The Minnesota Department of Education has issued a report clearing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of the major allegations leveled against it and requesting that the school address smaller areas of concern.

The May 19 report states that the school’s core business—curriculum—is nonreligious, in full compliance with all Minnesota statutes. The Department of Education’s areas of concern related to how the school structures its voluntary Friday prayers as well as the timing of after-school busing. In a statement, Tarek school officials said that they take these concerns “very seriously” and will be getting together with parents and Department of Education officials to quickly rectify any possible or perceived infractions.

But the small concerns detailed in the report are not what should worry us most.

What should worry us most is the atmosphere of hate that surrounds them.

Just minutes after Sarah Lemagie’s story about the Department of Education report was posted on the Star Tribune‘s website, the inflammatory comments began.

One was titled by its poster “They should not be here,” and immediately painted all American Muslims with the same brush: “Think about this, This is one school in Minnesota how many are there in the united states. I don’t trust them any more than I can throw that school. Remember those that took flight lessons?”

Even more concerning was that, three hours after the article was posted, a feature on the website announced that “50 of 80 people (who registered an opinion) liked this comment.”

Another early comment, titled, “Terrorists in training,” stated, “Nice to see our tax money help these people teach kids to hate americans.” Although the comment was clearly unfounded, the website reported at 6:15 p.m. that “70 of 99 people liked this comment.”

Of the 74 comments posted by 6:15 p.m., many of them used the article as an opportunity for hate speech against all Muslims. The Star Tribune–unlike its cross-town rival, the Pioneer Press–has thus allowed its website to be used as a platform for hate.

State statutes may have been transgressed: This is a matter for state officials, legal experts, and educators to debate and correct. Those of us in the general public need to worry most about why this becomes an opportunity for hatred, and how we can work to change that.

More on this story:

• The Pioneer Press states on its website that it does not allow “racist, defamatory, or abusive” postings. For that reason (although the headline is incorrect, as the school is open to all, not just Muslims), I encourage you to read the story there. State dispels suspicions over charter school for Muslim kids
• The Minnesota Monitor reviews the landscape: Kersten, KSTP, and reality. Education Department findings on Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy contradict published reports
• The Minnesota Post goes through the report soberly, point by point. State’s Arabic-school ruling; did Kersten’s claims hold up?
• KARE-11 news reports on what happened after the report was issued, and states that “Inver Grove Heights Police Officer Steve Her confirmed to KARE 11 he told the KSTP crew not to come on the school property before the confrontation [with TiZA officials] happened.” State tells charter school to avoid perception of religious endorsement
• The Associated Press has a short, straightforward article. Minn. review: Charter school doesn’t teach Islam

A civil rights group is working again to debunk the myth that Muslims and dogs can’t get along.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today is clarifying Muslim beliefs about dogs and expressing support for a St. Cloud State University student who felt his service dog was threatened. CAIR-MN issued a statement following a May 12 article in the St. Cloud Times, which said that graduate student Tyler Hurd left the university because he feared for the safety of his dog.

Hurd told the St. Cloud Times that while many Muslim students grew to like his dog, the dog was threatened by a student at one of the schools where he was doing his field training.

The Times article falsely states that Islam “forbids the touching of dogs.” CAIR-MN clarifies that many Muslims are uncomfortable around dogs, as they believe the saliva of dogs invalidates the ritual ablution performed before prayer. For this reason, it has become a cultural norm for individuals not to have dogs in their homes.

However, “the moral and legal need to accommodate individuals using service dogs far outweighs the discomfort an individual Muslim might feel about coming into contact with a dog, which is one of God’s creatures,” said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley.

The Prophet Muhammad himself allowed the use of dogs for protection and for hunting. There are also several Islamic traditions, or hadith, in which individuals are rewarded by God for protecting animals and punished for mistreating them.

Historian Montgomery Watt has said that Muhammad’s kindness to animals was remarkable for his time and social context. In Prophet and Statesman, Watt cited an instance when Muhammad reputedly posted sentries to ensure that a female dog with newborn puppies was not disturbed.

And some Muslims, particularly the blind, use service dogs themselves. At least one British mosque has allowed service dogs on the premises, following advice from the Muslim Council of Britain.

One unfortunate result of the St. Cloud Times article is that threats have been turned on the larger Muslim community. By Wednesday, there were more than 300 comments on the St. Cloud Times website about Hurd’s story, many of them hostile.

Shirley noted that, in 2007, a similar misunderstanding took place between Minneapolis cab drivers and passengers with guide dogs. At that time, CAIR-MN facilitated dialogue between the two groups and the misunderstanding was cleared up.

Abdinoor Ahmed Dolal, owner of Twin Cities Airport Taxi, said “Islam forbids us to turn away a blind passenger, whether they have a guide dog or not. Their rights come first.”

