g wome n ' s swea ters for n oted Isr a e l i d esi g ner Elie Tah ari. Mo n ku sh, w o r k ing

to o , in

h as

fashion,

bee n first

w i t h Coogi, which makes h i p - h op

urban

menswear,

a n d t hen with Married to the M o b , an edgy streetwear l a b e l for women, where she i s t od a y. Hashmi and Monkush h av e b een wo rkin g in th e e v e n ing s a nd o n wee ke n ds t o p ut together their fledgling collectio n . I t ’s a s t r u g g le — H ash mi lives in Que en s an d Mo n ku sh li ves i n Brooklyn w ith h e r h us ban d 42

Above, Fatima Monkush, second from right, and Nyla Hashmi, standing third from left, gather with other Muslim fashion designers at a photo session for Elan magazine.

“Oklahoma, like me, is a place where cultures meet and dance,” Salama wrote on h is Web s it e. “O k lah o ma is a h y br i d of s ou t h er n , w es t er n , an d Nat iv e A mer ic a n c u l t u r e ,

Songwriter Kareem Salama

and thanks to my mother's insatiable desire to l e a r n a n d e x p e r i e n c e n e w t h i n g s, s h e m a d e s ur e t h at I an d ev er y o n e in my f am i l y wa s i m mer s ed in it .” Faith

n e g l e c t h i s M u s l i m r e l i g i o u s t r a i n in g . D e s p i t e

ma, home i s t h e

h is dis t in ct iv e s o ut h er n accen t and Am e r i c a n

So ut h -

m u s i c s t y l e , h e i s s e r i o u s a b o u t hi s f a i t h a n d

w est, wh ere co un tr y

music

dr aw s o n it s r ich r eligio us an d c u l t u r a l h e r i -

pr o -

tage in his compositions.

vides much o f t h e

His songs are neither overtly political nor

s o u n dtrack to daily life. But home also m e a n t

religious, but they do reflect his remarkable

g r o w ing up in a devout Muslim househol d a n d

back gr o un d, w h ich t h e Web s it e a l t m u s l i m .

s t u d y ing the rich textures of classical A r a b i c

co m calls “a liv in g dich o t o my ” o n t h e Am e r i -

l i t e r a ture a nd p oe tr y.

can mus ical lan ds cape.

S o when S a lama, 30, star te d writing an d

I n o n e s o n g dealin g w it h t h e t h e m e of

s i n g i ng his own songs, it was quite n a t u r a l

tolerance, for example, Salama quotes the

t h a t he would combine a sensibility roo t e d i n

pr o v er b o f t h e n o t ed I s lamic s ch o l a r a n d p oe t

h i s Mu sli m fa i th w ith a c ompe llin g voice an d

Imam Shafi’ee: “I am like incense — the more

a d i s tinctive souther n accent — even if o t h e r s

y o u bur n me, t h e mo r e f r agr an t I b e c om e . ”

f i n d the co m b i nation star tlin g. Oklahoma

and

Music

A t t h e s a m e t i m e , S a l a m a ' s p a r e n t s d i d n ’t

For K are em S alaA meric an

and

H e ack n o w ledges h o w h is f at h e r ' s e xa m p l e s h aped bo t h h is o ut lo o k an d mus ic : “ H e l i v e s

Music

the maxim ‘Be hard on yourself, but easy on

S a la m a 's p a ren ts are Egyptian s w h o mo v ed

o t h er s .’ ”

t o O klahoma, where they raised him a l o n g

H e f in ds t h e s o n gw r it in g pr o c e s s d e e p l y

w i t h two brothers and a sister. As a c h i l d ,

intertwined with his faith. “I pray before and

S a l am a tra veled to rodeos, c oun ty f airs, an d

after I write a song,” he said in a University

In di an p o wwo ws, an d h e w as e x posed t o t r a-

o f I o w a in t er v iew. “I ch o o s e each wor d c a r e -

d i t i ona l b lu eg ra s s an d c oun tr y music in plac-

f ully. I t r y t o be v er y h o n es t an d h op e t h a t

e s l i ke Bra nso n, M issouri, an d th e le gen dar y

Go d br in gs t h is s o n g in t o peo ple’s h e a r t s . ”

G r a n d Ole Op r y in Nash ville , Te n n esse e. 43

en ces in t h e U n it ed S t at es an d Eu r op e , a c -

Country Connections

co mpan ied by Mih alo pulo s o n t h e g u i t a r.

S a la m a 's perspe ctive on coun tr y mus ic c an be surp ri si ng, espec ially f or th ose f amil-

Wit h h is t r im go o d lo o k s , co n s er v a t i v e h a i r -

i ar only wi th the domin an t commercial s t r ain

cut , an d co un t r y - clas s ic black co wb oy h a t ,

t h a t l eans toward lyrics celebrating the o p e n

S alama r eco gn iz es t h at peo ple ma y c om e f or

r o ad , ho nky to nk bars, an d lost loves.

t h e n o v e l t y o f a M u s l i m c o u n t r y - m u s i c s i n g e r.

“ There is a kind of soul in countr y m u s i c ... s o m ethi ng that comes from

deeper

down.

...

