I hadn’t realized the effect of media on even very young children until I recently overheard my four-year-old grandson telling his seven-year-old sister that he liked Obama. The six-year-old yelled back that she liked Hillary.

Unfortunately, Muslims in America have a unique relationship with the news media.
To begin with, Islam and the Muslims have never enjoyed a balanced portrayal in the West due to centuries of competition between the world’s two largest religions, and to the Middle East conflict that began in 1948. Now, it seems the events of 9/11 have given a free hand to the media to pick on Muslims, who have become the number-one minority group demonized in the public square, in books, in print and broadcast media, on movie screens, and increasingly on the Internet with the explosive proliferation of single-focus sites where hate-speech runs unchecked.

These media have played a vital role in defining and redefining how most Americans think of Islam and the Muslims. And the media’s view is very different from how Muslims perceive their religion and themselves.

The Effects of Media Bias

It’s clear that, if the news media had been more critical, then we would not have waged war on Iraq only on the suspicion that it possessed WMDs. This war has not only cost us nearly a trillion dollars and many American and Iraqi lives, but it also has polluted our image on the world screen. The media has shown us an entirely different Iraqi war than what was seen by the people in Middle East. We saw the use of high technology and accurate bombing from our aircrafts, but the Muslim world saw what happened after the bombs exploded, and the anguish that followed.

In the U.S., the effect of media bias can be seen in every section of our social structure, even among the academics. In 2003, I asked a law professor from Georgetown University if there shouldn’t be any official investigation in which American Muslims were included to help discover the root causes of the 9/11 attacks. To my astonishment, he replied that “it would give legitimacy to their [the hijackers'] actions.”

That seemed to me a very un-American answer. Unless we know the root causes of the attack, how can we safeguard our country? Moreover, Muslim involvement in such an investigation would have provided a tremendous boost in public relations to over a billion Muslims throughout the world who are keenly watching us.

The media also failed in its portrayal of events last year, when, after attending the National Conference of Senior Imams, some of the imams prayed in a lounge of the Minneapolis airport. A woman complained, and a pilot called security. The imams were handcuffed, taken from the plane, interrogated, and every piece of their luggage was checked. Then, after a thorough questioning and investigation by the FBI, they were given a clean bill at about 11 p.m. to fly.

To add to their injury, US Air refused them seats, even after the FBI interrogator guaranteed their innocence. They had to fly back with NWA the next day. When the Star Tribune interviewed me on this subject, I gave my opinion that education of people through the news media is essential. Both security officials and the general public should know and understand the sensitivities of millions of American Muslims. Education about Islam and the Muslims is no longer a luxury, as Muslims are now your neighbors.

The negative stereotyping in the media is so prevalent that to be Muslim has become synonymous with committing a crime. When a Muslim happens to commit any crime, the media makes sure that viewers know about his religion even if that may be completely irrelevant.

Mr. Obama had to satisfy the media that he is not a Muslim, and yet 13 percent of the American people still believe that he is and would not vote for him for that reason. On the other hand, I have never met a single Muslim who, if he supports Mr. Obama, supports him because he considers him a Muslim!
Very few Muslims are called to give their opinion by the well-known TV channels on any subject related to their affairs, and those few who are called are either not representative of the Muslim population or cannot express themselves properly in English. Thus, the message is lost. That is a disservice to the American people.

I am even more concerned that a new generation of Americans coming out of schools has seen only the negative images of Islam, and that they will carry these impressions for the rest of their lives. Because of this, Muslims will have a constant uphill battle for a long time to come for their legitimate rights.

The Role of Economic Justice

Justice is the root of Islam. If you open the Qur’an, justice is always emphasized, because Muslims believe God is a just God. There are several passages in the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and also there are several traditions of the Prophet himself in which equal justice for men and women, boss and subordinate, white or black, have been directly or indirectly emphasized. God says in the Qur’an:

“O! mankind, we have created out of a single pair of man and woman, and distributed you among nations and tribes that you may know (and help not despise) one another. Indeed the most honorable among you in the sight of God is the most virtuous. God is cognizant of all what you do.”

