U.S. Muslims “spiritually oriented, socially progressive” - Study

[sonz]

Karima Alavi, a U.S. convert to Islam, tells the critics of the Islamic headscarf, or Hijab, to “Get over it!”.

"People make assumptions when they look at me because of the fabric on my head," Alavi told reporters at a recent seminar on media coverage of Islam and Muslims in the United States. "I was at a Dunkin' Donuts in Virginia, and a man was staring at me. Finally he came over and said, 'How could you?' "

Alavi is a program director at Dar al Islam, an Islamic education center in Abiquiu, N.M. Her decent manner at the conference clearly addressed the West’s misconceptions on Muslim womanhood.

One of the reporters who attended the seminar, Diane Winston, says that the event made her realize how little she knew about the estimated 6 million Muslims in the U.S. Winston found out that second-Generation American Muslims are passionately committed to social justice and political activism.

This conclusion affirms the findings of two recent studies on religion and young adults conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA and by Anna Greenberg for Reboot, a nonprofit organization. This generation, the studies show, is spiritually oriented, even religiously committed, and socially progressive.

The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was a turning point for Muslim Americans. To them, Islam isn’t a religion of hatred or violence. Instead, Islam’s emphasis on submission to Allah and service to others makes the noble religion an opposite to hate, injustice and inequality.

Another seminar panelist, Khadeeja Abdullah, says that she struggled to integrate her Muslim and American identities before she went to college. Like many children of immigrants from Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, she absorbed the American ideals of democracy, autonomy and individualism while growing up. But she managed to reconcile these ideals with the Islamic values of submission and community.

"I figured out my responsibility within my community and within American society," said Abdullah, adding that she volunteers at a health clinic, tutors for free and is helping to start a shelter. "It is to give voice to the voiceless."

Alavi stressed the importance of engaging students who come to Dar al Islam who are worried about being both American and Muslim enough. She also said that it’s important to work with parents who fear that American institutions will compromise Islamic values.

"Parents in the community are asking, 'Do we want to send our kids to American universities where secular humanists will teach them about Islam?' " she said. "Where do we go?"

The three heavenly religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all promote tenets that ensure special status to the poor and oppressed. But the media’s focus on political extremists has diverted the attention from the true Muslims who strive for social justice.

Female Muslim panelists, some wearing Hijab, criticized the media’s preoccupation with hijab and burkas when so many Americans lack food, shelter and healthcare. They stressed that gender discrimination is an important issue in Islam, but said that they are more concerned with poverty and injustice than with personal dress.

Source: latimes.com