Yo u ca n sti ll he ar somet h i n g ver y old and ver y t r a d i tional,” Salama said i n an a ltm u sli m i n ter vie w. In fa ct, S a la m a is draw i n g on a m u ch olde r trad i t i o n that heark ens back t o t h e ro o ts o f so-c alled b l u e g ra ss fro m th e A ppalac h ian region o f t h e s ou t hea ster n Uni ted State s. S ala m a a lso studied En glish lite ratur e, es p e c i a lly a celeb rated spiritual poe m by Jo h n D on n e (15 72 -1631) , “A Vale dic tion : Fo r bidd i n g Mo u r ni ng , ” f or w h ic h h e wrote a m elo dy He hopes they’ll stay because they find his

t o h e lp hi m self me morize it.

s o n gs co mpellin g. Composing

and

He may be succeeding. On his summer

Performing

S ala m a wro te son gs an d lyric s w h ile ear n -

2 0 0 8 t o ur in E ur o pe, S alama play e d t o e n t h u -

i n g a n eng i neeri ng degree at th e U n ive r s it y o f

s ias t ic Mus lim an d n o n - Mus lim a u d i e n c e s i n

O k l a homa and then attending law scho o l a t

London, Berlin, Paris (at Euro Disney), Rome,

t h e U ni versi ty o f Iow a, wh ere h e met mus ician

Gen o a, an d A ms t er dam. Salama's first album, Generous Peace, ap-

Ar i s t o tle Mi ha lo pulos. I n a quintess ential American momen t , t h e

peared in 2006, followed by This Life of Mine

s on s o f E g yp ti a n an d Gre ek immigrant s de-

a year later. His song “A Land Called Paradise”

c i d e d to collaborate on American co u n t r y

provided the soundtrack for an award-winning

m u s i c. Over the n ex t se veral years, Salama

music video celebrating the diversity and vital-

p e r f or m ed b efo re pre domin ately M uslim audi-

ity of the American-Muslim community. 44

H e is now working on a commercial d e b u t a l b u m that will feature the best materia l f r o m t h e f i rst two a lb ums an d seve ral n e w son gs . But Salama is not focusing exclu s i v e l y

Television Journalist Kiran Khalid

o n a singing ca reer. Having completed l a w s c h oo l, he i s p re parin g f or th e lice n sin g ( bar )

A s a chi l d , a c c or d in g t o h e r m ot h e r,

K ir a n

Khalid

us ed t o s i t i n s i d e a cardboard box facing outward — “s o t h a t I wa s l i t er ally in a T V, if n o t o n it ,” Kh alid s a i d . Si n c e then, Khalid, 35, has pursued a career as a t elev is io n jo ur n alis t , n ew s br o ad c a s t e r, a n d producer that has taken her from local news

e x am i na ti o ns a nd is in terested in prac t icin g

r epo r t in g t o co v er in g majo r n at ion a l a n d i n -

p at e n t la w.

t er n at io n al n ew s ev en t s .

H e su m m a ri zes some of h is th ough ts abo ut

“I was the first Pakistani-American woman

h i s musi c o n hi s M ySpac e page : “M y h o pe is

in br o adcas t n ew s in t h e U n it ed S t a t e s , ” s h e

t h at m y wo rd s w ill f all upon ears an d hear t s

s aid. “I f I ’ m w r o n g abo ut t h at , I w ou l d l ov e t o

t h at ma y b e seek in g th e same th in g I am s eek -

meet t h e t r ue pio n eer becaus e as f a r a s I ’v e

i n g … the inspiration to live a vir tuou s l i f e

been t o ld, my r o ad w as un t r av ele d . ”

t h at i s p lea si ng to God.”

Growing Up

in

Texas

Kh alid’s f at h er w as bo r n in Ne w D e l h i , I n d i a , a n d h e r m o t h e r i n K a r a c h i , Pa k i s t a n , b u t

Above left, the cover for Kareem Salama’s second CD release , T h is Lif e of M in e . Above, in

Khalid herself grew up in suburban Houston,

concer t in Berlin, Ger many, 2008.

Texas, where her father was a land developer. 45

Co r pus Ch r is t i pr o v ided man y n e ws op p or t un it ies — s t o r ms , dr ug s muggling , a n d i m migr at io n — but t h e s t at io n h ad a n t i q u a t e d equipmen t , w h ich made w o r k dif f i c u l t . “S t ill, I en jo y ed t h e w o r k , be i n g i n f r on t o f t h e camer a,” s h e r ecalled. “I j u s t k n e w I co uld be go o d at t h is .” At another TV station in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Khalid found the reverse situation: s t at e- o f - t h e- ar t equipmen t but a r e l a t i v e l y q u i et n ew s en v ir o n men t . “I w o r k ed h a r d a n d b e came t h e w eek en d an ch o r,” s h e s a i d . S h e als o became s o met h in g o f a l oc a l c e -

S h e f o cused o n jour n alism e arly in lif e. “My

l e b r i t y. “ Wa l k i n g i n t o t h e m a l l w o u l d b e l i k e

i n t e r e st wa s i g n ite d th rough a love of w r it -

walking on stage,” she said with a laugh.

i n g ,” she sa i d . “I was of te n busy writin g s h o r t

“E v er y bo dy s eemed t o r eco gn iz e m e . ”

s t or i e s g ro wi ng up.”

