أدخل البيت | Moishe House

A few weeks ago, my fraternity brother from San Diego, Jason Gutstein asked me to meet up with him for Shabbat in Montgomery County. Jason and I were hardcore interfaith activists who met at our fraternity’s convention in Chicago in 2008, and have kept in touch ever since. While, I am a veteran of Shabbat dinners, the place he wanted to meet up to me was totally new to me: Moishe House.

Moishe House’s mission is to provide meaningful Jewish experiences for young adults around the world by supporting leaders in their twenites as they create vibrant home-based Jewish communities. That’s an important role, because many Jewish young adults largely miss the communal gathering place that their campus Chabad and/or Hillel provided them with. It’s never fun to practice your religion or traditions alone.

Moishe House works to create vibrate Jewish communities for young adults.

There are Moishe Houses across the country, and as far away as Beijing and Mexico City. The idea is fantastic, and as a college student with Chabadnik tendencies, I really missed have a sense of community in my life. Even though I am a Muslim (and according to some, one of the most devout in mainstream politics), I value any commitment to furthering religion and communal values amongst people my age (young adults). Moishe House doesn’t discriminate on the basis of religious observance. All are welcome, and are simply asked to be respectful to Jewish values and customs.

I’ll probably blog about some fun adventures I have with my new friends at Moishe House. I am looking to create an Islamic version, Javeria House. Let me know if anyone is interested!

If you want to check out the Montgomery County Moishe House, check out this web-link:http://bit.ly/mHmzEJ or email Jeremy [at] MoisheHouse [dot] org.

Rumi: Rapped.

In probably the greatest crossovers of all time, Rumi is taken from the esoteric to the symbol of Hip-Hop Culture itself, bringing the thoughts of the world’s greatest Sufi to a knew generation of leaders, thinkers, and change-makers.

It’s also my top song for my morning work out routine.

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/

On the “Faith Line”: Eboo Patel

Q | An Interfaith Dialogue from Q Ideas on Vimeo.

The Seven Language Poet: Sachal Sarmast

Shair-e-haft zaban, or ”The poet of seven tongues” in English is also known as Sachal Sarmast or “the truthful mystic,” when translated from Urdu. He was from Kolhara, Sindh, in Southern Pakistan–an area dotted with the shrines of brilliant Persian sufis of a bygone era.

Sachal was a huge proponent of the doctrine of Wahdat-ul-Wojood, “Unity of existence”, which argued that essentially everything is a part of God.

The festival marking Sachal Sarmast’s life is on the 14th of Ramadan (today). Sufi Sarmast’s real name was Abdul Wahab, and he lived in the final days of the Mughal Empire, when Farsi (Persian) was still the empire’s national language, and Hindustani (proto-Urdu) was still in its infancy.

The Shrine of Sachal Sarmast (Daraza, Sindh)

Devotional ‘Poetry-Jam’ at Sachal Sarmast’s Tomb

As in Iran, Pakistani and Desi Sufi singers usually sing the poems as devotionals, known as ghazals. Sometimes the melodies come out just as smooth and awe-inspiring as in the Persian tradition. Other times, the overwhelming audio dissonance (like above) produced by the devotees is itself spiritually inspiring.

If you are inspired by what you’ve saw or read above, (and can read the Nastaʿlīq script), then check out a compendium of Sachal Sarmast’s work by Agha Sufi (below):

Sachal jo Risalo (Parts I and II) by Agha Sufi

Sufi Islam is the traditional sort of blending of cultures scene throughout Pakistan, and a hallmark of the Mughal era here.

There is no other Beloved,
There is only what I see everyday!
I was sitting by the roadside,
When the path became clear to me;
In the palace the Beloved I saw,
a glimpse the Beauty gave;
Through the window was the vision,
a glimpse the Beauty saw;
Take care of the ignorant;
Our bond was made for a reason.
I truly recognized the Lord,
My companion He sure became;
‘He is the Creator of all
and intrinsic to all’,
All doubts in this perished;
With happiness shall I carry
Sisters, if your trust I have.
All the journeys, all the manifestations
The Dear One’s own;
Friend ‘Sachal’ know this correctly,
Slumber has created illusions.
Sachal regarded love as the path to spirituality:
‘Tis not in religion I believe
‘Tis love I live in.
When love comes to you.
Say Amen!
‘Tis not with the infidel
that love resides
Nor with the faithful.

