Redefining What It Means to Be an American By Deanna Othman
Saturday, October 15, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) held its Annual CommUnity Dinner, gathering Muslims from diverse ethnicities and various neighborhoods around the Chicagoland area to celebrate the achievements of the Council, as well as the contributions of the individuals who make the Council possible.
The Mosque Foundation’s very own Sheikh Jamal Said and his wife Aisheh Said were among the Annual Community Service Awardees, along with Ahmed Abdul Qadeer and his wife Tasneem Sayeedi Qadeer from the Islamic Center of Naperville. The director and producers of the film “Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football,” Rashid Ghazi, Ash-har Quraishi and Basma Babar-Quraishi were presented the Media Award.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the evening was the keynote address of Dr. Sherman Jackson, the newly appointed King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture, and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
Jackson’s speech focused on the reactions of Muslim Americans to the virulent Islamophobia that has become pervasive in the media—from candidates on the campaign trail, to right-wing bloggers. Jackson began by explaining how those in control of a society tailor what agendas they choose to disseminate and those they attempt to quash, not based on their inherent acceptance or rejection of those messages, but rather based on how those messages further, or harm, their self-interests.And so it is with the Islamophobes.
Jackson referred back to the seerah of the Prophet (PBUH), and mentioned how the disbelievers of Quraysh did not necessarily attempt to thwart the Prophet’s call to Islam because they did not believe in him, but rather, because it would cause the society that they stood at the helm of to completely turn upside-down.
In reacting to attacks on their faith, Jackson said Muslims have adopted two routes that lead to nowhere. One is to attempt to debate and debunk every insult and false claim hurled at Muslims with logical proof. The problem with this approach, according to Jackson, is that it becomes “So easy to adopt to someone's agenda without even realizing it. We end up giving in to those who have reduced us to margins." As such, the information circulated about Islam in the media ends up being only those issues brought up by the Islamophobes—shariah and jihad—rather than the essences of Islam—tawheed and taqwa.
Although you may win someone over with logic and reason, Jackson said, you may still fail to win their heart. As human beings, we are driven not only by our use of rational thought, but by our emotions, and if someone does not trust you, your use of logic will not supersede their inner mistrust of you. Reason cannot always work with those who are intrinsically wary of Muslims.
The second response is to create a counterculture, removing oneself from the society that seems to alienate you, essentially saying, “Yes, that’s right, I’m not an American. I’m a Muslim.” Such a response attempts to construct a culture or mode of being completely separate from the main. However, Jackson said this reaction basically feeds into the claims of the Islamophobes, giving credence to their claims that Muslims aren’t truly American, don’t view themselves as American, and don’t behave as Americans should. They are the other.
However, Jackson pointed out that America is, and always has been, “a negotiated pluralism,” and explained, “the real enemies of America are those who refuse to negotiate who we are." The third and most effective response to Islamophobia, according to Jackson, is for Muslims to craft “alternative modalities of being” by redefining what it means to be an American. “We don't have to choose between assimilating to someone else’s definition of what it means to be an American or reject being an American. There is a third way.”
Jackson referred once again to the Prophet (PBUH), who was not only emotionally battered, vilified and shunned from his native society, but was also forced to leave it because of threats to his physical condition and that of his followers. Even in such extreme circumstances, the Prophet never rejected his identity as an Arab; he never dissociated himself from that identity because an Arab was previously defined as someone who worshipped idols or buried his daughters alive. Rather, the Prophet renegotiated the identity of an Arab—one who is kind to his guests, believes in justice for all, humble before his Lord, worshipping none but He.
In the same respect, Muslim Americans should not dissociate themselves from their American identity because Muslims are being vilified. Muslims must be a part of the redefinition of what it means to be American.