I n Mo bile, A labama, Kh alid w a s on t h e a i r

K halid, like her two brothers and her s i s t e r,

as man y as f o ur o r f iv e t imes a d a y, b u t s h e

e x c e lled i n scho ol. T h e siblin gs’ h igh p er f o r -

f o un d h er s elf ex h aus t ed. “I f elt I wa s j u s t g o-

m a n ce helped them overcome the stra i n o f

in g in cir cles .” S h e decided t o t r y t h e r i s k i e r

b e i n g the only minority family in their s m a l l

but f r eer lif e o f a f r eelan ce jo ur n a l i s t .

c om m uni ty.

L o o k in g back , “t h e mo s t gr a t i f y i n g a s -

“ I t wa s o ften a situation wh ere you s imply

pect o f lo cal n ew s is co n s umer in v e s t i g a t i v e

a c c e p ted tha t that’s th e w ay th e w orld w as ,”

r epo r t in g,” Kh alid s aid. “H o ldin g s h a d y b u s i -

s h e said, “and I’m grateful for those e a r l y

n es s es an d peo ple acco un t able for t h e i r a c -

e n c o unters because they prepared me fo r t h e

t io n s t h r o ugh t h e glar e o f a t elev i s i on l e n s i s

p os t -9/11 b a cklash .”

a co mmun it y s er v ice lo cal n ew s p r ov i d e s t h a t is o f t en o v er lo o k ed.”

L o ca l TV N e w s

S h e added, “T h e pr es s ur es ar e of t e n i m -

Kha li d g ra duate d with a major in jo ur -

mense as more and more news outlets value

n a l i s m from the University of Texas in A u s t i n ,

t h e br eak in g- n ew s mo del o v er t h e v i r t u e of

w h e r e she said she fell “for the immedia c y o f

s ubs t an t iv e, t h o ugh t f ul r epo r t in g.”

t e l e v ision, the idea of being on the ai r w i t h b r e a k i ng news. ”

Above left, Kiran Khalid stuck in mud on as-

I n 19 96 , she w en t to w ork f or th e lo cal

signment in Africa, 2005. Above right, inter-

C B S station in Corpus Christi, Texas, a j o b

viewing singer John Mayer at the annual Save

t h a t she found both exciting and frustra t i n g .

the Music Foundation Gala, 2007 . 46

an d I k n ew it w as n o w o r n ev er t o b e p a r t of

Freelancing

t h e s t o r y.”

I n 2005, Khalid repor ted on the grim l i v e s o f s ubsistence far mers threatened by fa m i n e

Fluent in Urdu, she traveled to Pakistan and

i n N i g er a nd M ali. Her doc ume n tar y, T h e

b e c a m e o n e o f t h e f i r s t We s t e r n j o u r n a l i s t s

H u n ger G a p , was a f in alist in a Un ite d Na-

to report from inside the Pakistani religious

t i on s fi lm festi va l.

s ch o o ls , o r madr as s ah s , t h at man y a c c u s e d of en co ur agin g t er r o r is m.

In the United States, Khalid work e d a s a f i e ld producer for a ver y dif ferent ki n d o f

I n 2 0 0 7 , Kh alid r et ur n ed f o r h e r m os t d a n -

n e w s o p era ti o n, Cour t T V, wh ic h covers majo r

g e r o u s a s s i g n m e n t , t o f i l m a d o c u m e n t a r y,

c r i m i n a l a nd ci vil trials.

called We A r e No t Fr ee, o n media c e n s or s h i p and attacks on journalists by the Musharraf

Khalid also became an active memb e r o f

go v er n men t in Pak is t an .

t h e S o uth Asi a n J our n alists A ssociation ( SA JA ) .

I n an in t er v iew w it h A s iaMedia , s h e s a i d , “T h e t h in g t h at r eally s t r uck me w as h ow b r a v e they were ... willingly to put their safety at r is k in o r der t o pur s ue w h at t h ey t h i n k i s a noble calling.” Since Januar y 2008, Khalid has been w o r k i n g a s a p r o d u c e r f o r o n e o f t e l e v i s i o n ’s mo s t po pular n ew s an d f eat ur e p r og r a m s , A B C’s Go o d Mo r n in g A mer ica ( G M A) . “I like the intensity of the work,” she said, w h ich may mean pr epar in g a s tor y on g a s pr ices o n e day an d o n e o n t h e 2008 p r e s i den t ial campaign t h e n ex t . “GMA has afforded me the opportunity to write and produce stories that are seen by “ I’ m v er y p ro ud of my role on SA JA’s boar d,”

millio n s ,” s h e s aid. “I n 1 0 y ear s I h op e t o s t i l l

K h a l i d sa i d . “ I love w orkin g with an or gan i-

be working on stories that are relevant and

z at i on tha t d o es so muc h f or youn g jour n al-

s er v e a gr eat er pur po s e.”

i s t s , such a s m entorin g an d sc h olarsh ips .” P a k i s ta n

and

A m e r i ca

F ollo wi ng the Se ptembe r 11 te rroris t at t a c k s in 2001, K halid quickly recognize d t h a t “ P a k istan was going to be a central p l a y e r, 47

Muslims

in

America

A Statistical Portrait

T

oday’s Muslim American population is an

the immigrants come from Muslim-majority countries

extraordinary mosaic of ethnic, linguistic,

and inevitably go through a period of adjustment as

ideological, social, economic, and reli-

they learn the ways of a pluralistic society.

