American Muslims' Plight (Dawn)

Dawn, March 21, 2005
American Muslims' plight
By Dr Mahjabeen Islam

The perpetrators of 9/11 have caused a grievous tragedy in the name of Islam. While they revel in the scale of the destruction that it wrought, ordinary Muslims the world over and especially in the West suffer day in and day out.

Some rot in the inhuman cells of Guantanamo Bay, others in jails across the land and yet others at the hands of overeager airport personnel perusing no-fly lists. A recent report by the justice department's office of the inspector-general has found "a disturbing pattern" of discriminatory and retaliatory actions against Muslim inmates by wardens and guards at American prisons. This was reported in 2003 but no disciplinary action has been taken against any warden to date.

The very first Muslims were brought to America as slaves in the late 18th to early 19th centuries. After that there were three waves of immigration of Muslims to the United States and it is safe to say that all these waves pursued the American dream.

The first from Syria and Lebanon between 1875 and 1912, the second wave after World War I around 1918 was also from the Middle East in contrast to the third wave that came from South Asia and Eastern Europe between 1947 and 1960.

The early immigrants were migrant workers, peddlers, miners and factory workers, as opposed to the third wave of Muslims many of whom were well-educated and settled in urban areas.

Many a story is told of the name-changes that occurred at immigration, across the board, even to non-Muslims, and unpronounceable Arab and Polish names were demystified into Johns and Smiths. Even today America retains this xenophobia.

Its eight million American Muslims are divided into four even quadrants: 24 per cent are African-American, 26 per cent Arab-Americans, 26 per cent South Asian and 24 per cent all others. The rest of America may be graying, not Muslims; whilst 67 per cent of the American adult population is over 40, 67 per cent of the American-Muslim population is under 40.

In the arena of education, 67 per cent of American-Muslims have a Bachelor's degree whilst only 40 per cent of the American population has this qualification. As the level goes up to master's degrees and doctorates the gap widens even more. And with the penchant especially of South Asians to channel their children into medicine, one in ten American Muslim households has a doctor. It reminds one of an illustrative joke by Azhar Usman, a Chicago based comedian.

An older Pakistani gentleman was going on about how the Muslim community is in dire need of people in the media, in journalism and law. " Uncle what do your children do?" asked Azhar. "They are all doctors, mashaallah!" was the dichotomous answer.

Interestingly we have the financial resources too. According to the 2000 US census, the average American income was $42,000 per year. About 66 per cent of US Muslims earned over $50,000 and a whopping 26 per cent earned over $100,000.

The commonest occupation was student at 20 per cent, engineers 12 per cent, physician or dentist 10 per cent, homemaker 10 per cent, programmer seven per cent and corporate manager and teacher six per cent each.

American Muslims are under-represented in occupations that make public policy or influence public opinion, and very few pursue print/TV/film media. They are also unlikely to be in state legislatures and courts where laws are made and practised.

At the socio-moral level, and because of the strong definition given to our lives by Islam, Muslims traditionally follow their own way of life. The moral restrictions regarding modest attire, dating, premarital sex and single motherhood as well as the tenacity with which the Muslim Americans implement then own code can create many problems not to mention the balance of power struggle between parents and children in many a Muslim household.

The magnetism of the material invariably wanes and many American born 'confused desis' reach adulthood ensconced in the American dream. The coming of age of this second and third generation of American Muslims coupled with the ironic impetus of 9/11 has created a moment in time ripe for the development of the American Muslim social, religious and political identity.

Mosques dot the American landscape. It's time that we set up hospitals and nursing homes with a Muslim board of trustees, providing health case regardless of race, gender or religion.

Participating in the political process is the indispensable medium for full expression of our citizen status. The American Muslim political coordination council orchestrated the bloc vote in 2000 and it is sad that the Muslims look at that event with a jaundiced eye.

It is important to see the bloc vote's historic galvanizing power and how it united a very diverse, argumentative and politically puerile group. The vociferous protests caused the renaming of that group and now it is the American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Election (AMT-PAC), an umbrella organization of ten national Muslim organizations.

We must avoid micro-nationalism and calling ourselves Pakistani-Americans or Egyptian-Americans. Identification with and promotion of the common thread of Islam engenders clout and exerts numerical pressure.

American Muslims according to the 2000 census bureau have the secrets of success: number, youth, education and wealth. Participating in the political process is, by far, the shortest and most effective route to full expression and acceptance of the way we are, not the way they want us to be - a persecuted and petrified minority.

The writer is a physician practising in Toledo, Ohio, US.