http://animation.dawn.com/sachal-sarmast/

Keith Olbermann on the Manhattan Mosque

How to handle the WTC Mosque: Public Relations 201

By now, all of us are familiar with the mosque two blocks from ground zero, and the conniption it has caused for Muslim and non-Muslim alike across the country. Republicans and Harry Reid are abandoning the constitution in favor of neo-McCarthyism and (in Reid’s case) a boost in the polls. Mosque planners Daisy Khan and Imam Abdul Rauf have come under fire behind the scenes as woefully unprepared to deal with the mounting criticism of the Islamic community center they wish to build. To make matters worse, Eid-ul-Fitr, the Islamic celebration marking the end of Ramadan, might begin on September 11^th, 2010. None of this is boding well for a religious community still reeling from several planned and executed terror attacks on American soil from within our ranks. Muslims in America are under siege, and some would argue rightfully so.

Although all minority communities have had trial-by-fire experiences on the way to mainstreaming (and Muslims have had it easy in comparison to Japanese, Italian, and Irish Americans just to name a few), Muslim immigrants come to America with negative views of the country instilled mainly by the pro-Arab media in their nations-of-origin. Add to that the fact that Black Muslims, the largest and largely indigenous group of Muslims in America, feel duly ostracized by Christian Black culture, and by remnants of Jim Crow and socio-economic inequity in modern day America, and we end up with Muslims in America feeling more and more like the American Dream isn’t meant for them—and that’s exactly what Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al-Qaeda want us to think.

While I do not think besieging Muslims will get America anywhere, I do believe Muslims are responsible for our current spate of public relations nightmares. Fortunately for Team Muslim-USA, my generation of Muslims (Generation Y: the millennials) are a brackish bunch of hip coolsters who moonlight as public relations gurus (thank you Facebook and PhotoShop). Plus, let’s not forget: Miss USA is [albeit, a very liberal] Muslim, too. Our smarts (and charismatic good looks) can conquer the Mosque’s PR crisis in a jiff. That’s why below I have compiled a list of ideas I think that can begin to de-fuse the “WTC Mosque” crisis.

Halal Public Relations 201

It’s all in the name: brand and re-brand the Mosque

“It’s the Manhattan Mosque, stupid.”

This one seems simple enough, except it isn’t. A lot of the outrage about the mosque has to do with the Muslim community’s failure to control the debate surrounding the controversy of building a mosque at ground zero, and that has a lot to do with the fact that our opponents have been able to label “Park51” as the mosque at ground zero. The Muslim community’s multiple PR and political institutions have failed to pro-actively develop a suitable, politically correct label for the mosque. I propose the “Manhattan Mosque”, because that’s exactly what it is: a mosque in Manhattan. The truth is, of course, that this is a mosque inside of a cultural center, but the statement is still accurate (the mosque inside the center is still in Manhattan), and besides, it would take 20 minutes to re-frame the debate around a community center, 5 minutes more than our 15 minutes of fame allow for.

 

Keep it simple: focus on the mosque, otherwise you’ll lose focus from the audience. Further, the current sanctioned title of “Park51″ is just too sterile, though for the chief organizers of the mosque I think it’s a good working title, but not for the rest of us who are working independently to ensure Cordoba House’s construction.

 

Twitter note: Up till now we’ve seen several different #hashtags floating around on Twitter when referring to the Manhattan Mosque. Some popular ones are: #Park51, #WTCMosque, #NYCMosque, #CordobaHouse, as well as many others not suitable for re-print here. Step 1 in retaking the debate on the Manhattan Mosque is to promulgate via Twitter the #hashtag: #ManhattanMosque. We would first identify “grasstops” social media leaders in our community, and through existing political and PR channels, ask that they tweet 5 times a day (symbolic of the 5 times Muslims are obligated to worship) a status on Twitter pertaining to the #ManhattanMosque, using that exact same #hashtag.

 

Re-name the building for an American Shaheed.