gious groups. Native Muslim Americans are well

The size of the Muslim-American population

integrated into American society, while many new-

has proved difficult to measure because the U.S.

comers are just beginning to adapt to American

Census does not track religious affiliation. Estimates

life. In terms of religious devotion, Muslims range

vary widely from 2 million to 7 million. What is

from highly orthodox to moderate to secular. Mus-

clear, however, is that the Muslim-American popula-

lims resemble Christians, Jews, Hindus, and other

tion has been growing rapidly as a result of immi-

American religious communities in that many of

gration, a high birth rate, and conversions.

them seek full political and social integration,

According to a 2007 survey by the Pew Re-

while others prefer to live primarily in the context of

search Center, 65 percent of the Muslim-American

their communities and cultural practices. Many of

In what regions do Muslims live in the United States?

South

32%

Northeast

29%

Midwest

22%

West

18%

Age and gender distribution of Muslims in the United States

Age 18 - 29

29%

Age 30 - 49

48%

Age 50 - 64

18%

Age 65+

48

5%

Male

54%

Female

46%

Level of education

Muslims

General Public

$100,000

16%

17%

16%

$75,000 - $95,000

10%

11%

Muslims

General Public

study

10%

9%

graduate

14%

Graduate College

Annual household income

Some

college

23%

29%

$50,000 - $74,999

15%

16%

High

school diploma

32%

30%

$30,000 - $49,999

24%

23%

21%

16%

Less

35%

33%

No

high school diploma

than

$30,000

population are first-generation immigrants, and 61

than three years for a decision on their naturaliza-

percent of the foreign-born arrived in the 1990s

tion applications, a process that should take no

or this decade. Seventy-seven percent of Muslims

longer than 180 days.

living in the United States are citizens, with 65 per-

Estimates of the African-American Muslim pop-

cent of the foreign-born being naturalized citizens.

ulation have ranged from approximately one-fifth

As a point of comparison, 58 percent of foreign-

to one-third of the total for all Muslim Americans.

born Chinese living in the United States are natural-

The other major ethnic groups are Arabs and

ized citizens.

South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis,

A recent study by the Center for Human Rights

and Afghanis).

and Global Justice at New York University’s School

Even though most Americans identify Islam pri-

of Law found that many Muslims were among the

marily with Arabs, two-thirds of Arab Americans

more than 40,000 people who have waited more

are Christian. However, most Arab immigrants

U.S. mosques by dominant

How important is religion in your life? (all faiths)

ethnic group

South Asian

28%

Very

African American

27%

Somewhat

16%

Not

too important

5%

Arab

15%

Not

at all important

4%

All

14%

Don’t

South Asian

and

Arab,

other combinations

mixed evenly

important important

know

72% 18%

1%

since World War II have been Muslims, and Muslims are the fastest-growing segment of the ArabAmerican population. South Asians constitute the

WA

fastest-growing Muslim community, perhaps ac-

MT

counting for a quarter of all Muslim Americans.

ND

OR

The Muslim population of the United States also

ID

includes Turks, Iranians, Bosnians, Malays, Indo-

SD WY

nesians, Nigerians, Somalis, Liberians, Kenyans, and Senegalese, among others. In addition, there

NV

is a small but growing population of white and

NE UT

CO

CA

Hispanic converts, many of them women who

KS

have married Muslim men. Although Muslims live in every corner of the

AZ

OK

NM

nation, many have settled in major metropolitan areas along the two coasts and in the Midwest: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit/

TX

Dearborn. The 10 states with the largest Muslim populations are California, New York, Illinois,

AK

New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Texas,

HI

Ohio, and Maryland. There are also established communities near state universities, which often

MOSQUE distribution in the

have sizable numbers of foreign-born Muslim stu-

Calling itself the Global Muslim eCommunity, IslamiCity.com since 1995. Its online database tallies more than 2,300 mosq here by state is the number of mosques in the IslamiCity.com Columbia is from the Islamic Center of Washington, DC. The t

dents and faculty. The 2007 Pew survey found that Muslim Americans generally mirror the U.S. public in education and income levels, with immigrant Muslims

AL

Alabama

slightly more affluent and better educated than na-

AK

Alaska

tive-born Muslims. Twenty-four percent of all Mus-

AZ

Arizona

AR

Arkansas

lims and 29 percent of immigrant Muslims have college degrees, compared to 25 percent for the

IL

Illinois

43

0

IN

Indiana

14

10

IA

Iowa

5

1

KS

Kansas

2

CA California

198

KY

Kentucky

9

CO Colorado

8

LA

Louisiana

17

17

ME

Maine

2

MD

Maryland

18

8

MA

Massachusetts

13

42

MI

Michigan

55

40

MN Minnesota

3 9

U.S. general population. Forty-one percent of all

CT

Connecticut

Muslim Americans and 45 percent of immigrant

DE

Delaware

Muslims report annual household income levels

DC District of Columbia FL

of $50,000 or higher. This compares to the na-

GA Georgia

tional average of 44 percent. Immigrant Muslims are well represented among higher-income earn-

Florida

50

20

HI

Hawaii

1

MS

ID

Idaho

3

MO Missouri

Mississippi

1

7

ers, with 19 percent claiming annual household incomes of $100,000 or higher (compared to 16

Mosques in each of the

percent for the Muslim population as a whole and

United States 100 to 200 50 to 99 20 to 49

MN

10 to 19 0 to

WI

9

NY

MI IA

PA IL

WV

MO

KY

VA NC

TN AR

SC MS

AL

due to the strong concentration of Muslims in pro-

NH

fessional, managerial, and technical fields, espe-

VT

cially in information technology, education, medi-

MA

cine, law, and the corporate world. There is some

RI

evidence of a decline in the wages of Muslim and

CT

OH

IN

17 percent for the U.S. average). This is likely

ME

Arab men since 2001, although more recent data

NJ

suggest the trend might be reversing.

