Senior citizens at the elegant Bayview Retirement Community in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood had a treat the evening of November 15, 2011 as members of the American Muslim community presented them with a glimpse into their lives and faith.
This came by way of a one-and-a-half hour discussion titled “Islam and the Seattle Muslim Community” that was organized by Bayview’s Pastoral Services in association with CAIR-WA. Around 75 residents, some of them in wheelchairs and walkers, attended the event, eager for something further to chew on after dinner.
Present on the panel were Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of CAIR-WA, Jeff Siddiqui, the head of the American Muslims of Puget Sound (AMPS) association, Huma Ali, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Washington, Anita Sulaiman, an Indonesian-American resident and Pete Guest, a retired sociology professor at the University of Washington.
Bukhari began the evening by giving the audience an overview of Islam, going through fundamental tenets such as the five pillars and pointed out several similarities between Islam and Christianity. One example he gave was the shared belief in angels such as Gabriel and Michael and also the fact the Gospel is believed by Muslims to be one of the books revealed by God to his messengers. After stating that Muslims have to pray five times a day, Bukhari kept any disbelief at bay by adding that these prayers take at most five minutes. “So we are still able to work and go to school and everything” he said to laughs from the audience.
The attention of those assembled was then drawn to the negative perception of Muslims in the US, especially the part played by organized anti-Muslim activists in forming that perception. To illustrate this point, he asked the audience whether they knew about the Park51 project. This drew puzzled looks from many until he told them it was better known as the “ground zero mosque.” According to Bukhari, the fact that the construction project was now known by this controversial name coined by anti-Muslim activists only serves to show how deeply some of their beliefs have penetrated the American consciousness. “We don’t believe that the average American has all these false beliefs about Islam… a lot of very misleading information is put out by these activists.” Bukhari was confident about events such as this making a difference. “Hopefully, we will turn the tide of this hateful conspiracy theory promotion and build a more harmonious society.”
MULTICULTURAL LIVES
Anita Sulaiman next took the opportunity to talk about her life as a Muslim in South-East Asia. Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore before moving to the US 11 years ago, Sulaiman had a multicultural childhood growing up. “My mom worked at the US embassy, so I used to celebrate Thanksgiving even before I moved here and I even used to celebrate Chinese New Year with my friends.” To give the audience a taste of the culture she grew up in, Sulaiman did a mini show-and-tell session where she displayed traditional garments for Muslim women such as the Kebaya from Indonesia and Malaysia and even brought the audience the Indonesian dessert of Kueh. According to her, the diversity she experienced in her childhood was well mirrored in her life in the US. “In a place like Seattle, I feel I have a much better Eid celebration because the place is diverse. If you go to any congregational prayer, you will see traditional costumes form every part of the world.”
It was then the turn of Huma Ali to speak about her experiences as a 2nd generation American Muslim. She began by talking about how she and her siblings adapted their Eid celebrations to life in the US. When her family first started getting Christmas gifts, Huma said the holidays didn’t really hold as much meaning for her as Eid did but she found a way to bridge the two traditions. “What I did was that, on every Eid, I would give gifts to my friends. I would then compare Eid to Christmas and explain to my friends why I was giving them gifts. (That way) they would take part in my celebration, as I did in theirs.” Concluding her talk, she expressed her joy at being able to create new traditions and contribute to the formation of a new American Muslim identity.
Jeff Siddiqui from AMPS then enlightened the audience on what life for Muslims in the US was like after the events of 9/11. According to Siddiqui, a real estate agent in Lynnwood, the events of that day changed how the world and especially the administration looked at Muslims. Around 14,000 Muslims since 9/11 have been put in prison without being charged and a lot of them were detained indefinitely. “Our administration says all the nice things, that Muslims are a part of the fabric, it’s a peaceful religion etc. but the reality that hits us is that we are treated with suspicion and as people who don’t belong,” even pointing out how some presidential candidates were talking about making Muslims swear an oath of loyalty.
The audience, according to Siddiqui, could help keep the administration in check by calling their senators to vote against specific legislation being debated at present. The legislation in question, Homeland Security Reauthorization Act 2011, talks about “Islamist terrorism” (while ignoring other sources) and would only reinforce the association of Muslims with terrorism in the minds of the public. Bringing up the fact that there were several terrorist incidents after 9/11 that were committed by non-Muslims, he emphasized the need for the audience to make their voices heard on this. “You know the value of citizenship, you have exercised your vote, you have participated in the formation of governments over the years, ….If enough people call about this, we will get back the America we had before 9/11.”
Pete Guest, a retired professor of Sociology at the University of Washington then spoke about the necessity of countering Islamophobia and about the work Unitarian Universalists around the country have been doing. Guest, a Unitarian Universalist himself, has been involved in these activities, especially as part of the Building Bridges project. Aimed at helping the church understand Muslims and the pressures they are facing, several events around Seattle have been organized under its auspices, including workshops and interfaith services. Complaining about the harassment faced by people from the Patriot Act and other security regulations, Guest said, “All people, not just Muslims are losing their rights. We, as Unitarian Universalists, have a religious injunction to work on this issue.”
TOUGH QUESTIONS
Following the presentations from the various panelists, there was a question-and-answer session in which the audience didn't hold back from grilling the panelists. As could be expected, the first question was about 9/11 and what the panelists had to say about the people responsible for it. Taking on this question, Siddiqui responded, “One of the five pillars of Islam involves not killing innocents....We will never really know why those responsible did it...but we shouldn’t form on the basis of their actions an opinion over a whole minority.” In response to a question on whether someone would get 48 virgins in the afterlife if they kill a Christian, Siddiqui said, “There is nothing written in the Quran about this...Evil people will use any sort of justification for their actions.”
One subject that drew a lot of interest from the audience was the treatment of women under Islam. Women aren’t completely oppressed, according to Sulaiman, pointing out that a Muslim-majority country like Indonesia has even had a female Muslim president, something the US has not had yet. “In some ways, equality is more advanced in Islam than you might think.” Talking about Muslim women and the headdress, Huma said that wearing it was a signature of faith for her and about being respected as a person. Huma, who started covering her head after college, said the headdress helped her with her spirituality. “It reminds me of my faith in god…That I’m a Muslim is something I’m very proud of. (The headdress) allows me to remind others of that and of what is important to me.”