Muslim Americans gave their lives on 9/11, and in every war since then to protect our country, its people, and its values and constitution. One of the reasons many Americans are so vehemently opposed to the Manhattan Mosque is the idea that we as a community oppose America and all it stands for. That is simply not true, and we need to demonstrate that again and again, until either Arab-inspired Terrorism fizzles out, or the notion of Muslims being monstrous killing machines does. This isn’t just smart politics, it’s a religious obligation. Muslims are required to actively repair and protect our religion’s image, and to maintain friendly relations with all creeds—even those we disagree with (it’s called Surah
Kafiruun).

 

Since the beginning of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, Muslim American soldiers have died defending our flag. While no shaheed is more important than another, it would be a highly symbolic gesture if the organizers of the Manhattan Mosque were to name the building the Cordoba House will come to occupy after one of our fallen heroes. This is different from renaming the cultural center. Instead, the center would be referred to as “The Cordoba House at the Captain Humayun Khan Building”. Before some readers suggest this as juvenile, note that many Jewish cultural and religious centers and synagogues do exactly that. That being naming buildings after either wealthy benefactors, or individuals with noted dedication to public service. Take for example: “Hillel: the Jewish community on campus at the Smokler Center, at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building” present at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Considering the Jewish community is the exemplary model of what a religious minority should behave like organizationally, I strongly recommend following suit.

 

Emotional side-project: Another idea the Manhattan Mosque organizers might want to is to name each floor of the 13/15 (depending which news article you read) story center after various American or Muslim American noteworthy figures, as well as to have a memorial to 9/11 victims on the first floor. The first suggestion should be on the coat-tails of the renaming of the building for a fallen Muslim American service member, and included in the same press release as to show multiple symbolic concessions illustrating Muslim sensitivity to 9/11, as well as our dedication to America. The second idea needs to happen regardless, at this point. If we fail to show that Muslims too, mourn 9/11, then the Manhattan Mosque’s detractors will have already won.

 

Social Media or “How to fight a PR war from sea to shining sea”

 

Let’s face it, at best there are 6 million of us Muslims in America. At worse, more like 2 million. That’s a drop in the bucket considering we’re over 300 million strong in terms of all Americans. We don’t have the manpower to just “push back” an assault on our religion. But we do have the internet. And the internet has Facebook. Harnessing the power of interns public relations handlers for the Manhattan Mosque should develop a social media strategy (or hire me to do it), and a social media guidebook illustrating how everyday supporters of the Manhattan Mosque can help neutralize its detractors and their arguments through their existing social media platforms. Here are a few thoughts on strategy and tactics:

 

“I’m a Muslim too.” How YouTube can change the world

There are over a 10 dozen various YouTube campaigns out there right now about Islam. Some call for our arrest, and placing in camps until Jesus Christ returns, others urge us to “holy war” (aside: can war ever be holy?). Still, others (my favorite kind) are educational about what it really means to be a Muslim, and work to dispel the myths about Islam and help foster good will between all faiths. This is probably the best tool on earth for cash-strapped public relations campaigns (read: us).

 

It takes 8 videos (because there are 8 points on a stylized “Islamic star”) featuring 8 different people, 5 girls, 3 boys. 2 grandparents, 2 couples, 1 college bachelor, and 1 High School student.

 

In each of the videos, each individual talks for no more than 1:30, with each video being shot in multiple camera angles, alternating after about 20 seconds each. The speaker in each video talks about an Islamic value and overtly connect it to an American value (e.g. freedom of speech, religious freedom, racial equality, common defense, etc.). The last scene of each video should end with “I support the Manhattan Mosque because…” (e.g. “I can teach my children to be patriots and a US Army ranger like me there”, or “building it will show just how much the terrorists are wrong: we are a free society, and no one can take that from us”).

 

Pushing these videos “virally” would be done through Twitter Tweets (accompanied by #hashtag: #ManhattanMosque), Facebook posts, and private and public e-mail list-serves. With a little luck and some free publicity through video spots on TV News, the videos would easily get a million hits—and that’s just domestic.

 

 

Twitter Madness: How 140 characters mean everything.

First, a moment of shameless self-promotion: my Twitter handle is @PatrioticMuslim.

Journalists love Twitter. Bloggers love Twitter. My friend Sharanya (@SharanyaRavi) who tweets every little detail about her life loves Twitter. And so, all Muslim Americans should love Twitter, too. Here’s why:

It’s easy to use, and arguably has the potential to reach niche audiences other social media cannot

Those niche audiences include: politicians, public officials, political party leaders, leading bloggers (or as I like to think of them: “neo-editorialists”), and most importantly, journalists.