DE

The Muslim-American journey is unique in that

MD

it is part of two quintessentially American experi-

DC

ences: the African American and the immigrant. Immigrant Muslims and African-American Muslims

GA

LA

have worked to establish their voices in politics and society, sometimes together, but more often FL

on their own. While they share an identity as Muslims, their racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and historical circumstances have differed widely. In working toward full political participation, im-

United States

migrant Muslims have a great deal to learn from

has compiled information about Muslims in the United States ques, Islamic schools, and organizations in the 50 states. Listed database in December 2008. The statistic for the District of total is 1,018. MT

Montana

2

RI

Rhode Island

NE

Nebraska

1

SC

South Carolina

NV

Nevada

3

SD

South Dakota

NH

New Hampshire

3

TN

Tennessee

10

NJ

New Jersey

56

TX

Texas

58

7

UT

Utah

5

131

VT

Vermont

0

20

VA

Virginia

27

WA Washington

10

NM New Mexico NY

New York

NC

North Carolina

ND

North Dakota

OH

Ohio

OK

Oklahoma

OR

Oregon

10

PA

Pennsylvania

43

4 41 8

WV West Virginia

ticularly in building institutional capacity and communicating effectively with other Americans.

2 12 2

3

Wisconsin

13

WY Wyoming

1

WI

the successes of African-American Muslims, par-

51

Sources: Statistical data excerpted from Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream Pew Research Center, May 22, 2007. Text for this article excerpted from Strengthening America: The Civic and Political Integration of Muslim Americans, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, © 2007.

Neighborhood Mosques Masjid Abu-Bakr (Colorado Muslim Society) 2071 South Parker Road, Denver, Colorado With a weekly prayer attendance between 2,000 and 3,000 people, the Colorado Muslim Society is a pillar of Islamic life in Denver. It recently undertook a large expansion project that doubled the size of its prayer space in order to accommodate an increasing population of Muslims in the area. Located on one of the area’s busiest thoroughfares, the society serves as the hub for Muslim civic life, especially for its younger members. Young adults serve as teachers in the society’s Islamic Sunday school. In addition to the Sunday lessons, the society is involved with Islamic education through the Crescent View Academy. Educating Muslims and non-Muslims from kindergarten through eighth grade, the academy places strong emphasis on learning Arabic and general Islamic knowledge.

Islamic Community Center / Tempe Masjid 131 E. Sixth Street, Tempe, Arizona A cultural center, masjid, and school located just north of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, the Islamic Community Center welcomes members from more than 75 nationalities and all socioeconomic backgrounds. The center was founded in 1984 to bring together Muslims who had previously worshipped in small groups in homes across the area. About 300 attend Friday prayers, but the mosque is actively involved in both the Muslim Student Association at Arizona State and in the community at large. The center maintains a small library with resources on Islam and gives tours of the mosque, which is modeled after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, for the general public. Providing social services such as marriage ceremonies and burials, the center also operates the Phoenix Metro Islamic School for elementary students.

52

Masjid Abu-Bakr Al-Siddiq 4425 David Drive, Metairie, Louisiana

The architecture of the Masjid Abu-Bakr al-Siddiq is unique, as it is the only mosque in the New Orleans area that was built specifically as a mosque, with a geodesic dome and minaret. The 250 to 300 worshippers are mostly first- and second-generation Americans from Pakistan, India, and the Middle East. Twenty percent of the congregation are recent immigrants and converts. The mosque serves Muslims from bordering Kenner, Lousiana, and Orleans Parish. Fortunately, the mosque suffered little damage from Hurricane Katrina. Most members have returned to their homes, and the mosque has retained most of its members.

Islamic Society of Central Florida 1089 N. Goldenrod Road, Orlando, Florida The Islamic Society of Central Florida had modest beginnings in Orlando in the early 1970s. The first mosque, Masjid al-Rahman, or Mosque of the Merciful, was built in the early 1980s. Rapid growth in the area led the society to expand. Today, the society has nine mosques throughout the area, serving 40,000 Muslims from ethnically diverse backgrounds. In 2001, the society founded the Center for Peace, which works to dispel stereotypes about Muslims and promote peace and understanding among people. The Islamic Society of Central Florida also supports the Muslim Student League at the University of Central Florida.

53

Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City 8501 E. 99th Street, Kansas City, Missouri A group of residents in Kansas City began planning for a mosque in the early 1970s after the first Salah (prayer) for Eid al-Fitr. Ten years later, the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City opened the doors of its mosque to the public and was incorporated as a nonprofit. The society has been expanding ever since, acquiring property for a community park and a Muslim cemetery. A fulltime Islamic school opened at the center in 1987 and has more than 100 students. The society estimates that it serves more than 8,000 Muslims in the Kansas City area, but its reach extends into the non-Muslim community. Visits to the center are encouraged, and the center opens its study sessions on Arabic language, Islam, and the study of the Quran to the public.

