'I see my role as offering the voices of the silenced majority of Muslims in America and around the world', says Obama's Muslim advisor Thursday, May 28, 2009, Muhammed Qasim, IslamOnline.net
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Washington: Dalia Mogahed, a hijab-clad American Muslim, has made history being the first Muslim woman appointed to a position in President Barack Obama's administration. She sets on a newly-formed interfaith advisory board the administration hopes will improve relations with Muslims in the US and across the globe.
The Egyptian-born American heads the Gallup American Center for Muslim Studies, a research center that produces studies on Muslim public opinion worldwide.
In an exclusive interview, IslamOnline.net discussed with Egyptian-born Mogahed her new role, the challenges facing Muslims, Islamophobia in the US and her own success story.
How do you feel about being the first Muslim appointed to the Obama administration? I am not actually the first Muslim. There have been other Muslims appointed to Obama's administration. I am also not the only Muslim on the White House advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I join Dr. Eboo Patel as the second Muslim on the council. I am, however, the first Muslim woman in this council. I feel very honored for the privilege to serve in this way, but also recognize the responsibility that I've agreed to take on. I see my role much more in terms of what needs to get done rather than a historical accomplishment. I believe the accomplishments are yet to be fulfilled.
What is the role of the Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership? I am a member of a 25-person advisory council to the White House focused on offering solutions for societal problems sourced in the wisdom of faith communities. More specifically, I am on the Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation Task Force, a group of only 5. We will work on recommendations for our area of focus and these will be reviewed by the larger council and then included in an annual report with recommendations from the council to the President.
What is your role as an advisor on Islam? I would not say I am an advisor on Islam. I would say that it is my role to convey the facts about what Muslims think and feel. I see my role as offering the voices of the silenced majority of Muslims in America and around the world to the council so that our deliberations are informed by their ideas and wisdom. I believe that I was chosen because the administration cares about what Muslims think and wants to listen.
What kind of advise would you be giving Obama to improve relations with US Muslims and the Muslim world? I would advise him to listen first and foremost. Many have claimed that terrorists have 'hijacked Islam'. I disagree. I think Islam is safe and thriving in the lives of Muslims around the world. What the terrorists have been allowed to take over are Muslim grievances. Muslim concerns over injustice have been largely dismissed by the previous administration leaving a vacuum exploited by extremists. This is a dangerous reality for all of us. Instead, the US must hear mainstream Muslim concerns even if America does not agree with their perceptions. These issues can no longer be ignored or left and the extremists to monopolize.
What areas of domestic and foreign policies you think the administration should be introducing change in? I would endorse the action plan outlined in the report "Changing Course" which recommends four areas of action: Respect, Reform (political and economic) and Resolution of conflict. When it comes to the US, I would recommend that a senior member of the administration go on a "listening tour" of the US and hear what Muslim Americans are concerned over. Like all Americans, they are worried about the economic crisis, their financial future and jobs. And like many other US citizens, Muslim Americans are also worried about racial profiling, discriminatory immigration policy and the erosion of civil liberties.
What do you think of the rising Islamphobia in America? Islamphobia in America is very real. Gallup finds that Muslims are among the most unfavorably viewed groups in the US and only a little over a third of Americans say they have no prejudice against Muslims. This presents a grave danger to America as a whole. The disease of racism, by definition, is a bias in judgment. This means that racism clouds sound judgment and leads people to make irrational decisions. It also divides a nation and prevents the full utilization of its intellectual and cultural resources. Racism is wasteful. Racism is a strategic disadvantage. I am very proud of the progress America has made in fighting this problem as it relates to the relationship between blacks and whites. In 1956 only 4% of Americans approved of a marriage between whites and blacks. The marriage that produced our president was illegal in Virginia when he was born. Today 80% of Americans approve of marriage between blacks and whites. Last year, Barack Obama became the first Democratic Presidential candidate in decades to carry Virginia. We are a stronger and smarter nation because of this growth. Our next growth spurt will be in ridding our society of anti-Muslim prejudice.
What do you think US Muslims themselves need to do? Muslim Americans lag behind other Americans in their political and civic participation according to our research (National Portrait). The best thing they can do to strengthen America is to become fully engaged in writing its next chapter by getting involved and feeling a strong sense of ownership for the future of their country.
What are you hopes and aspirations for US Muslims? I hope that they enrich America by becoming fully engaged in its growth and development, as well as its struggles.
Tell us about your own journey of success as an American Muslim woman, with hijab. What challenges have you faced along the way? I have been tremendously blessed, Alhamdulillah. I feel that mine is a uniquely American story. I grew up in an educated middle class home, but with no special connections or privilege. By excelling in school, I was able to attend a top university and helped pay my way by working during the summer as an engineering intern. My summer job was at a paper factory in a small Wisconsin town. I was only 19 years old. Managing technicians often reminded me that they've been working on the machine longer than I've been on Earth. Many also told me that I was the first Muslim they'd ever met. Very few women worked in the factory, so I was already a minority just as a female, but I was also the only hijab-wearing woman in the entire town and the only Muslim in the factory. All of this of course presented a challenge, but one that taught me a great deal. Once people got to know me I became a professional to them, not a woman in hijab. I took this experience with me to my permanent job after college and to my graduate work. These situations taught me that living according to your conscience was more important than comfortably conforming to your surroundings. I think this simple lesson of life is one that has helped me succeed and given me the courage to face the most difficult and daunting situations.