Twitter is fast-paced, just like most working adults of my generation. If someone actively uses Twitter, chances are they have access to a private reserve of people on Twitter who do not [want to or cannot figure out how to] use Facebook. That means less “white noise” reaches these reserve audiences, and each tweet they type or read has less competition in terms of catching their immediate attention. That’s a good way to overnight build a “shadow network” of semi-grassroots activists for any cause.

First, back to re-branding the Manhattan Mosque. This begins with a core network of grasstops Muslims in every state, and the District of Columbia re-tweeting to their followers to use the #hashtag
#ManhattanMosque when talking about CordobaHouse. It’s too late in the game to build a following around any hashtag or “re-brand” without the word “mosque” in it, and that is why re-branding as #CordobaHouse/”Cordoba House” will fail. People have busy lives, and “mosque” is now tied in both in traditional and social media to the issue.

Once re-branding via Twitter has begun, the next step is to disseminate the social media guidebook as a .pdf, .svg and .png document/graphic to the general public, using existing Muslim American political institutions’ e-mail lists and social media platforms (e.g. Facebook Pages, Twitter, Blogs, websites), as well as the grasstops network’s followers. Once the guidebook is out there, a general sense of excitement and cohesion will take root in across the Muslim American community, and a grassroots network of Tweets will emerge, proliferating positive spin, blog posts, and press release updates regarding the #ManhattanMosque. This will then trickle down to those who write the news, and then to those who video-anchor the news, slowly helping to shape the debate around the Manhattan Mosque to our suiting.

 

Facebook: the ultimate social-anything tool.

Facebook is the most versatile and simplest multimedia communication platform on the net. To put it simply: it rocks. The options for how Muslim Americans can win the PR war just through Facebook are endless. Therefore, I will only mention a few general items here:

The creation of multiple (or a single authorized) Facebook group/page (either has positives and drawbacks) through which to mobilize supporters of the Manhattan Mosque to action.

The coordination, development and dissemination by talented Muslim graphic designers multiple attractive .jpeg format flyers and posters in support of the Manhattan Mosque to be used in lieu of a profile picture for several days or hours every few days or weeks.

The re-posting on Facebook walls of links, status updates, audio and video links, and messages of support for or pertaining to the Manhattan Mosque

The writing of Facebook Notes in favor of the mosque.

The development of Facebook-specific talking points for supporters of the Manhattan Mosque to draw on when writing notes, and creating other user-generated content on Facebook.

 

Ground War: winning the battle next door

While on the national scale, the Manhattan Mosque has made big news, local Muslim activists (those who focus on affair & issues in their immediate area) apparently have not gotten too involved with the larger debate. Here in Maryland, for instance, neither the county Muslim Councils, nor the statewide Muslim council has issued a public statement regarding the controversy surrounding the Manhattan Mosque’s construction. Some might argue local activists are avoiding the foray to protect the social and political capital they have generated for Muslim Americans in their local area since 9/11. Regardless of the case, they need to be engaged and involved by regional and national actors in the Muslim community to help in the public relations effort surrounding the Manhattan Mosque.

 

All-Area sponsored Iftars to talk about the Manhattan Mosque

This has always been an effective way to begin dialogues with non-Muslims. Muslim community leaders from across every metropolitan area should coordinate with their local regional organizations (ISNA/ICNA sub-chapters, local “Muslim Councils”, mosque conferences, etc.) to organize a single iftar at a central location with non-Muslim community group leaders, religious figures, local journalists and editorialists (be clear the invite for media is not just a photo-op, it’s a chance to build relationships) where during the meal three members of the community, each of different cultural backgrounds from the others, each under the age of 30, should speak for 2 minutes in front of the audience about what they love most about being an American—the fact that someone is a Muslim should be obvious in this case (you’re speaking at an iftar), and the focus should be on Muslims as multi-faceted people with deep loyalty and love for their country. Conversations should casually but overtly drift towards why Muslims support the mosque, with Muslim American community leaders fully briefed and talking points gone over in advance.