Albanian Islamic Center 19775 Harper Avenue, Harper Woods, Michigan The Albanian Islamic Center was founded in 1962 by the Albanian-Muslim population in the Detroit area. Located in the suburbs of Wayne County, the center serves about 150 families of Tosk and Gega Albanians, as well as Iranians, Palestinians, Maltese, Arabs, and Indians. Worship styles have fluctuated with immigration. Tosk Albanians, from the southern region of the country, are considered reformed Muslims and have lived in the United States since the 19th century. Their worship style and social norms are more relaxed. The Gega Albanians, who are from northern Albania, tend to reflect more traditional Islamic practices. As immigration patterns have changed, so has the style of worship.

54

Masjid Al-Muslimiin (Islamic Center of Columbia) 1929 Gervais Street, Columbia, South Carolina Five hundred Muslims worship at Masjid al-Muslimiin in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. With its close proximity to the University of South Carolina, the center, which began operation in 1981, often works with students to bring prominent Islamic speakers to the area. The center offers many services to its members, including Sunday school for Muslim children in Quranic recitation and Islamic history and a women’s forum for educational development, health, and social activities. Actively involved in spreading the Muslim faith to the community at large through its prison outreach program, the center hopes to improve its transitional living assistance to Muslim ex-offenders and all Muslims new to the community. The center also plans to develop a Muslim community food co-op.

Masjid Al-Islam 40 Sayles Hill Road, North Smithfield, Rhode Island The largest masjid in Rhode Island, Masjid al-Islam was built in 1994 to serve the needs of the growing Muslim population in North Smithfield. The masjid openly welcomes Muslims of all religious affiliations from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, but holds primary the Quranic scriptures and the Sunnah. Governance of the mosque is democratic; a committee of six congregants attends to administrative matters, but all major issues are brought before the community before a decision is finalized. Masjid al-Islam works to build interfaith dialogue and actively reaches out to the Christian and Jewish communities for collaboration on community programming. Future plans include partnering with local hospitals for yearly health screening, as part of a health education day for the community. About 250 attend Jumah prayers, but no formal membership is required.

55

A Timeline of Key Events

1 6 19- 1800s

An estimat-

ed 10 million Africans are brought to North America as slaves. Approximately 30 percent are Muslim.

Pr es iden t Jo h n A d-

1 8 9 8 Kaw k ab A m r i k a ( S t a r

ams s ign s a Tr eat y o f Peace

o f A mer ica) , t h e f i r s t Ar a b i c

an d F r ien ds h ip w it h t h e B ey

newspaper to appear in the

and S u b j e c t s o f Tr i p o l i o f

U n it ed S t at es , beg i n s d a i l y

Barba r y.

publicat io n , as r e p or t e d b y

1796

t h e New Yo r k Time s a b ov e .

1 7 75

Fo r m er slave Pe ter

1819

Fr eed

by

h is

mas -

S a l em (Saleem) fights in the

ter in m i d d l e a g e , Ya r r o w

B a t tle of Bunker Hill and

( M am o ut )

t h r oughout

American

pic ted h er e in 1 8 1 9 , es t ab-

R e v o luti o n. Muslim A me ri-

lishes h i m s e l f a s a p r o p e r t y

c ans ha ve ser v ed w ith dis-

owne r a n d b a n k i n v e s t o r i n

t i n cti o n i n a ll U .S. w ars.

Geor g e t o w n , t o d a y p a r t o f

the

Mar mo o d,

Wash in gt o n , D.C. 56

de-

1 9 0 7 Tat ar immigr a n t s f r om Po lan d, R us s ia, a n d L i t h u ania

found

the

American

M o h a m m e d a n S o c i e t y, t h e n at io n ’s t h e f ir s t M u s l i m or gan iz at io n .

1919 T h e f ir s t I s lamic as s o 1 9 08

ciation is f o un ded in H igh of

lan d Par k o ut s ide o f Det r o it ,

begin

M ichigan , w h er e man y im-

t o enter the United States

migran t s f o un d w o r k in aut o

f r o m par ts of the Ottoman

man uf act ur in g plan t s .

M u slim

E m pire, S y r ia,

Large

numbers

immig rants

including Lebanon,

1934

Elijah Muhammad

beco mes

S upr em e

Minis-

ter of the Nation of Islam (NOI), a black nationalist

today’s

o r gan iz at io n

adh e r i n g

Jordan,

s o me I s lamic pr ac t i c e s .

to

a n d Tu rkey.

1924 T h e Jo h n s o n - R eed I mmigrat io n A ct impo s es n ation al quo t as t h at r es t r ict sharp l y t h e n u m b e r o f n e w immigr an t s

to

the

U n it ed

States .

1 9 13

1957

Noble Drew Ali

(1886-1929)

founds

of

the

The

Islamic

Wa s h i n g t o n ,

Center

D.C.,

a

mo s que an d I s lam i c c u l t u r a l

Moorish Science Temple of

c e n t e r, i s d e d i c a t e d , w i t h

America (MSTA) in Newark,

Pr es iden t Dw igh t D . E i s e n -

New Jersey. This religious group claims to be an Islam-

1934 The Mother Mosque, the

ic sect but incorporates influ-

first building built specifically

ences from many religions.

to be a mosque, is established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

57

hower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower in attendance.

