On Friday afternoon, when Muslims pray as a congregation, the top floor of a mosque in the South Loop fills with rows and rows of men, falling to their knees in submission to their God and facing east, the direction of Mecca. The Muslims at the Chicago Islamic Center on State Street are Arabic, South Asian, black and white. Some are young professionals, recently moved from their homes in the suburbs to their first jobs in the city. Some are older; a few come with children who follow along with the group prostrations. The diversity within the Muslim community in between marble-tiled walls of the downtown mosque is a reminder of the diversity of Islam worldwide. When President Obama spoke in Cairo, Egypt last week, he did not use the term “the Muslim world,” which seems to reference a uniform group, and instead said “Muslim communities” and “Muslim-majority countries.” According to the Christian Science Monitor’s global news blog, by adopting this nuanced word choice, Obama avoided promoting the idea that all Muslims are alike and that by fighting terrorism America is fighting a war against all of Islam. “There is no monolithic ‘Muslim community,’ nor is there a singular homogeneous entity known as ‘the Muslim world,’ rather there are diverse and distinctive Muslim communities that need to be reflected in our discourse. Using the term ‘the Muslim world’ only serves to bolster the Islamist and Al Qaeda narrative of ‘the West’ against ‘Islam’ – of a battle of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ or ‘good’ versus ‘evil,’” said the Quilliam Foundation, a think tank in London that opposes Islamic extremism, in a press release. Obama also spoke about Islam in the U.S., mentioning the country’s 1,200 mosques and “non-stereotypical” Muslims. “He really recognized the American Muslim community. He recognized the size of our community and the challenges we face,” said Junaid Afeef, executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, pleased with President Obama’s ambitious promises of change, but waiting for the action to follow. “It’s the responsibility of the president to fight stereotyping wherever it is.” (Photo from Mus, Flickr Creative Commons) 
Print
E-mail
Kate Shellnutt
I’m a freelance religion reporter and blogger for the Little Things. I majored in religion and journalism as an undergrad, and I'm now completing my master's in journalism at Medill.
More
Comments
There is an Islamic world and non-Muslims are oppressed across it. Their races or education mean absolutely nothing, as doctors and teachers have been suicide bombers. Muslims are causing the same problems across the world and the bottom line with Muslim immigration is trouble. It is time to end it. We might not be at war with Islam, but Islam is at war with us.
Right, Kate if we use the words "Muslim world" things will only get worse. Lets bow down every time Muslims are offended. Appeasement does not work and American Muslims are the same as Muslims anywhere else.
US Muslim Site Calls for Muslims to Confront Troops in NYC
http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-muslim-site-calls-for-mus...
American Muslims hit NYC Streets Calling for Sharia and Jihad~Video
http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post.html
NY Congressman Peter King:Muslims do not Cooperate http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/04/ny-congressman-peter-kingmus...
American Muslims:Our Mosques and Koran are off Limits! http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/04/american-muslimsour-mosques-...
NY Based Islamic Hate Group Exposed!!~Videos http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html
Child Marriage and More Child Abuse in the American Muslim Community~Audio! http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/04/child-marriage-and-more-chil...
Muslim Only Communities Forming Across America http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/03/muslim-only-communities-form...
FBI Watching Somalian Muslims In Minneapolis http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/03/fbi-watching-somalian-muslim...
Christian Action Network:35 Islamic Terror Camps in the USA!! http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/02/christian-action-network35-i...
American Muslims, no Different From the Rest http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/01/american-muslims-no-differen...
Quoting a so called London think tank really showed how little the writer knows about the issue. As Muslims are walking all over the UK as clearly shown in this video.
http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/06/uk-reminder-where-we-are-hea...
Muslims, like Jews and Christians, are diverse enough to have left-wingers and right-wingers. Don't be foolish enough to think that all Muslims are like the ones you depict.
I didn't bother to click on any of your misleading links, but as to the 3rd one, the FBI publicly disagreed with Peter King, saying that Muslims are very cooperative and thanked the American Muslim community for their help and outreach.
In 2005 the assistant director of the AJC Melanie Maron, spoke at a rally organised by the Council of Islamic Organisations of Greater Chicago - a Saudi funded umbrella group also tied to the Muslim World League. The CIOGC Chairman Abdul Malik Mujahid , who is the CEO of Sound Vision a radical Islamist media company linked to Hamas and the IAP, also spoke at the rally. The event was hosted by a member of the Northbrook Islamic Center.
http://www.pipelinenews.org/2006/Jews-for-Jihad.html
The writer even quotes this Chicago Islamic group without doing any research on them what so ever. The Saudis are spreading hate across the West. Please do some research next time. Also let me know when you have the magical plan to separate the "good" Muslims from the bad.....because the world is waiting.
This article, like so many concerning Islam, is based on a confusion. The word "Islam" is used in two ways: 1)the community of Muslims around the world; and 2)the belief system based on the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad. When we say that "Islam is diverse", we mean ONLY that the community of Muslims is diverse, that their behavior is diverse. The belief system of Islam, based on the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad, is NOT diverse. There is one Islam in the sense of a belief system. Not all Moslems follow the requirements of the Koran and Muhammad, but that is a matter of Muslims' behavior. It is important to know Islam-The Belief System, the ideology, because that belief system is taken very seriously by hundreds of millions of Moslems. They are the ones who are causing all the trouble around the world. They are the ones whom Obama refers vaguely to as "extremists". But, they are NOT extremists. They are merely following the Koran and Muhammad to the letter. We must not confuse Moslems, as people, with Islam, the belief system.
All non-Moslems should read the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad. Here is a sampling of what the Koran and Muhammad say:
FROM THE KORAN:
--The unbelievers are your inveterate enemy. (4:101)
-- Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another. (48:29).
-- It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, accidents excepted. (4:92)
-- Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. (5:51)
-- Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme. (8:40)
-- Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme. (2:193)
-- The true believers fight for the cause of God, but the infidels fight for the devil. (4:76)
-- We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. (3:151)
-- I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers. (8:12)
FROM THE SAYINGS OF MUHAMMAD:
-- Muhammad said to the Jews: "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. “
-- Allah's Apostle said, "You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, 'O 'Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.' "
-- Mohammed said, "I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and whoever says, " None has the right to be worshipped but Allah , his life and property will be saved by me." (otherwise it will not). Vol. 4:196
-- Mohammed said, "Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him." Vol. 9:57
-- Mohammed said, " No Muslim should be killed for killing a Kafir" (infidel). Vol. 9:50
-- Muhammad said: "Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, … "
Remember, ALL Moslems are supposed to take these commands seriously and impliment them in practice. Fortunately, not all Moslems do it.
Post new comment