Because there is no difference between the genders in Islam as far as religious obligations are concerned, what is obligatory for men is also obligatory for women. Islam emphasizes equal rewards: men and women deserve the same wages in this world, and the same charity in the eyes of God for the same job done. Throughout Muslim history, innumerable women had their own businesses, separate from their husbands, and many were rich, like Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet who ran a business in international trade. Islam states that the same is true for inter-religious, interfaith and inter-ethnic relations. We are rewarded equally, irrespective of our faiths and ethnicities.

Justice in economic achievement is essential in Islam.

But the negative image of Muslims created by the media has directly affected both the income and livelihood of the Muslim population in general, especially those at the threshold level of poverty. One young man told me that he is not getting any job offers because of his name, Muhammad. This is the most common name in the world, but it apparently tells something different to the young man’s potential employers, who may have never met any Muslim before, but have been watching media coverage.

Many Muslims struggle at the time of Friday congregational prayers, which come during the working day because they have to choose between their job and their faith. Many take lesser-paying jobs to be able to go to offer their prayers.

The Islamic Center of Minnesota’s food shelf program, which has been running for the last 15 years, saw a gradual increase in the number of people making use of the food shelf in 1990s. But there has been a much larger jump in that number since 2001, which tells us something happened to Muslim livelihoods after that date.

Recently, a local company fired five Somali women because they wanted to wear hijab and loose dress, an Islamic obligation which is not merely cultural. An investigation is ongoing.

A local charter school was given a negative image because the school is run by Muslims. Even though the media may correct itself later, the wrong is already done.

When a mosque in North Minneapolis was burned down by arsonists one night a few years ago, there was not much coverage in the newspapers. It was the great help received from other churches and synagogues and the late Senator Paul Wellstone that was monumental in raising funds and building the mosque back.

But where was the media?

The Relationship between Faith and Extremism

Clearly, acts of extremism are not a commodity owned by Muslims. Followers of nearly every religion have found their hands red with the same guilt at some time or other. The treatment of Jews in WWII by many church-going Nazis, bombings of Northern Ireland’s Protestant schools, the genocide and rape of over 50,000 Muslim women in Bosnia, the treatment of Palestinians, Kashmiris, and Chechens all are examples of terrorism by the occupying forces.

Why, then, has the media picked mostly on Islam and the Muslims? Just as an example, how many among you would remember that over 4,000 Muslim children and women in Gujrat India were burned alive by Hindu fanatics just six years ago, in 2002? Not many would recall such a horrible incidence that lasted for weeks and even aided by the authorities, because this has not been brought forth over and over again on the screen for viewers to have the impact of the severity of the crime. But any action by Muslims would be replayed for months, if not years.

I would like to make it clear here that none of the religions mentioned above have anything to do with the acts of terror their followers have carried out. It is the extreme interpretation of a few who unfortunately make the news. Islam is no exception. For this reason, the American media must understand what the Muslims throughout the world are trying to say, and must play a fair role in removing the negative stereotypes which directly affect the economic well-being of Muslims, especially those who are not at high level of income and are rarely heard.

The Solution: Sitting Down Together

The most important tool for mutual understanding is interfaith dialogue.

Unless we are ready to sit together and talk, we cannot understand one another. We at Islamic Center of Minnesota (ICM) have been involved for the past eighteen years in dialogue with the Minnesota Council of Churches and several synagogues, meeting every month at the Islamic Center. That has proved to be a successful project. The Islamic Center also invites people of other faiths for a dinner at Thanksgiving every year, and the Minnesota Council of Churches invites the ICM for Eid dinner. The ICM is also involved with synagogues, and meets with them to celebrate Ramadan Iftar and Passover Seder.