CAIR-MN said that it will continue to work with the Muslim community in Minnesota to educate them about their Islamic and legal duty to accommodate those using service or guide dogs.

Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and works for the University of Minnesota’s “Voices from the Gaps” project. Asma Lori Saroya is the General Crime Victim Services Program Coordinator at the Council on Crime and Justice. She is a graduate of the College of St. Catherine and lives in Blaine with her husband. In her spare time, Asma volunteers with the Muslim Youth of Minnesota and the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations. She also teaches English at the Cedar-Riverside Adult Education Collaborative. Asma is a fall 2007 graduate of the Minneapolis Police Citizens Academy.

From a Taking Heart picnic, summer 2007.

Gail Anderson isn’t asking you to make a new best friend.

“I think if next Wednesday night, we get a number of Christians to walk into a mosque—
that’ve never been in a mosque before—then I think we’ve done something,” said Anderson, unity and relationships organizer with the Minnesota Council of Churches.

Anderson helps head up the interfaith project “Taking Heart,” which brings Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors together over good meals and good conversation.

The next event, set for May 14 at Masjid Ummat Muhammad, was designed for South Minneapolis residents. The program is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with two presentations: There will be a brief talk about Muslim prayer, and Anderson will discuss the Christian prayer tradition. Afterwards, free Middle Eastern food will be served, and people will be encouraged to mingle and talk.

But what if people self-segregate, and Christians sit together with Christians, and Muslims with Muslims?

“We don’t let ‘em,” Anderson said, and laughed.

Taking Heart organizers won’t let participants eat in silence, either. There will be note cards with discussion-starters at each table. Because the theme for next Wednesday’s event is prayer, the questions will be on that topic.

“And what we really encourage people to do is not go theological,” Anderson said. “Talk about being a kid, about where prayer’s been in your life. We’re looking for stories…. [Because] I think, through stories, people get to understand each other in a different way.”

Taking Heart, sponsored jointly by the Muslim-American Society (MAS) and the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC), was the brainchild of Hesham Hussein, the former head of MAS who died earlier this year. After 9/11, local mosques and churches hosted a number of interfaith events where people could learn about theological issues. That type of event worked for some people, Anderson said.

“There are people who can come to things like that to get their heads involved,” she said. “But this is really a way to get their hearts involved.”

Part of Taking Heart: Learning to Listen

The Taking Heart initiative began 2004. Since then, some of its regular participants have worked in a soup kitchen together; others have visited the office of Rep. Martin Sabo. Taking Heart participants also held a solidarity march that went from a mosque to a church. And, in September 2005, a group of Muslims and Christians wrote a joint letter to the editor.

They wanted to write a letter that expressed “basically, that Muslims are unfairly connected to terrorism in the world,” Anderson said. “You think that’s sort of a simple thing—we all agree with that—but to work through the wording really deepened the relationship…. People had to compromise.”

There won’t be any letter-writing Wednesday night, Anderson said. The focus of the dinner will be to learn a little about prayer and to share stories. These stories could be about prayer, but they also could be about being a parent, or about the weather, or about work. “The day-to-day kinds of things.”

The Project’s Biggest Challenge

The biggest challenge in organizing Taking Heart events is not convincing Christians that it’s a good idea to get to know their Muslim neighbors.

“When I tell people about Taking Heart, they all say, What a great idea. And then we have an event, and we invite people, and people are busy,” Anderson said. “That is actually my biggest challenge.”

“If something horrible happens, then the interest will be up. But I don’t want that to happen.”

Anderson sees the Taking Heart project as still in its “beta testing” phase. But once they’ve worked through the kinks, she said, the group would like to take the project to Minnesota universities, colleges, and workplaces that have significant Muslim populations.

Ultimately, Anderson sees the Taking Heart program as building stronger, healthier communities. She describes relationships between two people or two organizations as being like a rope. “And in some ways, it could be very tenuous, like a tightrope.”

But if many relationships are formed between individuals and groups, then those ropes grow into a web or net. “So then, if something horrible does happen, that net will hold the community together.”

“That’s the imagery that keeps me going.”

South Minneapolis residents are encouraged to bring themselves and their neighbors to the Taking Heart dinner on Wednesday, May 14. The dinner is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Masjid Ummat Muhammad on 315 East Lake Street in Minneapolis.

Learn more:

• Information about the Taking Heart project from the Minnesota Council of Churches.
• A list of Minnesota interfaith resources.
• More about the Muslim-American Society of Minnesota.
• A map that shows the location of Masjid Ummat Muhammad.

Marcia Lynx Qualey works at the University of Minnesota. She also writes and raises two sons.

Several years ago, I would have told you confidently—if haltingly—that I worked in a madrassa. Ana bashtaghal fi madrassa, I would’ve said. I worked there as a mudarissa, a teacher.