1 9 65

Presi d en t Lyn don B.

1993

A bdul- R as h e e d M u -

J o h nson signs into law the

h ammad

Im m i g ra ti o n

t h e U . S . A r m y ’s f i r s t M u s l i m

an d

Nation -

a l i t y Act o f 1965, w h ic h a bo li shes origin

the

national-

q uo ta s establish ed

i n 19 24 , a nd spurs n on -Eur o p ean immigration to the U n i ted S ta tes.

is

appo i n t e d

as

ch aplain . 1991

The

I s lamic

Cul-

tural Cen t er in New Yo r k City i s c o m p l e t e d . I t i s t h e f irst buildin g er ect ed as a mosq u e i n N e w Yo r k C i t y an d r egular ly dr aw s mo r e th an 4 ,0 0 0 f ait h f ul f o r Fr iday pr ay er s .

1 9 9 6 T h e f i r s t ce l e b r a t i o n o f E id al- Fit r is h e l d a t t h e White House.

1 9 65

Pub li shed soon af te r

i t s subject’s assassination in F e b ru a r y 1 96 5, T h e A utobio g r ap hy o f Malc olm X tells

1991 Ch ar les B ilal is elect -

t h e sto r y o f o ne man ’s con -

ed may o r o f Ko un t z e, Tex -

2001

v e r sion to Islam in the larger

as, th e f i r s t M u s l i m t o h e a d

v ice is s ues t h e f i r s t s t a m p

c ontext o f the A f rican -A me r-

a U .S . mun icipalit y.

h o n o r i n g a M u s l i m h o l i d a y.

T h e U .S . P os t a l Se r -

i c a n exp eri ence . It remain s

T h e 3 4 - cen t E id s t a m p i s

o n e o f the m ost in f lue n tial

par t o f t h e H o lid a y C e l e -

b oo ks o f the 20th ce n tur y.

br at io n s s er ies . 58

2 0 05

The first Muslim

n at i o na l so ro rity in U n ite d S t a tes,

G a m ma

Gamma

Chi,

founded

by

the

team

of

is

m o t her-daughter

Im a ni Ab d u l-Haqq an d Dr. Al t hi a F. Ali to h e lp improve t h e image of Muslim women a n d Islam in general.

2006

Keit h E llis o n be-

comes t h e f ir s t Mus lim elect ed to t h e U .S . Co n gr es s , as a member o f t h e H o us e o f Re pre s en t at iv es

from

Min -

n esota. 2008

I m a m Wa r i t h D e e n

Mohammed dies. Known as “A mer ica’s I mam, ” h e wa s t h e f ir s t Mus lim t o of f e r t h e U .S .

2 0 06

f i r s t fem a le p re siden t of th e

2007

Is l am i c

W. B us h par t icipat es in t h e

A m erica.

Nor th

He

prayers

at

i n v oc a t i on

also

offered

President

in t er f aith

Bill

prayer

ser vices and headed The

g r i d Ma ttso n i s e lec ted th e of

(1990). Clin t o n ’s

Ca na dian -bor n In -

S o ci ety

S en at e’s

President George

ce leb r at io n o f t h e 5 0 t h an n ive r s ar y o f t h e I s lamic Cen ter of Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C .

59

Mosque Cares, a dawah project.

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Hasan, Asma G. American Muslims: The New Generation. New York and London: Continuum, 2000.

Barrett, Paul. American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

Huda, Qamar-ul. The Diversity of Muslims in the United States: Views as Americans. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2006.

Cesari, Jocelyne, ed. Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007.

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Cesari, Jocelyne. When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Strum, Philippa, ed. Muslims in the United States: Identity, Influence, Innovation. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2005.

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Yazbeck, Yvonne Haddad, Jane I. Smith, and John L. Esposito, eds. Religion and Immigration: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Experiences in the United States. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2003.

Esposito, John L., and Dalia Mogahed. Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. New York: Gallup Press, 2008. Hammond, Andrew. What the Arabs Think of America. Oxford; Westport, CT: Greenwood World Publishing, 2007.

Fazlur Rahman Khan Web site http://fazlurrkhan.com Gamma Gamma Chi Sorority, Inc. http://gammagammachi.org Heba Amin http://hebaamin.com Inter faith Youth Core

http://ifyc.org

The Islamic Center at New York University http://icnyu.org IslamiCity http://www.islamicity.com Kareem Salama http://kareemsalama.com LoanMod.com http://loanmod.com The Mother Mosque of America http://mothermosque.org

Web sites

Pew Research Center http://pewresearch.org

The following web sites were used in the development of this publication:

