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.

Not Looking Back: The Future of Women this Women’s History Month

“The Prophet Muhammad once said,  ’The wise man allows himself to be dominated by a woman…’”

-The Masnavi I, by Rumi

Imagery

Fauzia Kasuri is hard at work, making calls and cornering Pakistani women living in the posh suburbs of Washington DC. The UNC Chapel Hill trained political activist is known for a quick wit that makes her friends laugh and a charismatic determination that turns even the most stoic of her opponents into friends. Fauzia’s cause today: raising money for Pakistan’s pre-imminent cancer hospital, which in a country dominated by angry men, is named for a woman: Shaukhat Khanum Niazi.

Framework in the Past.

What so many don’t know about the Muslim world is that since the inception of Islam, it has been women turning the necks of men in power. Islam’s first great heroine, Khadija, proposed to Muhammad herself, and was a successful businesswoman with little need for men.

Years later after Khadija’s death, it would be Muhammad’s firecracker wife Aishah who would in many ways keep the human prophet both in line, and many scholars agree, provide deep insight to Muhammad in his more earthly dealings, acting as his counsel when and where others could not. If that weren’t enough, she’d take up arms against her own kin after Muhammad had died, leading an army at the Battle of the Camel, against the fourth Caliph ‘Ali. The two later reconciled.

Islam is built around the personalities of strong women. Zainab, the beaten and assaulted sister of Husayn who would survive the massacare at Karbala was no shy rabbit. She would alone protect her nephew, the fourth Shiite Imam Zayn ul Abideen, from Ummayad torture and execution, and act as the global campaign manager for the Shiite cause against Ummayad designs to turn Islam into a race-cult. In a time when both men and women would hide from hide from Ummayad secret policeman and paramilitary troops, an unveiled and disgraced Zainab in chains would scream at the top of her lungs to her captors, “Islam will not be extinguished. Peace will not be dashed. The crimes of Karbala will never be forgotten, O Ummayad there will be justice.” Her words ring true today, as one by one Arab monarchs in the Ummayad model crumble at the roar of people power, with women at the forefront of the demonstrations.

The Point

Although no one can rightly say the suffering of women in the Muslim World isn’t real or is an anomaly, we can say with strength in facts that Islam does not condone the oppression of women and never has. We can also strongly proclaim that the future of Muslim women is brighter than at any time in history, and that great things are yet to come from the Muslim World.

The Heroines

“Do try hard, darling. This promises to be an event no one will forget.”

Three phonecalls turned out to be polite no’s from less philanthropic upper-class Pakistanis. No matter, Fauzia’s rolodex is unending, as are her talents as a politician.

Fauzia Kasuri is also the Vice-President for Women’s Affairs for Pakistan’s leading intellectual party, the Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), the’Movement for Justice’, or simply ‘Justice Party’. She’s inherited Zainab bint ‘Ali’s tactical charm and astute political sense. In a family known for belonging to the King’s party, she’s convinced more than a few of her kin to switch from the PML-Q to PTI, and is a instantly recognizable face & voice for both women’s rights and political reform in a country that’s largely regressed from its progressive roots in the hot Indian summer of 1947. Fauzia is just one of  an army of Muslimahs (the proper Arabic term for a female Muslim) taking charge of their lives, and their world, with no Burqa attached.

“I won’t let any man tell me what to do, and that includes you.”

Over the course of the last decade, Americans have become fairly familiar with the the blue bee-hive net garment that millions of women were forced to wear under Taliban rule. Still worn voluntarily by some Pashtun women, one Afghan-American patriot doesn’t take the whole ‘men are masters of their women’ mantra that emanates from all things Afghanistan too well.

Arzo is the Afghan-American community’s preeminent rising star. A proud Wardak tribeswoman, she’s already worked as a government contractor, an advisor, and a political and community activist on multiple fronts.  She’s also a brilliant academic, with a knack for dominating any conversation she enters into. “I cant help it, I’m Pashtun. We never lose.” Arzo’s rise as a woman-leader in a community and culture where even looking at a man’s sister is enough to get you killed is partially the result of a loving and dedicated father, who sees beyond the gender gap to know man and woman are utter equals, and should be treated that way. Arzo, a Muslimah, and a proud one at that, represents the core of Islam’s generation next, and does it with it zest.

“Excuse me? I suggest you turn around right now, and go back to wherever you came from.”