Madrassa and mudarissa were two of the first words to drop into my growing Arabic vocabulary. After all, I’d traveled all the way to Cairo, Egypt to take a job teaching pre-K at an international school. The words were useful.

For me, the word madrassa was almost empty of connotations, like escuela or école. When I first learned them, the words had no layers: They were attached to no stories, no sayings. All the word madrassa meant to me was a collection of beige buildings in the desert where I wrangled four-year-olds all day.

Time passed, and I got to know teachers at different schools around Cairo. The main difference between schools was not religion, but funding: There were public schools and better public schools; there were private schools and really wealthy private schools. There could be 70 children in your class or 50 or 20 or 15. If there were 70 children in your class, you’d better hope that your parents could scrape together enough money to get you an after-school tutor.

The texts I saw were oddly familiar. My wealthy private school, which ran almost all of its classes in English, used boring workbooks from the U.K. The son of an apartment-building super, who attended public school near our neighborhood, once showed me his boring English workbook. It had been published in the U.K.

I returned to the U.S. in 2005, but it was a long time before the new, odd use of madrassa penetrated my senses. A few months ago, when I heard the smear campaign about Barack Obama—the claim that he had attended a school—I found it difficult to grasp. I’d gone to school. Presumably all the reporters who passed along this non-story had attended school, as had the pundits and bloggers who dreamed it up.

The word shifted in my head: school, escuela, madrassa, école. I laughed a little and went about my business.

It was only when Katherine Kersten fixed her sights on Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) that the new, derogatory use of madrassa finally wormed its way into my consciousness. Taken aback, I read the posts of numerous Kersten-fueled bloggers, who accused TIZA of being a school.

I could no longer laugh. As though I were seeing the word for the first time, I had to look it up. As in some parallel version of Orwell’s 1984, I doubted my senses. Had I really been a mudarissa? Had I really worked in a madrassa? Did the word not mean something sinister, terrible, cruel?

I looked it up in a sober Arabic-English dictionary—and on good-old Wikipedia—and of course its meaning hadn’t changed. Nothing had changed since I’d associated madrassa with a cluster of sand-colored buildings in the desert where I wrangled four-year-olds all day. It was the same word it had been when I linked it to children whose shirts were untucked and whose gray uniform pants askew; when I linked it to boring British workbooks.

Then again, something had shifted. A small group of Americans had seized hold of a word—one we generally associate with the best in humanity, with education and enlightenment and opportunity—and turned it into a xenophobic slur. Even PBS fell into the error, claiming in a school study guide that a madrassa is a type of “Islamic religious school” where “many of the Taliban were educated.”

I don’t doubt the existence of militant religious schools, and that they cultivated many of the Taliban. However, to use the Arabic word school to imply terrorist activity seems to indicate that Arabs should forgo education altogether.

Most Minnesotans don’t have emotional ties to the word madrassa. Still, we need not consign it (school, escuela, école) to the scrap-heap where we’ve tossed jihad and shariah and a lot of other words we’ve allowed a vocal minority to uglify. We can still rescue madrassa. Education is, after all, something we want for all Minnesotans, all Americans, all members of our human race.

For a tiny minority, there might be something sinister about a bunch of eight-year-old Muslims getting together inside a beige or red-brick building to learn how to read and write and do sums.

But, for the rest of us, we can take back the word madrassa. I can say: My son goes to a madrassa that is located in a Jewish temple off Mississippi River Boulevard. I’ve taught in a madrassa in New York, one in Russia, and one in Cairo. My aunt taught in a madrassa in Fridley until she retired. My great-grandmother Emma, who lived up in Morris, was certified to teach in a one-room madrassa.

I loved attending madrassa. While now and then we children could be a little cruel, the things I learned there have benefited me. Immeasurably.

This essay previously appeared in the MinnPost.

Marcia Lynx Qualey is an MFA candidate and works for the University of Minnesota’s Voices from the Gaps website. She is also 38 weeks pregnant, which is a job in itself.

On April 9, we read Katherine Kersten’s column in the Star Tribune, and the e-mail exchange between Kersten and Asad Zaman, executive director of Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), and were compelled to respond.

I (Fedwa) have an eight-year-old daughter. I visited TIZA and decided not to enroll my daughter, choosing instead Al Amal School in Fridley. The primary reason is that I was convinced TIZA is not an Islamic School and does not teach Islamic Education to kids. I pay from my own pocket to put my daughter in Al Amal, the only Islamic school in the Twin Cities.

I (Marcia) have a four-year-old son, enrolled in a private Montessori school in St. Paul. While the school is housed adjacent to a Jewish temple—as TIZA is housed adjacent to a mosque—my son has learned nothing about Judaism by mere contact with the building. The school’s vacations are, as you might imagine, focused around Christian holidays.

