Ubuntu in Maryland: Out of Tragedy, Unity

On March 21, Shaima Alawadi was found in a pool of her own blood inside her home in El Cajon, California–not far from San Diego.  Attacked for being Muslim, our religious community shuddered: Muslims would suffer violence on a scale yet unseen. However, Maryland’s Muslim community refused to be victimized. Instead, they rose in Ubuntu to the occaision.

San Diego has a burgeoning and very active Islamophobia movement. In 2010, a Muslim cab driver in the city was brutally beaten while completing his afternoon worship in a public park. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the U.S. tripled last year, following a strong push by David Yerushalmi to bar Sharia across the United States.

Shaima died three days later, and in fact doctors never expected her to live; during the violent attack on her life, she was repeatedly bludgeoned by a tire iron. She was discovered unconscious by her eldest daughter Fatima, 17. She has five children in all. Next to her body was a note. “Go back to your country,” it read, “You’re terrorists.” The Alawadi clan was one of 40,000 Iraqis in El Cajon who had fled to America to escape the terror of Saddam Hussein’s rule of Iraq.

Following Shaima’s death I realized that Islamophobia had reached a new fever pitch. Last year in January, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head during a constituency visit. 17 other people had been shot, including a chief judge of a Federal District Court, John Rolls. At the time, an Arizonan police official attributed the shooting in the most serious terms to the “absolute vitriol’ that was dominating the public sphere across the country. Shaima Alawadi’s murder was the evolution of that vitriol from political to racial and prejudicial; anti-immigrant hysteria and the hatred of Islam had now long last become institutionalized amongst bigots.

Muslim Maryland–rumored by some to be 300,000 strong (I put the numbers considerable lower, at 225,000  ) needed to respond. Belonging to over 70 major ethnic & lingual groups, this was going to be no easy task. However, within an hour of sending out a mass e-mail asking for each major mosque, Islamic, and Muslim organization in the state to coordinate efforts for a press release, nearly ever major Muslim organization in the DC area responded that they were on board to take part in a historical move: a united public position condemning both Antisemitism and Islamophobia. Within 24 hours, I organized a phone conference with nearly all the community’s stakeholders, and by the end of third day, Syed Hamza Zaidi and I had drafted a press release. Our press release eventually became the standard template used by over a dozen Muslim organizations and college associations nationwide. You can read more about the resulting press coverage here.

What really impressed me was that the participating organizations were as diverse as our community: political organizations, non-profits, and religious institutions belonging to both the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. Ten years ago, bringing together so many diverse groups from within our religious community would have taken weeks, if possible at all. Instead, within 72 hours, Maryland’s Muslims had responded with a unified front to bigotry and hate violence. That’s an achievement I take great pride in having organized.

Teaching Social Media to Al Azhar University

Teaching social media to Egyptians seems a little silly. Remember, their entire revolution was not televised, it was instead broadcast through YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Al Jazeera did a little leg-work too, but not much.

Nonetheless, I was given the opportunity by Imam Mohammad Bashar Arafat and his organization, the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF) to do just that: give a presentation about social media and its impact on Muslim Youth in America, and the world.

Imam Bashar receives a gift from a visiting Malaysian delegation. The Imam travels across the world to help promote dialogue and understanding between Muslims and America.

Earlier this year, I gave a social media seminar to a group of clerics visiting the U.S. from Morocco. Following a really positive response from the clerics, Imam Arafat asked me to give another presentation about social media in September, to a delegation of clerics and seminarians from the prestigious Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

Al Azhar University is the oldest institution of Islamic learning in the world. It is also arguably the oldest continuous university in the world. In other words, it was a great honor to get to present to them!

Watch my slideshow presentation to the Al Azhar delegates here:  

Al Azhar Presentation

One of the big things I talked about in my presentation was the effect of social media on helping young Muslim American thinkers like me bond with other Muslims who think like me.  Connecting locally to like-thinking Muslims is usually exasperated by old-world battles and prejudices that our parents’ wage on each other, and us as their children. Social media creates a digital version of the Boys Town, allowing Muslim youth with great ideas and drive for civic engagement–not old-world us vs. them life narratives–could connect to each other and role models across the country.

I also talked about some young people making a huge difference in our society everyday thanks to social media. Al Azhar graduate Suhaib Webb’s social-media powered website suhaibwebb.com offers succinct Islamic religious counseling through informative blog posts and interesting articles targeted towards Muslim youth in America.   Saad Malik, Arif Kabir, and Javed Ali are amongst a few youth lay Muslims I spent time talking about also.

One of the Al Azhar University seminarians and I hang out in Crystal City

I also talked about that topic all Muslim parents dread: sexuality amongst youth. In a lot of the Arab world, liberal sexual attitudes have come to be normal with the rise of material wealth and economic prosperity. Social media in Indonesia has played a positive role in helping young people deal with their sexual issues, and get questions answered about sexuality that they just can’t get answered at home.