 

Letters to editor, editorials, and guest columnist opportunities

Water moves from areas of greater concentration to areas of less concentration. The human mind to a great degree follows the same rule. As the decline in local readership begins to thin-out and shutter a lot of local newspapers, the focus and emphasis local leaders and politicians put on these same news journals increases. This is because the only people still writing and reading them are habitual voters, and other local community leaders (of the non-political variety), who command the respect of local voters. Furthermore, local papers are desperate for well-written letters to editor and op-eds. This provides a unique opportunity in the Manhattan Mosque PR war. On the encouragement of local councils, and following talking and writing points disseminated by national groups regarding how to address the Manhattan Mosque’s controversy when speaking to others, Muslims should independently write to their local papers every week in support of the mosque’s construction and how it benefits America. This constant stream of attention will help shore up public and media support for the mosque, and help challenge its detractors on multiple fronts, thereby weakening their control over the debate, by eroding support from a grassroots level on-up.

    

    Talking Points, Talking Points, Talking Points: How to uniformly train the troops, and route the detractors

If they’re out there, then I haven’t seen them. We need talking points, and a lot of them. Social media guidebooks aside, we need colorful flyers, Photoshop images, handouts, pamphlets, training workshops and seminars, bulleted talking points and even an ad-hoc speaker’s bureau to effectively advocate change in public sentiment in favor of our cause. This doesn’t too much time to do, it just takes dedication from a collective of Muslim American volunteers across the country for 2-3 hours a day for two weeks to pull off. YouTube returns as your friend, when Muslim Americans become citizen journalists, posting amateur videos of them organizing iftars, talking to the pulic, and posting personal messages of support for the Manhattan Mosque—all routinely inspired by talking points published both locally and nationally (and disseminated over the net through sites like issuu and scribd) by Muslim American advocacy groups.

 

Let’s wrap it up

 

By the end of this post, you have read the term “Manhattan Mosque” 25 times, including this one. You have read the #hashtag
#ManhattanMosque six times. This was no accident. According to several reputable studies, it now takes up to 14 impressions for an advertisement to become ingrained in your memory. Similar to all of us now memorizing the phrase “Manhattan Mosque”, repeating a message and theme again and again is the best way for it to get others to remember it as well. This was no accident, by the way. I was purposefully trying to brand the term Manhattan Mosque into your mind. Evil Muslim mind control? Not really, just smart market placement.

 

Re-energizing the base

Much talk has been made of the legitimacy and American-ness of the proposal and decision to build an Islamic community center a mere 2 blocks from where Arab Terrorists committed acts of genocide on our fellow Americans. In this section, I make an impassioned case for the justness, and the necessity for the construction of what will come to be by God’s grace, the most important Islamic building in North America.

Under the American constitution, a document seldom abrogated by man, and divinely protected for posterity, the freedom to worship as an American so chooses is an inalienable right. Captain Humayun Khan, Corporal Kareem Khan, Sergeant Omar Albrak, and many others died to uphold our constitution, and therefore to protect the freedom to worship freely in a free land.

While our country’s detractors in Iran and Pakistan have made it illegal for non-Muslims to hold their highest offices, our President’s father was a Muslim. Moreover, a former chief of general staff argued compassionately that Muslims are Americans, and are just as worthy as holding higher office as anyone else. Today, two members of Congress are practicing Muslims. Since 9/11, Muslim American has struggled to fight the demons of our past, and today we embark on the most emotionally-charged journey yet: to prove that we too, are Americans.

Building the Manhattan Mosque symbolizes more than just our intention as Americans to mainstream and be accepted as part of our greater society. It represents the passionate dedication we as Americans have to the upholding of the law and the protection of our freedoms, no matter how unpopular the acting of doing so might be. Building Cordoba House, if and when done right, symbolizes the defeat of all Terrors by declaring: Americans cannot and will not be bullied into giving up our principles and beliefs. We will not be divided and ruled by passions intended to take away our sense good and humanity. We are a free and ultimately just society, built on the rule of law, not the rule of mob. We are all Americans.

In the coming months and weeks, America will re-live the pain and horrors associated with 9/11, and Muslims in America will re-live the endless feelings of sorrow and regret for not doing more to prevent it. But together, as Americans, we will build a mosque, insha’Allah (by God’s will), two blocks from ground zero. And by doing so, we will forever change the world: by showing that we as men (and women) can live up to our principles and do the right thing, no matter how much it might sting to do so. Because that is the essence of being an American.