Both of us work at the University of Minnesota, a public institution that receives taxpayer money. This school also closes on Christian holidays. Tests and school breaks are planned around Christian holidays to allow Christians time to celebrate. The floating holiday this year was on the Christian Good Friday, right before Christian Easter. There are “holiday parties” around Christmas Day—not, for instance, Ramadan.

However, the University of Minnesota presents itself as a secular university.

I (Fedwa) live in Brooklyn Park. The community center receives public taxpayer money, and they have a very large Christmas tree every Christmas. They close on Christmas holidays and have “holiday parties” around Christmas day.

However, the community center presents itself as a secular institution.

Kersten is upset that “Friday prayer” is allowed at TIZA, although the right to practice one’s religion is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Where, on the other hand, is her challenge to the system that allows public schools to close on the Christian holy day, Sunday? This was designed, of course, to facilitate the religious needs of Christians. All public schools and public institutions are closed on Sunday, the Christian holy day. Christians do not pray five times a day like Muslims, but set aside special time to pray and reflect on Sundays. However, when Muslims ask for small accommodations to allow them to pray—as Christians do, on Sundays—some express a fear that Muslims are imposing Shariah.

While Christians are allowed space and time to go to church and celebrate religious holidays, commentators like Kersten grill minorities for wanting the same thing. Many Muslim students study for finals on Muslim holidays, while Christian students relax and celebrate Christmas with their families. Many Muslim youth are afraid and embarrassed to pray in school, and do not go to Friday prayer, while Christians have the day off to take their children to church.

Would Kersten call for allowing some public schools to close on Thursday and Friday instead of Saturday and Sunday so that the students attend Friday prayer not at school, but at a mosque with their parents?

Would she and similar commentators call for having public schools open on Sundays? Christians could pray in a small room as Muslims currently do. Are Kersten and others who are upset at TIZA similar upset by the presence of Christian symbols such as Christmas trees in public institutions, and the institutions’ adjusting their schedules to accommodate Christian holidays?

We are not. In fact, we are not calling on schools to remove special accommodations for Christians. We ask only that the Minnesota Department of Education—and the public—extend equal treatment to non-Christian students, allowing schools to make small accommodations so that students can exercise their constitutional right to observe their religion.

The division between “church” and “state” is illusory—and, for most Minnesotans, not at all desirable. Last December, the Minneapolis Public Schools launched a faith-based initiative that encourages students to participate in church-led programs. (Read about it here.) The city’s school board has praised the initiative, which works with mostly Protestant churches, a few Catholic institutions and temples, and no mosques. However, to their credit, School Board Director Pam Costain, and program directors Hedy Lemar Walls and Jackie Starr, have stated a desire to reach out to the Muslim community.

We believe Asad Zaman’s statements that TIZA is not an Islamic institution. At the same time, attempts to accommodate Christianity in our schools go unnoticed, while Kersten uses a fine-tooth comb to demand an iron-like separation of prayer and state for Muslims.

What we ask for is fairness.

–Fedwa Wazwaz is a Palestinian-American freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Marcia Lynx Qualey is a writer and mother who lives in St. Paul.

By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

It was 1998 when Basimah Hasan left her hometown of Chicago for Minneapolis.

In the Twin Cities, she attended nursing school and began her career at North Memorial Hospital. She says that there is a “big difference” between the Minneapolis and Chicago Muslim communities.

“[There are] more Muslims in Chicago, and they’re more active. Here, everyone seems to be in their own ethnic groups. You don’t see a lot of activities going on, versus in Chicago.”

But, if there’s not enough activity, Hasan (pictured above) is not one to sit back and wait for someone else to start it up. The nurse, talk-show host, screenwriter, community activist, and producer is stirring up all sorts of action.

Through her nonprofit Hasan Publications Dawah Center, Hasan launched the “Islamic View.” The talk show aims not just to reach the Muslim community, but, more importantly, to reach non-Muslims with positive stories about Islam.

Why television?

“It’s images,” she says. “This is where we get our information from.”

‘Islamic View’ Gets Its Start

The story of “Islamic View” begins when Basimah Hasan was thirteen years old.

“My family wasn’t Muslim,” says Hasan. “That was a decision I made after reading about all the different religions.” Thirteen-year-old Hasan read about Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism.

“And when I got to Islam, I just knew that that was the religion for me.”

Hasan launched the nonprofit HP Dawah Center in 2003, but the spark for “Islamic View” came in 2001.

“I really believe the spark was from seeing all the negative things on television, especially after September 11. That’s when people really started looking at Muslims differently, hating them, without even knowing them.”

“I wanted people to know: No, we’re not like that. This is what we practice, this is what we believe.”

The project has been slowly growing, she says. In the summer of last year, she began to rent a studio. Most recently, Hasan has begun to incorporate Islamic-themed poetry into the show.