I ended the presentation with a call to action for Islamic clerics to use social media to talk about religious issues with young people. We went over strategies and tactics that can help make young people feel more comfortable reaching out to clerics online, and how the digital ‘wall of seperation’ can help make it easier for youth to reach out to clerics over Facebook or Twitter.

I am keeping in touch with my new friends over at Al Azhar University through a special Facebook group (shh! it’s secret!). Hopefully there will be great synergies between us in the future, insha’Allah (God willing).

Eid at the Department of State

On September 7th, I was invited to attend the Department of State’s annual Eid ul Fitr reception. For those of you who do not know, Eid ul Fitr is the Islamic holiday marking the close of Ramadan, the ninth Islamic month in which religious Muslims fast physically and spiritually from food and other pleasures from dawn until dusk.

I was invited because I am a member of a group of young Muslim leaders known as Generation Change, a State Department-backed endeavor to connect young Muslim leaders dedicated to making a lasting difference in our world by civic engagement and political efficacy.

Some of my colleagues in Generation Change include world-famous publishers like Javed Ali and Moniza Khokhar, who are up and coming Muslim-media magnates. Other Generation Change members include poet Ainee Fatima and women’s rights activist and blogger Fatemeh Fakhraie.

Ali Baluch and I right outside the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department

I’m on the younger side of members of Generation Change. My contribution has been my extensive experience in politics and interfaith initiatives.  I also have a knack for connecting with young people and keeping them involved in projects far beyond their fad expiration date ( for those of you who don’t know: a fad is a popular trend that dies out quickly).

Some of the people honored at this year’s  Eid reception were Ephraim Salam and my fellow Pathan, Kulsoom Abdullah. Kusloom is a weight-lifter. She represents Pakistan at international competitions, and is a hijab-observant Muslim young woman. I credit her strength to her Pathan roots–we’re born strong!

I feel honored to continue to build a national profile as both an interfaith and political leader. More so because this Eid reception marks the ten-year mark since 9/11 and the attacks that thrust Muslims in America into the spotlight because of terrorism. I am also honored because when I started by interfaith work at UMBC, many immigrant Muslims I encountered were skeptical and hostile to building relationships with other religions. To be honored for doing just that by the State Department really echoes how unique and wholly American a challenge it was for me to take on such an undertaking.

Ten years on, to see us honor our youth for striving to achieve their dreams is a humbling sight, and reminds me of why I chose to a public life as my eventual career path.

On Arabs, Pakistanis and Islam: an open letter to a Pakistani-Christian

Yesterday, a Pakistani Christian e-mailed me her concerns after reading my article in elan about the disloyalty she has perceived amongst Pakistani-heritage Muslims living in the United States today. Below is my response to her:

Dear Sue:

First of all I want to apologize on behalf of all real Muslims for the discrimination and bigotry followers of your faith face in Pakistan. It puzzles me that a country whose flag and charter claim to be tolerant is indeed one of the world’s worst violators of the right to free conscience and association. As a college student, I heard first hand from Baha’is, Christians, Parsis, Hindus and Jews the misfortunes that their families endured under Munafiq rule in Iran and Pakistan.Munafiq being the Islamic term for hypocrites.

First of all Pakistan is not an ethnic term, or a racial one, it is a political construct created by intellectuals who focused on communal nationalism in the early 20th century. A

Pakistani is technically only someone who is a citizen of Pakistan. I am a Pathan, or as is today popular to say, an ethnic Pashtun from the wrong side of the border. Islam and Muslims represent and come from pretty much every race in the world, and many are born here to families who have been here for generations. I know of at least 2 dozen Muslim servicemen and women, and about half a dozen Muslim shaheeds who were American. Shaheed in this case being a martyr who died defending this country, which many Muslim Americans agree is the only Islamic country on earth.

I point out Pakistan’s phrasal role in this because l know of no Pakistani who is loyal to this country. When Muslims of my generation and I converse, we refer to ourselves as Muslims who are Americans. Our ethnic backgrounds are usually “Desi, Arab, Persian, African, Black”–never Pakistani.

This isn’t to say we have some revulsion for Pakistan, but it is to say that the problems we see creeping up in the Pakistani diaspora in America amongst those whose community it enfranchised (read: “Muslims”) have nothing to do with being Muslim.

They have everything to do with Pakistanis and Arabs realizing that (in the Pakistani case) the lies and myths of being better than India, that Hindus would oppress and kill all Muslims if they could and would have done so had partition not occured, and that Bengalis being darked skinned were never true Muslims anyway–all of that is defeated when they come to live in the United States of America, where Bengali women are actually all the rage on college campuses; where Indian Student Associations hold iftars for Indian Muslims; where Indian Americans are governors and completely accepted into society, even though one of them is a Sikh; where their children have Hindu and Parsi friends, and neither one of them has bullied them at school even in the post 9/11 world. Pakistani “Muslims” cannot comprehend that their national myth is more or less a political farce, and those who do not adapt openly end up like Faisal Shezad.

