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Community Corner

Canton's Muslim Women Reach Out to Community

Residents filled Canton Public Library's community room to hear from Muslim women who shared their experiences.

“Islam isn’t evil,” Christina Rountree said. “People can be evil.”

Rountree, a flight attendant and Canton resident, said she realized this before she converted to Islam in 2006. She spoke about her experience as a woman converting from Christianity to Islam at the “” forum March 24 at 's community room.

Along with fellow panelists Jabeen Hamzavi and Sadia Shakir and moderator Heather Jackson, all of Canton, Rountree described to a crowd of more than 50 people how Islam changed her life.

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Rountree said she grew up in Bloomfield Hills, feeling like she lived in a bubble. After Sept. 11, 2001, confusion about Islam pushed her to learn more about the world's second-largest faith, she said.

Rountree's initial curiousity and confusion is mirrored today throughout the U.S. CNN recently explored the topic with a special, Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door. Also, efforts in Oklahoma to bar Shariah, or Islamic law, have caused a court fight, and the construction of mosques has been challeged throughout the United States.

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One congressman, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), drew criticism and accusations of racism for what he called the “radicalization of Muslims in America” during Homeland Security Committee hearings in March.

In an effort to educate and inform people and to celebrate Islam Awareness Week, the Muslim Community of Western Suburbs a Canton-based house of worship, called a masjid, though the American mosque, organized the “Living as Muslim Women in Canton" forum.

The program was organized to help build community partnerships, committee member Saara Patel said in an email to Canton Patch.

Jackson, who moderated the discussion, explained Islam’s history in America, which is “multicultural” in itself.

“In Islam, our communities are not monolithic in their thinking,” Jackson said.

She discussed Islam’s migration to the United States, first through the slave trade, then via 19th century immigration. “The black community was developing, and alongside, the immigrant community was developing at the same time,” she said.

Jackson said the big question Muslim Americans are tackling now in a post-Sept. 11 era is how to deal with this diversity. While some think that "Muslim" and "Arab" are the same, the majority of the world's Muslim population is non-Arabic.

The women on the panel exemplify this: Rountree is African-American, Jackson is Caucasian, and Shakir and Hamzavi have roots in the southern Asian country of Pakistan.

Islam 101
  • Followers of Islam, called Muslims, believe in one God and Muhammad as the last prophet. This is known as the testament of faith.
  • Muslims believe that the Quran, or holy book, is the word of God revealed to Muhammad.
  • “Allah” is the Arabic word for God, which is used by Muslims and also by many Arab Christians.
  • Muslims also believe in Jesus as a prophet – just like they believe in Adam, Abraham, Moses and Muhammad, who is considered the last prophet.
  • The five pillars of Islam, or the main duties of a Muslim, are the testament of faith, prayer, fasting, charity and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Hamzavi, a physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and mother of three children, said she grew up with immigrant parents who pushed education. They sent her to Greenhills School, a private school in Ann Arbor, where she said she often hid her identity as the only Muslim student.

“In 10th grade, people would say, ‘How come you’re not eating?’ ” Hamzavi said. Instead of explaining she was fasting as part of her faith practices, she said she was not hungry.

“I didn’t want other people to feel bad,” she said. “You wouldn’t tell others because you wanted to fit in.”

After being asked by an audience member what her biggest challenge is now, Hamzavi said it is teaching her children that they are American, no matter what anyone says.

Shakir, director of operations for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, agreed. “Trying to instill in our kids that it’s OK to be Muslim and American” is her challenge, she said.

Shakir has appeared on national TV several times, including  reality series 30 Days, where she and her family hosted a Christian man who lived for a month as a Muslim. She grew up in a Miami community with few Muslims. She said her parents, Pakistani immigrants, knew the challenges the youth of the area were facing and allowed her to befriend them, as long they spent time at their house. “Our house became sort of a safe haven for these kids who didn’t have that anywhere else,” she said.

While attending a Miami Christian high school, Shakir said, she prayed openly, covered her hair and didn't care what people thought. She helped start interfaith dialogues at her school through conversations with her peers.

Rountree learned about Islam from her Muslim friends and her own research, then got involved in interfaith discussions. These experiences eventually led her to join the faith.

Rountree said covering her hair was not instantaneous but a process, and she just started wearing the head scarf, similar to the head covering worn by Catholic nuns, within the past few months.

During the forum's question-and-answer session, one member of the audience asked about the meaning of hijab, the word used to describe the head scarf, but Rountree explained, “It means a whole multitude of things."

Jackson explained hijab’s connection to modesty. “Modesty in Islam is in one’s thoughts, one’s actions and one’s dress,” she explained.

The panelists also talked about people’s personal levels of faith. Hamzavi does not cover her hair, said she wasn’t ready to do so yet.

Shakir described it as a tradition present in many faiths that has been carried on in Islam, like the wearing of veils by nuns in Christianity. “It is required,” she said. “But there is no compulsion in religion.”

The audience asked questions about Shariah, or sacred law, which Jackson and the other panelists agreed is often misunderstood.

The topic spurred other members of the Muslim Community of Western Suburbs who were in the audience to add their insights. They talked about Shariah’s image in the media and its purpose in Muslims’ lives.

“Shariah encompasses everything from how we pray to how we dress,” Jackson said. “So when they want to ban Shariah, they’re really talking about making Islam illegal.”

As the forum came to a close, attendees expressed interest in coming to similar events.

“Personally, as a woman, I like that it was a female panel,” said Kathleen Richardson, 53, of Canton. “The Muslim community is overshadowed by the media, and I’d like to see more dialogues.”

Richardson’s thoughts were echoed by many attendees. “I wish we could have more of these. I thought it was very informing,” said Sandy Gross, 63, of Canton.

“One of the things we tend to see is ‘Muslim’ as a single entity,” she said. “The religion isn’t different, but the flavors are different.”

Syed Karamatullah, a 31-year-old Canton resident who led organization of the forum, said the MCWS realized it wasn’t doing enough to educate Canton residents.

“We wanted to do something on a more frequent basis,” he said about the committee’s mission, which held the forum as one of its first events.

Marcia Baker, Canton Public Library program specialist, said at the start of the forum that it is one of the library’s missions to do more multicultural programs.

The next event is a "Day of Serving our Elderly and Disabled Canton Neighbors" scheduled for April 30, the committee wrote in an email Wednesday to Canton Patch. Volunteers will visit the homes of those in need and assist them in housework and home repairs , the email said.

For details on the day of service, contact the MCWS Outreach Committee at mcwsoutreach@gmail.com. Visit Canton Public Library's online calendar for its multicultural programs.

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