Pax Americana, always and Ramadan Mubarik.

 

These are some general thoughts on steps the Manhattan Mosque’s (27^th time) organizers, national Muslim American groups, and the Muslim American community at-large might take to at least begin to win the PR war in favor of the mosque.

Please: re-tweet, re-post, and re-share this article with as many of your friends and colleagues as you see fit.

-Hamza Khan

 

 

 

Overcoming the hate

A Pakistani  living in the terror-prone city of Lahore, Punjab said to me today that a Jew would never prefer me to another Jew, and then went on to tell me that Jews ‘pretend’ to be good people. I realized just how deep-seated anti-Semitism is in the world today, and how I am so glad I was born an American, so that I could see beyond bigotry. 

R@@@@@@n – says:

 but little do u know that you would never be preferred over a jew by a jew

- R@@@@@@n – says:

 i have [met Jews] , and yes they have the most wow demenear ever

 so its easy to be inspired by them

But I have to stress, not all Pakistanis are anti-Semites, or support terrorism. To generalize, like I have in the past, is wrong. Hate begets hate. That is why this post is dedicated trying to honor some of those who have helped me overcome my own failings, both Pakistani and Jewish.


In 2003 I was volunteering with a political campaign when I met a friend who would change my life. Tali was a surprisingly awkward, yet gregarious orthodox Jewish girl from Silver Spring. Her intelligence and nutty humor caught me off guard, and the two of us promised to keep in touch after campaign. 


And so we did. Tali, Mitch Belkin (another political buddy) and I would get together a few times of the year (we all went to different schools), to talk religion and politics, and to try and overcome stereotypes we all had of each other. Surprisingly, neither Tali nor Mitch really had any negative stereotypes of Muslims. Both were (and still are) avid Zionists, but both came from very different religious backgrounds. Mitch is a Reform Jew, Tali is Orthodox. As the names imply, one represents a more traditional view of Jewish faith and law, and the other has a more relaxed, “reformed” take on things. Both Mitch and Tali had a profound effect on my moral thinking.


While in college, I learned first-hand of the awful crimes Pakistan had done to both non-Muslims and to its own peoples. I also noticed the extreme closed-mindedness of a lot of Pakistanis I went to school with, and I still do. But, then I met Sarah Akhtar. Sarah and I met in class as juniors in college, and struck up a close friendship. We’d often find each other awake in the middle of the night, and would go out to local diners, or even the city, while talking in French about all sorts of dorky academic topics. Sarah’s brilliance and open-minded understanding of the world as something beyond “brown people versus non-brown people” was refreshing. But Sarah, like myself was born in the states. Her family was from Pakistan a generation ago, but neither one of us affixes that word readily to “American”. We prefer to go by the country of our birth, not our parents’ countries of origin. 

Then I met Aliya Aftab, Fauzia Kasuri, and Sabby Zakir.

Aliya is an American trained Pakistani psychologist. A family friend of my mom’s, I met her for the first time last summer, when she came to the states and I took her around Washington, D.C. Aliya and I became fast friends, joking about my overweight, her lack of weight, and random (and annoying) people we both happened to know. What struck me about Aliya the most was her candor, nonchalant attitude about taboo topics, and depth of personality and personal interests. I would often lament to her the sad state affairs I find Pakistani society and culture to be in today. She often times went beyond me in criticizing Pakistan, and her fellow elites, in their failure create a more just society over 60 years.

Fauzia Kasuri, another family friend, is by far one of the most dynamic women I have ever met. Fauzia casts her own shadow in Pakistani politics, breaking with family tradition of supporting the Pakistan Muslim League, she is the Vice President for Women of the Justice Party. A powerful orator and enigmatic debater, individual, I’ve watched Fauzia claw her way out of heated discussions on Pakistani talk shows with ferocity.
She also is a fashion designer in her spare time, bringing style and chic to otherwise dour Pakistani politics.
Whenever Fauzia and I have struck up a conversation about Pakistan, her thoughtful clarity gives me hope Pakistan can yet become a stable country. Fauzia’s dedication to democratic values and justice inspire even the most cynical people, including me.