In the Arab case, it’s much simpler. The Arabs no longer rule the world, have lost (for a third time) the city of Jerusalem to Europeans (who take care of it much better than the Arabs did), and are desperate to reclaim some of their old magic. When you go to a mosque in America, be sure that if the congregation mainly identifies as Pakistani (not Muslim American), there is a lot of talk of Muslims being better inherently than non-Muslims, and that if the congregation identifies as Arab (not Muslim American), there are  many sermons on reclaiming the Islamic World (code for: the Arabs must rise again!).

But my generation, the ones who were born here, who grew up with a Muslim identity first, not a Pakistani or Arab or any other communal-nationalist tradition as their source of pride and identity, this is our country. We have our own mosques, our own ‘national myth’ (“America is the best”), and our own (closer to what’s in the Quran and commentary) take on what Islam’s tenets are about. If you need to look some of us up, we started a wiki to talk about the rising Muslim leaders in our community a few weeks ago: http://genchange.wikia.com

So let’s not get carried away here: yes, there are people claiming to be Muslims who don’t love this country or really consider it home. But those of us born and raised here, who were raised primarily Muslims, not Pakistanis or any other identity: this is our home. And we’re ready to die to keep it that way, and to keep it beautiful and free.

If you, or any other Christian/non-Muslim Pakistanis or Americans have questions about what I have just wrote, please feel free to contact me. I love talking to non-Muslims from “Muslim” majority countries because they have an integral role in God forgiving the people of my faith for the sins done against others across the world.

Best,

Hamza Khan

9/11, American Islam, and Generation Change

This Ramadan, Muslim Americans reflected for 30 days leading up to September 11th on themselves, their country, and their faith.

Today, across America, we mark the ninth anniversary of the attacks carried out by enemies of Islam and enemies of America, or more simply put: enemies of Good. But while many millions of Americans will mark the day with a somber moment, or a short prayer, many more millions of Muslim Americans will mark this tragedy of tragedies by doing good works and community service. I myself will be giving blood to the Red Cross, after spending the morning volunteering for causes I believe in.

We have a lot of obstacles to face as a community. Many of us face identity crises, or questions of faith and morality. Others face xenophobia from fellow Muslims, or outcasting for being a Republican or Democrat. Still many more face religious intolerance and ignorance from our fellow citizens to whom we have not yet reached out.

But we are learning and responding to the changes and questions in our country today. While much is left to be desired, I am proud of where my community is today, and the ways we have come from the turmoil and confusion that immediately followed 9/11. Muslim America is the one of the youngest American faithful communities, but it is also one of the most proud and most dedicated minority community to be found anywhere in the world. All of us rejoice in the very special gift of being Americans, and many of us have dedicated our lives to public service, and through that service, to our country. We are school teachers, poets, professors, developers, marketers, lawyers, but most important of all: we are Americans.

And while I spend my day remembering and reflecting on the terrible events of nine years ago, I will be proud and ever so thankful to be born and raised an American. I will pray for those who died on 9/11, for those who are dying still to this day in its aftermath, and for those who might yet be spared the anguish we all felt when we learned that Terror had come to our homes and into our cities. Most of all, I will pray that my country–our country, be kept safe and that our children grow up in a world cured of Hate, blessed with peace. I won’t be the only one. As Muslims mark the second day of Eid ul Fitr, all of us will pray for a better future, and a stronger, happier America.

Generation Change

Last Tuesday, I was one of 70 Muslim American youth leaders invited to the State Department as part of a new generation of Muslim thinkers: Generation Change. (Twitter tag: #GenChange). We came together on the heels of the Park51 and the Koran burning scandal in Florida, with days to go before the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

All of us spoke of the pressures at home from inside and outside our community. Our parents wanting us to be remain culturally attached to their ethnic homeland, our friends wanting us to hit the clubs with them, and ourselves wanting to find the perfect balance of culture, religion and identity.

We talked at length about our frustrations with the greater world, about how no matter what we did it wasn’t enough to make people understand: Muslims do not support terror, Terrorists support terror. We struggled to explain to relations abroad, living in the Old Muslim World, that America loves all peoples, all creeds, and all religions. That we are a tolerant bunch, with a few crazies here and there. That we’re Muslims just like them.

But we really aren’t the same. we’re Muslim Americans-a group of people who are uniquely poised to communicate across the global divide. We’re more tolerant, more wealthy, and more educated than many of our old world counterparts. We’re also more willing to admit the wrongs and mistakes our religious community has done, and more willing to resolve them.

And so, all of us Generation Changers agreed to launch initiatives of varying purpose and commitment to begin the process of changing our community, and of helping all Muslims, American and otherwise, become productive members of our global society.

In the months and weeks ahead, you’ll hear more about Generation Change, and about the amazing personalities behind it. Some of us are diplomats, others are fashion designers, others are philanthropists and playwrights. Some of us, like me, are political consultants and public relations specialists. All of us have one purpose: to better America, to better Muslims, and to better our world. Tikkun Olam.

Here are some links about Generation Change

Generation Change Event Gathers Future Muslim-American Leaders

New Generation of Muslim Youth Praised at State Department Iftar

Secretary Clinton’s Iftar Remarks

In memory of the lives of all Americans, please donate blood to the American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/en/