In acts of extremism, you will generally find that the perpetrators are young people. They are the ones who can be more easily brainwashed by the religious extremists, and thus we have to concentrate on them more than the others.

We have to work on the interfaith communication of youth groups, and to involve them in dialogues (and trialogues) by involving them in even non-religious projects, such as work together in mowing lawns, cleaning buildings or lands, playing soccer together, having barbecues and picnics together, or even discussing the current politics.

Higher education of the Muslim youth is another area on which Muslim communities have to seriously concentrate. The Muslim immigrant population in the United States has enjoyed a level of education higher than the average American, an important distinction from the Muslim immigrants in Europe. This has been a pivotal reason for smooth integration of Muslims in America. Better Muslim representation in the media should then naturally follow, and their voices will also be heard.

It’s important to remember you wouldn’t see the results the next day. Constancy and perseverance is the key to success.

Allah (SWT) says in Qur’an,

“and that there might grow out of you a community [of people] who invite unto all that is good, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong: and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state!” (3:104)

Let there be a group of people of all faiths and all nationalities, who are sincere and God conscience, who may be called the prisoners of their own consciences because they stand together in doing what is good and forbid what is oppressive and racist and wrong, and are truthful even when they are called as witness against themselves or against their relatives and friends.

A very balanced portrayal of Muslims, Islam, and every other religion is the need of the hour. Not only should the media present the powerful spiritual dimensions of Islam, but also the contributions of Muslim doctors and engineers. All Americans should know that the tallest building in the U.S. was designed by a Muslim architect. We should know that more than 11 percent of all foreign doctors are from Pakistan alone. We should know that more than 7,000 Muslims serve faithfully in our country’s armed forces.

This essay is based on the presentation by Mr. Bayunus at the National Conference on Faith, Economic Justice and Media bias on February 6, 2008 at the Minneapolis Convention Hall. The complete presentation can be obtained from Mr. Bayunus by calling the Islamic Center.

Owais Bayunus is the President of Islamic Center of Minnesota, Vice Chair of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC), an advocacy group of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and former chairman of the Interfaith Dialogue of the Minnesota Council of Churches.

Hajj is considered the fifth pillar of Islam, meaning every Muslim who can afford it and is in good health has to perform Hajj (at least) once in his lifetime.

My very first recollection of people going to perform Hajj was in my childhood in Karachi, where all the pilgrims from Pakistan used to assemble at the harbor to board ships heading towards Saudi Arabia. There was a distinct difference between them and the rest of the people who were not going to Hajj. The men were all dressed in white, women well covered, and you could see children running around dressed similarly. They were more organized than other people and always remained with their group, lest they get lost and be a problem for themselves and others.

When one of my father’s friends went to perform Hajj, my father took me along to bid him farewell at the passenger ship. In those days, the rich pilgrims normally flew to Jeddah directly and the middle class and the poorer people would take a ship to Jeddah, a journey of almost seven days.

The ship was fully occupied by almost two thousand people, and it had a separate open place for the daily prayers. The impression of seeing these pilgrims remained on my mind for a long time, and whenever I would read about the pilgrimage to Makkah in books, I would remember seeing the same pilgrims.

Several years later, while I was on an assignment to Nigeria, I once drove near Niger’s border south of Sahara. There, I came across a caravan, which, I was told, was heading towards Makkah for pilgrimage almost 18-20 months away. There are many such caravans in the Sahara heading to Makkah on camels and on foot, any time of the year. I remembered the saying “All roads lead to Makkah,” which seemed to be true. Upon leaving Nigeria, I accepted an offer to teach in a University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, it was very close to the Hajj season. So I decided to go there just in time to be able to perform this religious duty also.

After my plane landed at Jeddah Airport, I was taken in a bus to Makkah. For the first time, I felt, I was overwhelmed by my own emotions in anticipation of the holy journey and pilgrimage I was about to perform, a journey which every able-bodied Muslim should perform, if he can afford it, at least once in his lifetime. My eyes were looking for every detail of the contour of the land and every rock and stone which might be lying there from the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

When the bus was entering the city though the main highway, I could see the mountain on the top of which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had for the first time the encounter with Angel Gabriel which had changed the course of history. I recalled how he came back running to tell his wife about this experience.

