Forum discusses reality of Muslims in America

Suspicion, hatred faced by Islamic community

December 09, 2008
By Nathan Harmon
Contributing writer

A panel discussion presented by the Muslim Students Association and the Peace Student Organization entitled, “Patriotic American Muslims through History,” convened on the night of Thursday, Dec. 4 at UIS. Dr. Baker Siddiquee, a UIS economics professor, and Dr. Maryam Moustofi, a local Islamic scholar, spoke about Muslims in the United States: their demographics, key figures of the Muslim-American community and their contributions to the United States of America.

After an introduction by the chiefguest, Chancellor Ringeisen, Siddiquee began the discussion with an exploration of the meaning of patriotism as applied to Muslims.  Siddiquee asked, why don’t we explore the patriotism of other faith communities, like Buddhist Americans?

After exploring the meaning of patriotism, Siddiquee pointed out that American Muslims are patriotic and care about their country deeply while occupying many professions, including approximately 10,000 who “give their blood,” Siddiquee said, in service of their country overseas, including a Muslim Springfield native who is on his 3rd tour of duty in the Army.

Going back through history, Siddiquee mentioned ongoing research exploring the possibility that African Muslims explored the seas and came to the Gulf of Mexico by the 12th Century AD, while Spanish Muslims were on the first voyage of Columbus to “the New World” which became America.

In this era, Siddiquee said, Islam is stereotyped with three major images: the terrorist, the veiled woman, and the demagogue. But, he said, there are six million Muslims in the United States alone, it is the second largest religion in the US, and the fastest growing religion worldwide and in the United States.

Dr. Maryam Moustofi continued the discussion with a further development and definition of patriotism and presented a Power Point presentation with demographics and key figures of the American Muslim community.

According to Moustofi, the structural engineer designer of the Sears Tower, Fazlur Rahman Kahn, is a Muslim. Manoucher Karshenas, who designed Eads Bridge in St. Louis and designed special retrofitting for major U.S. bridges, is also a Muslim. Other than the noted Muslim boxer Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, there are also many other Muslim-Americans in the field of sports and entertainment as well as other important professions like medicine and the military.

As an example of the diversity of the Islamic Community in the United States, Moustofi mentioned that at the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield mosque, like a “model United Nations,” there are 28 racial and ethnic groups in attendance.

After the individual presentations by Siddiqquee and Moustofi, moderator Nia Hassan, Senior Policy Analyst for Health Issues in the Illinois State Legislature, took questions from the audience.

When asked about the Hijab, or Islamic headdress used by women in Islam, Moustofi replied, “Hijabs don’t cover brains,” and continued to describe the reasons why Muslim women wear them, which she said are mainly for the purpose of functioning well in society, according to Moustofi.

After an audience member asked what Americans can do to combat hatred against Muslims post 9/11, Moustofi said we should not tolerate myths, derogatory humor and other inappropriate talking and we should not condone this behavior by inaction in its presence.

She said, like any other derogatory behavior, “If you challenge it, it stops right there.”