The first poem is set to air this Friday, March 21, after an interview with Imam Neelain Muhammad. In the pre-recorded show, Muhammad and Hasan talk about dawah, or the propagation of Islam. In the second half of the show, Muhammad—who is also a martial arts instructor—gives tips for Muslim and non-Muslim women who want to learn self-defense.

“And then there’s the poem at the end,” Hasan said.

It was just recently that Hasan put out a call to local Muslim poets.

“She [Nandi] called and said a poem over the phone. And I said, ‘Wow.’”

Hasan notes that if you miss the show on Friday, or don’t have access to Channel 16, you can still watch the reading of Nandi’s “The Black Woman is Dead” on YouTube. (Watch it now.)

Through poetry, interviews, and talk-show chat, Hasan tries to combat a few key stereotypes about the Muslim community: “that Muslim women are oppressed, that we’re practicing a hateful religion, and that we’re terrorists.”

Others who’ve appeared on the show include local politicians and civic leaders, such as Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, community leaders, and people around the community.

There’s no script, Hasan says. “We just talk, just like we sitting at a table, having a conversation.”

Next: A Muslim-Themed Soap Opera?

Another media project Hasan has on the boil moves outside the talk-show format.

“I plan on putting together a drama series that would be Muslim-based, that would show people the everyday situations and circumstances we go through,” Hasan says. “It would be almost soap-opera like, but from a Muslim perspective.”

“So [non-Muslims] can see the human side of us.”

Currently, Hasan is at work on scripting. “I have characters; I have names for them; I have some situations.” She plans to send out a casting call soon.

If Not Muslims, Then Who?

Hasan doesn’t know the exact number of people who watch “Islamic View,” or whether they’re Muslims or non-Muslims. She does get a number of phone calls. “They will call and say, ‘I liked the show,’ or they might ask about the person who was on the show. And then you get the calls that are negative.”

“I know Muslims are watching,” Hasan says, “but I know non-Muslims are watching, too.”

And that’s important, she says, because the show is “mainly for non-Muslims, because they are the ones who need to be educated. As Muslims, we have to help them understand” that the images they see on TV give a distorted picture of Islam.

“The people who have negative views [have them] because of the images that were projected to them,” she says. “We have to change that distortion. As Muslims, that’s an obligation on us.”

“Because if we don’t do it, who else will?”

Want to Know More About ‘Islamic View’?

• Watch the show: It airs on Time Warner’s local cable station in Minnesota on Channel 16 every Friday at 4 p.m.
• Want to participate in the show? Have a poem to submit? Email Hasan at hpdawahcenter@yahoo.com.
• Want to help? Says Hasan: “They could support by giving donations, they could support by volunteering to help, or by spreading information about the show.” If you’re interested, visit the website or email hpdawahcenter@yahoo.com.
• Learn more about HP Dawah’s other activities, such as providing Islamic literature to inmates and participating in the Twin Cities’ Juneteenth celebration, at their website.

–Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in various ways. She is also an editor at EngageMN.com.

Many, perhaps most, of us want to make our voices heard. We want to affect the political process, but may not know how or where to begin. Is it enough to phone in our opinions? To send an email? What is the best way to communicate with our legislators? Many Minnesotans, perhaps, could use a “beginner’s guide” to political advocacy.

The fourth annual Muslim Day at the Capitol, scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 at the Capitol Building in St. Paul, provides just such a guide.

Thasneem Ahmed was able to attend last year’s Day at the Capitol (pictured above), and says: “It was wonderful to hear our representatives speak to the Muslim community, and to realize that we are all working on the same side—the side of making Minnesota a better place for all of its citizens.”

Any Minnesotan—Muslim or non-Muslim, beginner or seasoned advocate—is welcome to show up at the Capitol on Tuesday at 9 a.m., to participate and to learn.

Thasneem’s View: Becoming a Bigger Part of Our Democracy

Last year’s Muslim Day at the Capitol was a wonderful experience. The day began at about 9 a.m. and lasted well into the afternoon. I arrived at the Capitol Building close to 9:30 and was greeted by one of the organizers at the entrance. I had lived in Minnesota for more than seventeen years, but this was my first time actually inside the building. We were grouped by our districts and then given a schedule of appointments so we could visit our local representatives. I was assigned to the Woodbury group along with several others, including Br. Hesham Hussein, Br. Sameh, Br. Haythem, and his wife Iqbal. We were quite a diverse group of Muslims: Indian, Palestinian, Egyptian, and Sudanese. It was great!

Without Muslim Day at the Capitol, I probably would never have had the chance to meet so many of our representatives. It was really nice to be able to go together as a group and be able to meet so many of our legislators. Among those we met were Rep. Neva Walker of Minneapolis, Rep. Marsha Swails of Woodbury, Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul, and Sen. Charles Wiger of Maplewood. It was a wonderful experience to talk to them one on one, to be able to discuss our issues and concerns, and to form a working partnership with our elected legislators. Most of the issues we discussed were those that concern all Minnesotans: schools, early and special education, property taxes, health care, transportation, and road construction.