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Obama's Muslim advisor
Hijab no barrier for Sara to run the school she founded twenty years ago
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 12:14:58 PM, Aleem Faizee ummid.com | |||||
Lohara (Dist. Akola, Maharashtra): A woman driving a vehicle may be a common phenomenon in metros. In rural India, people would still stop to have a look at such women. And if the lady behind the steering happens to be someone covered from head to toes in a Burqa, the disbelief in the eyes would be beyond imagination. For Sara Deshmukh, however, the disbelieving gaze and incredulous comments have become a routine. Covering her entire body in a Burqa and most of the time herself driving the car, Sara Deshmukh would visit various government offices located as near as in Akola and as far as in Mumbai and Delhi.
“I am regularly traveling various places in the country and the world in the same attire. But it has never been a problem for me”, she says before adding, “Instead, it induces a sense of security in me on one hand and on the other urges the others to behave with respect.”
Sara Deshmukh is the founder of Madrasa Banatus Salehat and an English medium school at Lohara in Akola district, barely few kilometers from Shegaon, a town associated with Shri Gajanan Maharaj and considered as a sacred place for a vast majority of Hindus in India. In fact the Gajanan Maharaj Trust is running a fleet of institutions in and around Akola. Though having a Madrasa or school in the vicinity that too especially for girls is in itself a miracle, more miraculous is the fact that it is founded and run by Sara Deshmukh, a lady coming from a very humble background and so “orthodox” that she even refuses to dump the Burqa, a “sign of subservience” for many. But thanks to the courage and determination, the primary requirements to run a Madrasa that she has in plenty, Sara has made this possible for the downtrodden and backward people of Lohara. Not only this, she has done so in such a style that Madrasa Banatus Salehat, founded under very challenging conditions is now regarded as one of the safest place for any girl interested in Islamic studies combined with home science and modern education.
Mission Sara Surrounded by Satpura mountains, today on four acre lush green extremely beautiful land and having a plush building, Madrasa Banatus Salehat apart from having luxurious accommodation and hygienic quality food has everything to provide comfort to over two hundred girl students. Above all Baaji, as the girls and the people used to call Sara Deshkukh as, is there for their every requirements. To further secure the future of these teenagers, after much efforts, Baaji has got the approval from the State Education board for Madrasa Banatus Salehat. The girls hence while acquiring the Islamic studies and the arts including embroidery, sewing, cooking, netting among others, simultaneously complete the SSC level board exams from the same place. Encouraged by her success Baaji recently established an English medium school that is running on the basis followed by the convent school.
Madrasa Banatus Salehat a bliss though for the backward people in this hilly area with hardly any amenities and Baaji certainly a savior for them. But it was never an easy task for Sara to achieve this status. The road that finally led her to this destination is full of difficulties and barriers apart from her own limitations. At the same time she was lucky to meet the right people at the right time who came to her rescue every time she was in any difficulty. And once the winds began flowing in her favour, there was no stopping for Sara.
“There are many in the world who provide education to the girls but very few to help someone to settle. Baaji is one among those coveted few”, says Adeel. Adeel was no entity before Baaji arranged his marriage with Yasmin, the girl she had found at Shegaon railway station more than a decade ago at the age of seven. Yasmin - a graduate and Adeel - Baaji’s trusted aid, both are now at Madrasa Banatus Salehat to help Sara repeat the history for others.
Similar is the case with Aasia. She was an orphan whom her relatives had abandoned. Baaji brought her from Surat and get her the required education and the skill. Today Aasia with her husband Khalid Saifullah – a convert to Islam is running Madrasa Banatus Salehat’s branch in the United States (US).
Sara’s Strength That Sara Deshmukh has herself acquired the early education from Jamiatus Salehat - a leading Madrasa for girls in Malegaon is proving to be an asset for her. Having learnt lessons from Jamiatus Salehat, while learning as well as later when she finished her education, Sara has now grown into a perfect administrator. She ponders on various innovations and then utilizes her wholehearted effort for their implementation. This has resulted in making Madrasa Banatus Salehat into a metaphor, clearly distinguished from the one widely perceived by the people in and outside of the country.
Today, though her husband and eldest daughter are living in Johannesburg and the son Mohammad who is accompanying her in Lohara is too young to help the mother, Sara completely alone at the helm of the affairs is not ready to stop with her experiments. She is now working on further expansion and it would not be surprising if the girls at Madrasa Banatus Salehat would soon have a technical college besides having a college of education for them in the same campus.
While it is worth watching how Sara Deshmukh’s mission continues to move on, meeting Sara Deshnukh too is no less than a pleasant surprise. Waking up at 04 in the morning, wandering from one place and office to other till 10 late in the evening, all this in a complete Islamic attire covering herself from head to toes in a Burqa, Sara Deshmukh clearly stands as an answer to the Western World. Is Sarko around?
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