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Community Corner

Local Residents Honor King's Message of Equality

Library holds discussion forum on Muslims in America.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., more than 100 local residents gathered at the Chelsea District Library this week to learn about the Muslim faith in the United States.

The Jan. 17 event titled "Differences Without Divisions: Islam in America" was developed by Chelsea resident Micky Howe to help facilitate discussion about Islam and counteract negative images seen in the media.

Howe, a non-Muslim, said the idea came when his daughter, who attends the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, became friends with Muslim women in her all-women dorm and began dating a Muslim boy. Inviting some of her friends home for Thanksgiving, Howe found herself at the table with Jewish, Christian and Muslim people alike. 

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“What got me is that these are young people who are talented, full of hope, have a lot to offer and consider themselves full Americans,” Howe said.  “If their hopes are dashed because of prejudice, that is what builds hatred."

Speakers at the event included Imam Sayid Hassan Al-Qazwini, a scholar and religious leader at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, and a past consultant to the White House, U.S. State Department and Defense Department on Muslim Affairs; Najah Bazzy, a nurse specializing in trans-cultural health care and founding chairman and president of Zaman International, a food assistance program; and Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

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The forum was moderated by David Crumm, former religion writer for the Detroit Free Press and now editor of www.ReadTheSpirit.com.

Bazzy opened the forum with a discussion on Muslim religion from the female perspective and common prejudices Muslims face following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York.

“What is in our head is more important that what is on our head,” Bazzy said showing off her head cloth. “That is what I think Dr. Martin Luther King would think.”

Walid spoke on the misrepresentation of Muslim-Americans in the media and shared some sobering statistics with the audience. Walid said Muslims have deep roots in America, having been brought over by Europeans in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

“Of the 7 million Muslims in America, Arab-Muslims are the minority,” he said. “Thirt-eight percent of Muslims in this country are African-American.” 

Al-Qazwini recalled his memories of immigrating to America from Iraq to escape persecution from Saddam Hussein in 1986. Al-Qazwini said he remembers breaking into tears when the immigration officer that he met with in America told him, “Welcome home.”

“The best country is the one that carries you with dignity, not that burdens you,” he said.

Al-Qazwini said Muslims have more freedom to practice their religion in America than any other country in the world.

“Unfortunately, after Sept. 11, I was looked perceived as a suspicious person that may cause harm to the United States,” he said.

Rep. Mark Quimet, R-District 52, of Scio Township, said he was delighted to be part of the forum, comparing it to King's vision for equality in the United States.

“He (King) was such a visionary,” Ouimet said. “He was always about asking where we were as a nation and where we need to be.”

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