Mona Eltahawy doesn’t like to be questioned on her faith. Or on her expertise as the leading scholar on human rights and democracy in the Arab World. Born in the rough and tumble Suez Canal city of Port Said (an Arabic professor once compared Port Said’s dialect of Arabic to a gangster belting out a Brooklyn accent after a brawl), Mona was a fre lance journalist for the Saudi-based Asharq Al-Awsat before being sacked for her open criticism of the now defunct Mubarik regime in Egypt. She now scours the globe as an analyst, talking about human rights and democratic freedoms, and was the Cohen Gadol of thought-leaders over Twitter during the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings. Her work is recognized the world-over for quality, and her personality is feared on talk shows and panels the world over, where her opponents usually don’t last too long against her barrage of facts and witticism, take a recent TV appearance where she tossed Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz from side to side, demolishing his theory that Arab Democracy might be harmful to American interests.  All in all, Mona channels Aisha’s rage and dedication fairly well, and has become an iconoclastic heroine to Arab women the world over.

The Closer

It’s simple really: these women are present & future of women the world over. Proud, dashing, charismatic, and by all means masters of their respective domains, Arzo, Fauzia, & Mona are Muslimahs Incarnate. And by that I mean, they are the archetypes of what Muslim women have been in the past, should be in the present, and will be in the future: leaders, intellectuals, and dedicated to social justice. That’s why I’m not looking to back to Women’s History this month, but forward to Womens’ Future. And what a future it will be, insha’Allah.

Fauzia Kasuri

Mona Eltahawy

One in 13 million: The only Japanese-Muslim Imam in Tokyo

1 in 13 million – The only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo from Uchujin on Vimeo.

1 in 13 million - The only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo from Uchujin on Vimeo.

 

msnbc video: Targeting Muslim Americans

msnbc video: Targeting Muslim Americans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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

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.

Generation Change

Over the summer, the Department of State invited me and 75 other Muslim young leaders to their official Iftar on September 7th, 2010. I was honored to be invited,  and had a wonderful time. The 75 of us Muslim leaders were also asked to attend a full day program at the State Department entitled “Generation Change”, referring to our roles as change-makers in our communities and (if God wills) the world.

We began our afternoon together with speeches by leading Muslim voices in American society (and believe it or not, there are a lot of them), and then moved on into break-out session discussion groups where we were to talk about important issues regarding and affecting Muslims in America and abroad.

While some of the thinkers in my discussion group were intelligent and thoughtful, others took a more histrionic approach, and one rudely demanded a State Department staffer tell her why we were all invited, insinuating an insidious plot by our gracious hosts. Another member of our breakout session announced while were discussing the ethnic pluralism within Islam, that as a Pakistani Shiite, she fervently believed “Mecca is a myth.” Still another person changed the context of our conversations from the issue of identity and faith into a lecture on women’s rights in Iran, totally flabbergasting all of us.

Needless to say, my favorite part of the day was not the break-out session’s formatted discussion. My favorite was however, the time we spent with the US Representative to the Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, and the time we had to network with one another throughout the day and evening. I truly believe I met some of my best friends that day, and many of my Muslim role models, too.

In the aftermath of the night, the young leaders who gathered decided it was important for us all to remain in touch, and to develop an online platform for us to share with other Muslims and with other Americans what ‘Generation Change’ was really up to when it comes to making a positive difference in the world we live in. Out of those discussions came the GenChange wiki, a Wikipedia-styled online reference about Muslim American change-makers, and the work they are doing. The wiki’s been up for about 3 weeks, and has had modest success so-far. Our first goal is to bring as many Muslim leaders as possible on board the wiki through informative articles about their biographies and work. Once we’ve made substantial progress there, we’ll work on sharing,recruiting, and expanding our network of proactive Muslims.

What was really special and amazing about the night again, was the networking. I met fellow interfaith activists, feminists, social media enthusiasts, journalists, magazine publishers, playwrights, religious leaders, politicos, poets, and many more. All had stories, all are accomplishing and doing amazing things. Some were working on translating Hafiz accurately into French, others were public policy experts devising unique solutions to Pakistan’s financial woes, and more than a few had started NGO’s dedicated to ensuring women’s rights and girl’s literacy in far-off places like Malawi and Iraq. Some of us were experts at history, and still others were accomplished authors with published textbooks and mind-blowing resumes.

We all shared stories of yearning for an identity, and struggling for our (and within our) faith, heartbreak due to bigotry, and redemption through worship and introspection. It was a very special time for all who came to the State Department that day.