The Pluralism Project at Harvard University http://pluralism.org

The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://web.mit.edu/akpia/www

Dalia Ghanem’s t-shirtat.com http://t-shirtat.com

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Photo Credits All photos © AP Images except the following: Page 2: courtesy Eboo Patel. 14: (bottom) courtesy CAIR. 29: © Mohammad Muhaimin Aminuddin. 30: (top, left to right) © Ricardo Barros, courtesy Serena Kim; (bottom, left to right) courtesy Moose M. Scheib, courtesy Nyla Hashmi and Fatima Monkush, courtesy Kareem Salama, courtesy Kiran Khalid. 31: (top) courtesy Kitty Aal; (bottom) courtesy Heba Amin. 32: courtesy Kitty Aal. 33: © Ricardo Barros. 35: courtesy Serena Kim. 36-37: (all) courtesy Lena Khan. 38-39: (all) courtesy Moose M. Scheib. 40: (left) courtesy Moose M. Scheib, (right) courtesy Nyla Hashmi and Fatima Monkush. 41-42: (all) courtesy Carolina Rivera, Elan Magazine. 43-44: (all) courtesy Kareem Salama. 45-47: (all) courtesy Kiran Khalid. 52-55: (all) courtesy Omar Khalidi, The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 56: (left, bottom) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; (middle, top) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; (middle, bottom) portrait of Yarrow Mamout by Charles Wilson Peale, courtesy The Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia. 57: (left, top) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; (left, bottom) courtesy Moorish Science Temple of America, Inc.; (middle, center) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; (right, top) courtesy The Mother Mosque of America. 58: (middle, top) Omar Khalidi, The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; (middle, bottom) courtesy Charles Bilal; (right, top) courtesy Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad. 59: (left, top) Gamma Gamma Chi Sorority, Inc.; (right) courtesy The Chicago Tribune. Supplement, page 2: (top) courtesy Dalia Ghanem; (third from bottom) courtesy Yasmin Khan Byron.

Production Executive Editor: George Clack Editor-in-Chief: Michael Jay Friedman Managing Editor: Chandley McDonald Contributing Editor: Raphael Calis Photo Editor / Designer: Tim Brown Writers: Howard Cincotta, Deborah Conn, Serena Kim, Meghan Loftus Researcher: Martin Manning Photo Researcher: Joann Stern http://www.america.gov/publications/books/being-muslim-in-america.html

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P rograms

A Supplement to

Being Muslim in America Did You Know? Sixty-five percent of the Muslim American population are first-generation immigrants, and 61 percent of the foreign-born arrived in the 1990s or later. Muslim Americans spend about $170 billion on consumer products annually, according to a 2007 figure by advertising agency JWT, and this figure is expected to grow. Iftar dinners at the White House during Ramadan have become regular occasions since the mid1990s. An imam can serve in several different roles in the United States. In most African-American mosques, the imam operates in both spiritual and administrative capacities. In predominantly immigrant mosques, however, the imam is more likely to be a spiritual leader only. Children’s books bring the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, like other holidays, into the American mainstream. The largest mosque in the United States, opened by the Islamic Center of America in 2005, is in Dearborn, Michigan.

Government Muslim Americans work in federal, state, and local governments throughout the United States. At left, from top to bottom, is a sample. Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, as the representative from Minnesota’s Fifth District, in 2006. He took his oath of office on a copy of the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. André Carson, a member of the Indianapolis CityCounty Council, became the second Muslim member of Congress after winning a special election in March 2008 to become the congressman for the Seventh District of Indiana. Diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad has served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan. Doctor Elias A. Zerhouni was director of the National Institutes of Health from 2002 to 2008. Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli served as senior advisor to the United States Secretary of State. Representative Saqib Ali represents part of Montgomery County in the Maryland General Assembly’s House of Delegates.

Business Muslim Americans contribute to all aspects of U.S. business. Pictured at right, starting at the top, is a sampling. New York fashion designer Dalia Ghanem, gives Arab traditions an American twist. Scientist Ahmed Zewail of the California Institute of Technology won the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

The books of author Yahiya Emerick present Islamic themes and history to non-Muslim audiences.

The innovations of structural engineer Fazlur R. Khan, honored on this postage stamp from Bangladesh, led to Chicago’s 110-story Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building when completed in 1974. Journalist Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International magazine and host of the CNN interview program Fareed Zakaria GPS.

Hollywood producer and director Moustapha Akkad filmed stories of Islamic history such as The Message and Lion of the Desert, and the popular Halloween movies.

Sports Sports in the United States have been an important route to prominence for many American Muslims.

At top, a young Muhammad Ali, who became heavyweight champion of the world in 1964. The boxer had changed his name and converted to the Nation of Islam. Later Ali became a Sunni Muslim, and he now practices Sufism.

The basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at far left, is also a Muslim convert. Jabbar, who retired from professional basketball in 1989, is the National Basketball Association’s all-time leading scorer.

Jihad Muhammad, in the white headband, is another basketball player who recently starred for a top college team, the University of Cincinnati.

Professional football player Az-Zahir Hakim, leaping to catch a pass, had a 10-year career in the National Football League.

Boxer Bernard Hopkins learned his craft in prison as a young man and was later the middleweight champion for more than 10 years. He still competes.

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Being Muslim in America

Q-Tip Rapper, producer

Maysoon Zayid Comedienne, actress The RZA Hip-hop music artist

Mos Def Rapper, actor

Everlast Singer-songwriter

Dave Chappelle Comedian Shohreh Aghdashloo Actress Aasif Mandvi Actor, comedian

Ronald Bell Singer, Kool & the Gang

Performers Mini-Poster

Ahmad Jamal Jazz pianist

United States Department of State / Bureau of International Information Programs