The Story of Hajj

The story of Hajj began about 3,500 years ago, when the Prophet of God Ibrahim (pbuh), known in English as Abraham (pbuh), took his wife, Hajirah (Hagar), and their son, Ismael (Ishmael), to the valley of Baka’a near the Hills of Faran, and left them there, by God’s command. Baka’a, now called Makkah, means a desolate place with no vegetation, and Faran (originally Paran) is the name of the hills on the western slopes of the Arabian Peninsula.

Greatly concerned with the thirst of the infant and of herself, Hajirah ran desperately in search for water and made seven trips back and forth between the nearby hills of Safa and Marwah. Allah (SWT) then caused Ismail to rub his feet against the sand and a spring of water, the water of Zamzam, came out. This spring has never stopped and water still gushes out of it, and, once upon a time, it was the only source of water for the City of Makkah. I have drenched myself several times with the water of Zamzam and drank it to my content.

In his later trip to meet his wife and son, God commanded Ibrahim (pbuh) to build the holy sanctuary of Kaaba, the very first house of God where One God (Allah) would be worshiped. Kaaba is a near-cubical, elevated room, covered by a black satin and velvet cloth. The Sacred mosque in Makkah is built around it.

Upon completing Kaaba, Ibrahim was asked by God to call out people to pilgrimage to that holy sanctuary. He replied that there were not many people around. God asked Ibrahim to call out people and they would come on even lean camels.

“Behold! We gave the site, To Ibrahim, of the (Sacred) House [Kaaba that he built], (Saying): ‘Associate not anything (In worship) with Me; And sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or those who stand up (in prayers), or bow, or prostrate themselves (Therein in prayer). And proclaim the pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways; (HOLY QURAN 22:26-27)”

So Ibrahim (pbuh) stood up and called out people to come for pilgrimage. Soon there were a few who joined him to purify themselves. From that day onward, as far as recorded history goes, every single year at the prescribed days people from near and far would go for pilgrimage to Makkah and its vicinity in response to the call of Ibrahim (pbuh).

But the tests of Ibrahim had not ended yet. Ibrahim (pbuh) then saw in dreams that he was asked to offer in sacrifice to Allah what he loved the most. When he had ascertained that it was not just a dream but a vision and true commandment from God, he told his son about the dream. “O my son! I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you on God’s command, so what do you think?” They both realized that this was an order from Allah. Ismael responded without any hesitation: “Father do what you have been commanded, you shall find me among the very patient InshaAllah.”

They both submitted to the will of Allah, Ibrahim walking ahead and the patient son following him. One was leading his most beloved treasure, the answer to his 90 years of prayers, for whom he had waited such a long time, ready to give back the gift of the first son to the One who had given him in the first place. He remembered every innocent move the son had made, and every smile on the child’s face, from birth to childhood. He did not want to look at Ismael for the love of him and was keeping his eyes away from him.

When Satan (the Devil) approached him and his son, and tried to reason out that what they were intending to do was wrong and logically incorrect, they hit him with stones and he went away depressed knowing that he (Satan) had his limitations and would not be able to deceive true men of God.

Ibrahim (pbuh) laid his son prostrate, put his forehead on the ground and covered his own eyes, lest the love of the son would overcome God’s command, and directed a sharp knife towards his neck. At this very moment, Allah called him: “O Ibrahim! You have made your dream come true! Thus do We reward the good doers!” A big sheep was sent down from heaven to be slaughtered instead of Ismael, and they both had a big celebration that day. This event is celebrated every year by over a billion Muslims all over the world and is considered the most important festival of the year. It is Eid al-Adha when we slaughter the sacrificial sheep, and give one third of its meat to poor, one third to friends, and keep the remaining one third for our own home.