The morning flew by, and around noon we broke for lunch. Middle Eastern sandwiches and drinks were served, and everyone had a few moments to relax and eat while catching up on the morning events.

Later, in the main rotunda, an assembly was held and many of our state and local representatives addressed and welcomed us warmly. Some of them were Rep. Karen Clark of Minneapolis, Sen. Tarryl Clark of St. Cloud, and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. It was wonderful to hear them speak to the Muslim community and to realize that we are all working on the same side—the side of making Minnesota a better place for all of its citizens. After lunch and prayer, we resumed our groups and had a chance to meet more officials.

I left around 2:30, and, as I was driving home, I was truly impressed with the event’s organization and professionalism. Being able to walk around inside of our beautiful Capitol Building, meeting our representatives and legislators, and having the chance to visit with like-minded Muslims was really a wonderful experience. I have an even greater appreciation for our democracy now and it was wonderful to be able to feel like I was a part of it, at least for that short time. Insha Allah, I hope to be able to go again this year.

A Rundown of Tuesday’s Events

The day is set to begin at 9 a.m. with a training session in Room 118 of the Capitol Building. This training session includes a quick lesson on how to advocate with legislators. According to Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, the session will cover “the ins and outs of advocating at the Capitol.”

The day officially starts at 10 a.m. with a rally in the Capitol’s rotunda. This rally promises to feature speakers from the Minnesota Senate, the state House of Representatives, and from local Muslim organizations.

After that, individuals are invited to meet with their representatives.

The event—founded by Rep. Keith Ellison, Br. Hesham Hussein, and others—is co-sponsored by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota, the Muslim Youth of Minnesota, Al-Madinah Cultural Center, and the Muslim Students Association at the University of Minnesota.

If you’d like more information, or want to set up an appointment with your representative, you can email the staff at the Muslim American Society at info@masmn.org.

We also encourage you to post your thoughts, questions, or recollections about past Muslim Days at the Capitol below. Help others get involved by sharing your voice.

Learn more:

• Where is the State Capitol Building? Get driving directions, parking tips, a map and more.

Thasneem Ahmed is a mother, business owner, and pre-law student who lives in Woodbury, Minn. Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in various ways.

Many Minnesotans—perhaps you, if you’re reading this post—want to better understand their Muslim neighbors.

Of course, most of us have busy schedules, and it’s difficult to approach strangers, even if they do live in your neighborhood. It might seem easiest to read about Muslims. Dozens of books offering to “explain” Muslims have appeared in the last few years; you might order one off Amazon.com or pick one up at your local bookstore. You could turn on the television and find Muslims depicted and described on CNN and Fox News; you can find Muslims talked about in newspapers and magazines. Muslims are discussed in academic forums, think tanks, and seemingly endless blogs.

You might inform—or misinform—yourself in any of these ways. But perhaps the best way to get to know a Muslim is to…get to know a Muslim.

That’s the aim of the speaker series, hosted by St. Frances Cabrini Church, titled “Get to Know Your Muslim Neighbor.” The first discussion is scheduled for Sunday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

Get to Know Kemal and Safiya Balioglu

Kemal and Safiya (pictured above) are long-time Minnesotans, leaders in the Muslim community, and veteran community presenters. Their talks about Islam generally begin with an explanation of terminology, demographics, basic beliefs, and common practices. This is followed by a Q&A session.

But the format isn’t rigid, Safiya said. “Questions can be asked throughout the presentation.”

This husband-and-wife speaking team are two of the Muslim neighbors you can get to know at the Cabrini series.

Safiya Balioglu was born in Germany and converted to Islam in 1986. Her husband Kemal was born in Turkey, and moved to Germany at a young age. They married in 1988, and came to Minnesota a decade later.

Safiya says that one of the reasons these presentations are so successful is that people appreciate learning about Muslims from Muslims.

“Many people thank us a lot after the presentation and express their surprise as to how close the Islamic and Christian beliefs are,” she said. “Before, they didn’t know that Muslims believe in Jesus and Mary’s virgin birth, for example.”

Dialogue Not Just About Breaking Down Stereotypes

Cabrini’s Coordinator of Liturgy, Chris Kosowski, said she began jotting down names of people interested in interfaith dialogue about seven months ago.

“We live in such a diverse community, and our church, located in southeast Minneapolis, is right near one of the [Twin Cities'] largest Muslim neighborhoods,” Kosowski said. “So I was not surprised to hear people express this interest in neighborly dialogue, person-to-person sharing of stories.”

Cabrini parishioner Rosemary Ruffenach said she feels that the dialogue is “urgently needed.” She hopes that the series can clear up misunderstandings, lessen fears, and diminish negative rhetoric.