I hope to be invited back again next year, and to continue to work with this amazing group of young, talented Muslim individuals.

Statements by Muslim American Speakers at opening plenary for the Generation Change program:

Here are a collection of photos from the Iftar:

http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg147/ulookepatha_2008/Blog/Generation%20Change/

Here is a link to the invitation:

http://www.scribd.com/full/41524028?access_key=key-1baohkufwxnecee9gozb

YouTube – bulleh shahs kalam

Bulleh Shah (Abdullah Shah) was a Punjabi sufi whose legendary poetry re-shaped the backwater rural Sirhind zones of the Persian-speaking world into a literary center until the fall of the Mughal Empire in 1857. His lines are some of the most identifiable today across Pakistan, where he has joined Sachal Sarmast and Baba Farid as patron poets of the Punjab.

YouTube – bulleh shahs kalam.

http://www.youtube.com/v/swheXHlHvJU&p=842D1D291C04AB5A&playnext=1&index=31

Desis versus Arabs: A Pathan explains.

I recently was reading the e-magazine, elan: The Global Guide to Muslim Culture when I stumbled upon Salman S‘s new post “Arab Muslims versus Desi Muslims: The Meaningless Differences Finally Revealed“. My buddy Jewslim picked a fight with him in the article’s comment section, and I decided to finish the job here.

It’s true, Desis and Arabs don’t exactly get a long. Moreover, my Persian buddies say the only people they dislike more than Arabs are Desis. Why? Because the Desis complain more about Arabs than they do, and the Persians don’t like that sort of oneupmanship.

The racism between Arabs and Desis in America is well-documented, as well as their xenophobic tendencies towards other groups of Muslims. Sites like AltMuslimah, Muslimology, and plenty of others have articles and posts talking about the heartbreaking racism in both of these communities, in a serious way. But I won’t be. Instead I will refute Salman’s points out of pure boredom, and because I like to be a troublemaker .

Here are Salman’s points from elan below:

1. Desi Muslims place a high degree of importance on the magical carpet Muslims pray on, they call Jaan-e-maaz. After Desis pray they fold the top corner over. If they don’t, culturally, it is said, that the devil will come and pray on it, which is a bad thing…?  Arab Muslims think Jaan-e-what?  While still using prayer rugs, they basically pray on any clean surface including but not limited to: the floor, grass, water, carpet, or a prayer rug.

First of all, the term is jahan namaaz (جہاں نماز). A Hindustani loanword from Persian. “Namaaz” means worship while “Jahan” means world, essentially denoting the Islamic belief that you can pray anywhere in the world, given that the place is “clean”, and not najis (نجس) or impure.

Given that improperly conducted worship are enough to damn you to Hell, it’s important in Islam to make sure you get the job done right. Since a floor might be unclean, the grass might have poop on it, and none of us are Jesus Christ (we can’t stand,walk, or pray on water), Desis take the safe, if kind of OCD path of ensuring cleanliness on praying on a nicely decorated rug.

And yes, the corner folding thing is really weird. But some Arabs eat camel. Now that’s weird (and it smells awful when you cook it, trust me).

2.  Arab Muslims boast that the Qur’an is written in their language and the Prophet (PBUH) was Arab, so in effect, they know more.  However, they still can’t understand the sophistication of the Arabic used in the Qur’an.  Desi Muslims on the other hand claim, as a scientific fact, that they respect the Qur’an and the Prophet (PBUH) more.

Okay first of all, some of the greatest Muslim scholars in the world today are Arab. These include Tariq Ramadan,  the recently deceased Mohammed Tantawi, amongst other scholars, striving to defeat extremism and Islamist jihadism. So I’m going to give the Arabs some credit here: having the holiest text in our faith in your language pays off, a lot.

Furthermore, a lot of the rituals and behavior at many Sufi Shrines in the Desi world are closer to paganism and idolatry than to Islam. In Karachi for instance, the shrine of Abdullah Ghazi (an immensely popular one amongst Karachi’s estimated 10 million poor)’s devotees use hash and pot to really get into the mood of dancing during wild parties on Thursday night that honor the Sufi Saint, and not God. Karachiites believe Ghazi’s shrine keeps cyclones and natural disasters away, rather than Allah’s will. Kufr, much? Not exactly a good way to honor the Prophet (pbuh) or the Quran, if you ask me.

