A Visit to the US Senate  by Hussein Ata

Several weeks ago, Senator Durbin of Illinois visited our Mosque. One of topics of discussion was the congressional hearing of Peter King regarding Islamic extremism. During the meeting, Senator Durbin indicated that he would do something to address Muslim civil rights. True to his word, the senator held a senate hearing to address Muslim civil rights on March 29.  Oussama Jammal, the Mosque Foundation vice president, and I went to Washington to attend this important hearing and to show our appreciation by personally thanking the senator.

This hearing represented a milestone for us as a minority facing tremendous backlash, bigotry and violations of our civil rights as American citizens.  Regardless of the outcome of this particular hearing, the fact that a high ranking US senator had the courage to hold such a hearing is unprecedented. Not too long ago to think such an event could take place was highly unlikely.

The hearing took only two hours; however there were many lessons learned that we must take advantage of to better our future as a growing Muslim community.

We went to the senate building an hour before the start of the hearing to make sure we got a seat. To our surprise, when we reached the hearing room we found 15-20 people in line, some of them were sitting down reading and others sleeping on the floor. What was also interesting was that none of them were Muslims; they were all very young and many were of minority groups.

As we stood in line, we noticed many young men and women walking through the hallways, going into offices and meeting rooms. We also saw many more when we went to the cafeteria for lunch. They all looked like first and second year college students.

Many questions came to mind, such as who are these young men and women, what are they doing in the senate building, and why are some sleeping in the hallway waiting for the hearing?

Most of these young men and women were either college interns or people interested in civil rights and the political system or perhaps have political ambitions of their own. What better place to start than in the heart of the capital and inside a place such as the senate house? Senator Durbin and one of the people who testified in the hearing were themselves interns as I am sure many of the politicians were at one time or another.

The more important question is where are our Muslim men and women among these youth? The sad reality is that as a community we are not there yet and neither are most of our youth, if any. It is not among our top priorities to get our kids interested in civic engagement, politics, or at least learn about our political system. Most of us push our children to become doctors, engineers, business entrepreneurs and scientists. Very few, if any, may encourage their children to become civil activists or to become involved in the political system. Every day we face new challenges and increased threats to our rights and existence and yet we do little about it. Our best actions so far have been to engage in interfaith dialog and build relationships with a limited number of political leaders. This, by no means is enough, and it is going to take real commitment and a great deal of effort from us and our future generations.

As parents we must take steps to encourage our children to learn about our political system and history. Many of us take a trip to our countries in the Middle East, India and Pakistan every year to learn about these countries to keep the attachment. This is great, but what about our country that we live in and will spend the rest of our lives in? We go on vacations to Florida, California and other places, why not take a trip to the capital? It is a beautiful area with many attractions. Go visit all the government buildings and let the children learn about the history of their country.  Make them feel that they belong and they are part of it. Other than going through a metal detector, we walked into the senate building just like everyone else and without any questions.

As a community we need to encourage our schools and institutions to set up programs for the students in this field. Sponsor field trips, scholarships and internship for some of our bright students to work in the offices of congressmen and senators. Our teachers and scholars must focus on this area and address it in classrooms, conferences and Friday sermons. We must become part of the political and civil rights landscape if we are to protect and preserve our rights and our Islam.

The message to our youth has to be that civic engagement and political action has to be a top priority for them, and that the community will provide full and unwavering support. Until we are part of the decision making process, decisions will be made for us, and we will remain at the mercy of others who will decide our fate.

May Allah guide us to what pleases Him.