But these meetings are not just about breaking down stereotypes. Kosowski sees larger spiritual benefits coming from better understanding between Christians, Muslims, and those of other faiths.

“Knowing people of other faiths, and understanding their faiths and how they are woven into their lives, can result in a richer understanding of one’s own tradition, greater respect for others, and, I think, a better view that, ‘It’s all so much bigger than we could ever imagine!’”

Parishioner Mary Treacy also emphasized that you don’t need to be a Cabrini member to attend. “We’re eager to share our welcoming space with others.”

Other programs in the series, co-sponsored by Prospect Park Methodist Church, are scheduled for Sunday, March 30 and Sunday, April 27, 2008. All three are set to be held at St. Frances Cabrini Church, 1500 Franklin Avenue S.E., in Minneapolis.

Keep Reading:

• Sound Vision, Inc.: Eight Things Churches and Interfaith Groups Can Do For Muslims
• Engage Minnesota: Bridging the gap between Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors
• Find out more about the “Get to Know Your Muslim Neighbors” series at www.cabrinimn.org or by calling (612) 339-3023 or e-mailing office@cabrinimn.org.

–Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in various ways.

While an “uncontroversial” film set in Palestine and Israel might sound like code for “ignorant” or “milquetoast,” this film is neither. And while Ertijal, directed by Raed Andoni and appearing at Minneapolis’ Oak Street Cinema on Feb. 22, doesn’t explicitly engage in polemics, it does achieve the unusual in portraying Palestinians as full-spectrum human beings. They are not only interested in politics, as eldest brother Samir Joubran remarks in an interview with the International Herald-Tribune. They also love.

The documentary follows Samir, Wissam and Adnan—three very different, and highly talented, young men—from their privileged home in Nazareth, to a Ramallah under siege, to a much-anticipated concert in Paris. The brothers’ music is international, but the film finds its heart in Palestine. A house demolition in Ramallah is not exploited as a moment of dramatic climax, but instead is viewed through the eyes of Palestinian observers, for whom the occurrence is both terrible and banal.

Samir, the eldest and the most political of the three, is eager to lecture us and his brothers about music, about improvisation, and about the circumstances of his homeland. He is called, in various reviews, “tightly wound,” “passionate,” and a man who is obsessed with Palestine, family, and music.

I saw Ertijal last spring, at the Arab Film Festival. It was a day after I’d watched the Israeli film Hothouse, a documentary that follows Palestinians inside an Israeli prison. By the end of Hothouse, I felt almost underwater: stunned, hopeless, unable to breathe.

Ertijal provided the breath, hope, and music I needed to move again. The film moves intimately inside the Joubran family and the distinct personalities of the three brothers. If there is any “message” to be taken from the film, it is only this: Small victories are possible.

The film is set to be shown Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Minneapolis’ Oak Street Cinema with a promise that the Joubran brothers will be on hand to answer questions. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, the trio is scheduled to give a concert in Hamline University‘s Sundin Hall. Both events are co-sponsored by Mizna, Minnesota’s Arab-American arts organization.

Read more:

• Information about the film from Oak Street Cinema
• More about the brothers and their music from the Minnesota Guitar Society

Particularly if you’ve seen the film, or if you have others to recommend, I encourage you to please post your thoughts below.

–Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in various ways.

Officially, the first mosque in the U.S. was erected in 1929. This building was constructed by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in Ross, North Dakota, and has since been demolished. But those Midwestern immigrants were hardly the first observant Muslims in the Americas. Others had worshiped on U.S. soil hundreds of years before.

It is difficult to say how many African Muslims were brought to North America as slaves. Scholars have placed the number in the thousands or tens of thousands. There is little possibility of an accurate count at this time, but historians such as Michael Gomez argue that, whatever their number, the influence of Muslim slaves on the larger African-American community was considerable.

Prince Among Slaves, set to air locally on Twin Cities Public Television on Monday, Feb. 4, tells the story of one of these influential Muslim slaves, Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori. The film is based on the widely praised biography of the same name by Dr. Terry Alford.

The Prince in the Kingdom of Futa Jallon

Abdul Rahman’s story begins in the Kingdom of Futa Jallon, a mountainous region in the current-day Republic of Guinea. According to Dr. Boubacar Barry, a historian and descendant of Abdul Rahman, Futa Jallon was founded in the early 1700s after a Muslim revolution in response to the slave trade.

The kingdom was successfully established, Dr. Barry writes, but Futa Jallon remained caught in the slave trade’s web. According to film co-executive producer Alexander Kronemer, by the middle 1700s, the nations of West Africa were in an almost constant state of war, fighting to acquire arms and avoid enslavement.

Abdul Rahman was born in the midst of this, in 1762. His family ruled Futa Jallon from Timbo, which was then a town of airy, large-roomed houses surrounded by hedges and dominated by a large mosque.