3. Arab Muslims think they all founded Islam, but Desi Muslims think that they’re are responsible for the REAL interpretation…riggghhhttt…In reality, they’re both in the same boat.

Actually, Muhammad ibn’ Abdullah (pbuh) founded Islam, and he just happened to be Arab, although according to Martin Lings, his Grandfather Abd’ul Muttalib was Jewish through his mother.  The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would spend his entire life teaching humanity that regardless of race, all are socially equal in the eyes of God.

Desi “Muslim” on the other hand, have seemed bent on destroying Islam since 1947. Pakistan’s Mawlana Mawdudi and Pakistani-trained Taliban leader Mullah Omar are chief amongst Pakistan’s religious leaders dedicated to radicalizing Muslims, and teaching racial hatred and dislike for Bengalis, Indians, and Westerners. In the same boat? maybe, but I think the Arabs have much more diversity in their political and religious leadership.

4. When Arab Muslims meet they hug and kiss each other, separate, and then re-hug…like real men should.  When Desis meet, they shake hands and stare into each other’s eyes for a few minutes.

Okay, no. That’s just WEIRD. Statistics show that 1/4 of Saudi men are gay. When I read claims like the one above, I go “duh”. In most Arab countries, men and women kissing each other at all is a crime punishable by imprisonment–even if you’re married (if you smooch in public).

Of course the brother kisses another dude on the cheeks! He ain’t getting any play from his sugamama any time soon!! If you ask me, this doesn’t show how manly Arab men are, just how desperate they are for normal lives! Arab regimes with poor human rights records: let the boys and girls play!

5. Arab Muslims and Desi Muslims are always insulting each other.  Persians sometimes pretend to be insulted to fit in.  Yes, we know Persians you are better because you’re “white.”

Okay, yes. Persians do like the melodramatic attention. And they do fit in. Every Desi and Arab guy I know wants to either shag or marry a Persian chick. Something about “being less violent” is what I hear the most often as the reason why.

But Arabs insult Desis a heck of a lot less than Persians insult them both. When I was consulting an Iranian outfit of dissidents two summers ago, every other joke out of my Persian clients mouths were “chi Pakistani,”  ”yeh doktar Arabi,”  ”stoooopid Indiyaaaaaan”. Khodaya man. I beg my Desi and Arab brothers and sisters to realize that Ahmedinjad’s smiling, totally clueless face is a total ruse. Pick on the Iranians!!!!

6. Arabs can’t eat spicy food, but Desis complain that their Tabasco Sauce is bland.

Of course Arabs can’t eat spicy food, they don’t have any real FOOD where they’re from!

Okay, that’s totally untrue. As photos from my buddy Dr. Alkebsi’s blog (he’s a uber-foodie) show me, there is A LOT of diversity in Arab cuisine. It’s just that if you’ve ever watched a Zee-TV or PTV soap opera, you know that scheming Desi wives and in-laws are always trying to backstab and poison each other. Over the years, that’s been demonstrated by inventing spicy cream spinach and extra spicy vegetable turnovers, amongst a host of other really really strange dishes. What Arabs think is “spicy” is just another passive-aggressive attempt by Desi women everywhere to poison their enemies at the dinnertable, and get off scott-free on murder charges.

The fact of the matter is that Desis and Arabs are more similar than different.  Both try to bargain prices at fancy restaurants, complain about the state of Muslims today, think doctors and engineers are the only “real” professions, speak loudly as their normal tone, smoke hookah, and drive erratically.  Everyone is realizing these differences are meaningless, this allows us to get to more important issues like, what else can we fold into hummus?

NOT EVEN! Okay my favorite Desi story: An entire family walked into an Arab owned fancy restaurant, faked a coupon at the end to get a huge discount, and proceeded to argue for like an hour with the owners about the bill. The  owner finally told them not to pay and to just get the hell out of his establishment, to which the Desis snidely queried ”can we have bags for the food?”

The Desis win the haggling round. As for erratic driving. NO ONE beats a Tehrani driver. Even the cabbies on the mean streets of Tel Aviv (no really, you can get blown up on them), admit that their Persian Jewish neighbors scare the bejeezus out of them when behind of the wheel of a car.

As for our real professions: no one wants to be an engineer anymore! It’s all about the advanced Phd to go work at NIH! That and becoming a lawyer to bail our cousins out of Gitmo.  And all peoples smoke Hookah. It’s a fundamental right of being an American.

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/