Hajj is the enactment of Ibrahim and his family’s sacrifice and their love for God.

This promise of Allah, to send people from all over the world to Makkah, is fulfilled every single year in Arabia through the Muslims’ yearly pilgrimage, where about three million Muslims come to perform the Hajj (pilgrimage) every year. The ‘lean camel’ coming after the fatiguing journey through distant mountain roads typifies the difficulties of travel.

Millions with Tears in Their Eyes

Movement of pilgrims during Hajj

Looking at Kaaba for the first time is an experience hardly anyone can forget. When I looked at Kaaba, a strange sensation passed through my spine and I stood still, gazing at it for some time. The Kaaba, which I had been seeing in pictures all my life and towards which I turned my face when praying five times a day, the House of Almighty Allah on Earth, was right in front of me. I was stunned for a while.

Is this the place which Ibrahim and Ismael built thousands of years ago, the center of monotheism? I had read in books that the prayers you wish when you first see Kaaba are accepted by God. I had so many prayers that I wanted to ask but I had forgotten them all at that time. I just asked God to let me enter paradise upon my death and to accept any prayers when I would need them. Later I realized that these were excellent supplications to God.

I went close to Kaaba, kissed its velvet curtain, and kissed the black stone received by Ibrahim (pbuh) and revered by all Muslims. With literal tears in eyes overflowing with emotions, I circumambulated the Kaaba seven times, prayed near the mark of the footstep of Ibrahim, drank the water of Zamzam, and drenched myself with it. I ran between the hills of Safa and Marwah, remembering the passion and desperation of our mother Hajirah, left alone with her infant son in that desolate valley. I remembered how God watched over her.

I walked on the road, on which Ibrahim (pbuh) and Ismael (pbuh) had once walked to the scene of the greatest sacrifice a lover can give to his beloved God, the offer of the first son, (Ismael, Isma meaning heard, and El meaning God) who was born in response to Ibrahim’s (pbuh) lifetime prayers. I remembered my own daughter at that time and the love I had in my heart for her. I also thought of the Great Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh), who walked over the same passage that I was then walking, when his mind may have been telling him to do one thing and the heart full of love and submission to God another.

I also prayed at the unending flat land of Arafat and Jabale Rahmah and threw pebbles at the structure symbolizing Satan, as Ibrahim (pbuh) and Ismael (pbuh) had done. I slaughtered a sheep, thinking again of Ibrahim (pbuh) when he was sure he was going to sacrifice his son.

I prayed on the Mountain of Mercy in the ground of Arafat. Here, Adam and Eve had met for the first time after they had been sent down to earth from Heaven. Just imagine how happy they must have been seeing each other on Earth the first time. What is the probability of two human beings meeting on the surface of the earth within their lifetime, when one had been sent down to Jeddah (literally meaning grandmother) and the other to Sri Lanka?

It is an experience of a lifetime. The sea of men wrapped in the same two pieces of cloth with no marks, no distinction between the rich or the poor, king or the beggar, white or black or brown or yellow. All equal in the eyes of God. The Earth and its politics, its wealth and its name, seems to be a small thing when you feel so close to God.

I saw millions of men and women with tears in their eyes, ready to help with compassion. People who could speak only their native languages were full of love for others who they had never seen. I saw an old man, perhaps in his eighties, and his wife walking together slowly, one stepping after the other, with each other’s help, hand in hand. You could hear people speaking Arabic, Urdu, English, French, Russian, Turkish, and Spanish; name any language of the world. And every one, in a low tone or loudly, chanting to God.

“God I am here, God I am here (to the call of Ibrahim which he made three thousand years ago). There is no God but You. All praises are for You and all blessings are from You and the whole World belongs to you. There is no partner in Your divinity.”

Owais Bayunus is the president of the Islamic Center of Minnesota (ICM), and former chairman of the Muslim Christian Dialogue, Minnesota Council of Churches.