Abdul Rahman received a traditional Muslim education, learning to read and write the Arabic of the Qur’an. The prince was a quick study, and his father sent him abroad for further education, first to Macina and later to Timbuktu, both centers of learning in modern-day Mali. There, he studied not only religion, but other subjects as well, such as geography, astronomy, calculations, and law.

When he was 17, Abdul Rahman returned to Futa Jallon. He rose in the ranks of his kingdom’s army, married, and had a son. In 1787, his father dispatched him to head a force of 2,000 to defend the kingdom. Another group of Africans was attacking in what was, as Kronemer notes, a state of almost continual war. The battle did not go well. Abdul Rahman was captured and, in 1788, he was manacled and put on a ship headed to the Americas. He ended up in Natchez, Mississippi—then a collection of 20 houses, a wood fort, and a handful of taverns of stores—as a slave to a barely literate farmer named Thomas Foster.

Abdul Rahman’s Life in Mississippi

After a period of difficult adjustments, Abdul Rahman began work on the Foster farm and married a fellow slave named Isabella. Due in part to Abdul Rahman’s intelligence and hard work, Foster’s farms and businesses grew. After a time, Kronemer says, the prince was granted religious freedom, the right to his own garden, and the ability to go freely into the town of Natchez. An Irish trader who had been saved by Abdul Rahman’s father tried to ransom his protector’s son, but Foster would not sell his slave for any price.

This situation ground on for years. Abdul Rahman maintained his garden and his faith while working for Foster. He and Isabella raised nine children.

Then, in the late 1820s, things changed. According to Kronemer, Thomas Foster Jr. began an affair with one of Abdul Rahman’s daughters, Susy. To save his son’s marriage, Thomas Foster Sr. planned to sell off the young woman. This was a decision that understandably enraged Abdul Rahman. The sale didn’t happen, but the prince was spurred to take action.

After nearly 40 years as a slave, Abdul Rahman used his connections in Natchez to write a letter to Sultan Abd al-Rahman II of Morocco, presenting his case. The Sultan’s favorable response was passed to President John Quincy Adams, who approved the purchase and liberation of Abdul Rahman pending Foster’s agreement. By this time, Thomas Foster was one of Natchez’s wealthiest and most influential planters.

Thomas Foster’s most valuable slave was now in his mid-60s. The plantation owner agreed that, if Abdul Rahman were to leave the country, the Fosters would release him. It is assumed Foster feared that, were Abdul Rahman to stay, he might increase abolitionist sentiment or foment a rebellion.

Abdul Rahman’s Return to Africa

A local fundraiser helped raise the money to buy Abdul Rahman’s wife her freedom. But finding enough money to free nine children was, Kronemer writes, not as easy. Abdul Rahman traveled north to raise funds. This angered Thomas Foster, who wanted the prince out of the country.

In 1828, Andrew Jackson won the presidency, creating a trickier situation for Abdul Rahman. The prince apparently was warned that a pro-slavery White House might return him to Mississippi. So, in January 1829, Abdul Rahman cast off for Liberia with his wife and more than a hundred other free blacks. According to Kronemer, Abdul Rahman still held out hope that he could buy his children’s freedom and bring them to Africa.

But forty years of slavery, and then the journey and process of starting over, had sapped the prince’s strength. He died in July 1829.

After the death of Thomas Foster Sr., his slaves were divided among his children. All but one descendant agreed to sell Abdul Rahman’s children into freedom and, except for one son, Prince, all were freed and joined their mother in Monrovia, Liberia.

The film, however, doesn’t end here. It follows the prince’s descendents to April 2003, when the first reunion of his Liberian and American families was held in Natchez, Mississippi.

Prince Abdul Rahman’s story is by no means typical. However, he was certainly not the only Muslim, the only royalty, nor the only educated African, to be enslaved and brought to the United States. According to scholars like Michael Gomez, a revision of how we understand slave-era history is only just beginning.

The hourlong documentary is set to air locally on Twin Cities Public Television on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. on TPT Channel 17; and again on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 11 p.m. on TPT Channel 2. In some cities the film will air Monday, Feb. 4 at 9 p.m. Central time: Check local listings.

More about the film:

• Watch the trailer
• Read a synopsis, biographies, interviews and more at the Unity Productions Foundation website.

Other Muslims, including leaders and scholars, who came to the U.S. as slaves:

• Omar ibn Said (1770-1864) wrote his autobiography in Arabic in 1831.
• Spelman College History Professor Michael Gomez addresses the topic of African Muslim slaves in Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas.
• Allan D. Austin’s African Muslims in Antebellum America was published in 1984 and condensed for republication in 1997.
• The stories of slaves Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Salih Bilali are addressed in Philip D. Curtin’s Africa Remembered.

–Marcia Lynx Qualey is a mother, a writer, and is affiliated with the University of Minnesota in various ways. She’s also an editor here at EngageMN.com.