Sabby Zakir is the daughter of a Pakistani military officer, and the ebullient principal of Islamabad’s ROOTS school. Sabby spent a short stint with my family while being hosted by US government agencies to study how top performing schools run. We immediately struck up a rapport, and I spent several hours asking engaging her on foreign policy, the state of Pakistan’s languishing moral culture, and other heavy topics. The bubbly Sabby never seemed to mind how little I thought of her native Pakistan, as she seemed to believe to a great degree it was justified. Then, she showed me her school’s yearbook. Seniors bound for Yale, Freshmen writing papers on Rumi, I was astounded by the academic quality Pakistan was producing from its middle class. Furthermore, she explained that while there wasn’t much to brag about in terms of Pakistan, there was some hope. And she was behind creating it.

These three women, all of them devout Muslims (all of them  without “hijab”, the Arabic phrase referring today to a flimsy scarf many women wear as a statement of religious identity), all of them proud Pakistanis, helped me better understand that no country’s people are uniformly of one view or behavior, and that even Pakistan has a great deal of hope, even if we don’t hear of it much.

I remain deeply thankful to Tali, Mitch, Aliya, Fauzia and Mitch for the impact they made on my life, and continue to make. Here’s to you guys!

Welcome

My name is Hamza Khan. I am a 22 year old Political Science student. But that really doesn’t describe me.

When I was 13 years old, the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were struck. I live about twenty minutes from the Pentagon in suburban Maryland. My life completely changed when I saw the dangerous and maddening depths terrorists were willing to go to in order to promote their agenda, and I promised myself to put a stop to it.

Growing up Muslim in the DC area, I was the least likely out of my parents’ circle of friends to do anything extraordinary. Average grades, average looks, and a not so impressive record of just being “different” meant I should have just studied to become a doctor or an engineer, and stayed out of trouble.

Instead, as soon as I graduated high school, I enrolled myself in the country’s second most diverse university. I had grown up in a tremendously Jewish part of leafy Montgomery County, and my first social task at college wasn’t to meet single Muslim ladies (in the end none of the ones I knew interested me), but to get involved with the Baltimore Jewish Community. I started by getting involved with our Jewish Student Union, and later joined the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, of which I would be elected President, twice. I served as the JSU’s Israel programming chair for about three semesters, and helped to found SABRA: UMBC’s short-lived pro-Israel organization. I also worked as a Cultural Peer at UMBC, sponsoring cultural and interfaith events, and as a political consultant to two non-profits in Northern Virginia.

Last year, I ran for President of the Maryland Federation of College Democrats, the governing body of all College Democrats of America (CDA) chapters in the state. When I took the job, there were two chapters. Now there are ten.

I also serve as the Chair(man) of the CDA’s National Middle Eastern Caucus, a position that takes intensive vetting to get appointed to, and makes me the national representative for College Democrats of Middle Eastern heritage.

I spent a lot of my free time in college organizing interfaith events, including atleast twice a joint Jewish-Muslim breakfast (albeit we Muslims were so busy eating, I’m not sure how much we all actually talked to each other).

I have a strong background in the Middle East, and this blog will talk a lot about issues and affairs in that part of the world (I define the region very broadly, spanning North Africa all the way to Pakistan, including Turkey and Armenia, and sometimes Greece and Cyprus).

I will sometimes talk in depth about issues facing the United States domestically, but only sparingly since those topics are so dramatically partisan, that my opinion might start a fire storm of insults and criticisms I really have no desire to suffer through.

Once in a while, you might even get a glance of my personal life, since I abide by the principle that all things are connected in the Universe, so why not talk about how awful the Redskins are, or maybe spend a few paragraphs explaining my deep love of Maryland, and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.

I will also talk about my community organizing projects, and my deep passion for both orthopraxic (aka “by the book”) Islam, and traditional Judaism. You might read me ‘k’velching’

about lovestruck couples where both partners are either Jewish or Muslim, and are in serious anguish about how their social worlds collide (if you feel you are in a similar/identical situation, feel free to e-mail me for emotional support and/or advice: HamzaK87atgmail.com). and how these couples make love work.

I am an erratic writer. Sometimes I am, in the words of Marquez, “seized by the holy spirit”, and will write enigmatic posts daily. Other weeks, I will find myself identifying more with my fellow Scorpios Sylvia Plath and John Keats: emotional outpourings only once or twice a month.

Do not let this discourage you from coming back though! I plan to make this blog my personal project for many months ahead.

With that, L’Chayim!

-HSK