US Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties

LA TIMES

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-morlims2apr02,0,1545287.story

From the Los Angeles Times

U.S. Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties

The connection is based not on theology but on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America.

By David Haldane
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 2, 2008



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Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Steve Gilliland, a Mormon, left, listens as Maher Hathout, a Muslim, talks about the Koran in Hathout's home. Although of different religions, the two are close friends.



The Mormon Church has to be among the most outgoing on earth; in recent years its leaders have reached out to, among others, Latinos, Koreans, Catholics and Jews.

One of the most enthusiastic responses, however, has come from what some might consider a surprising source: U.S. Muslims.

"We are very aware of the history of Mormons as a group that was chastised in America," says Maher Hathout, a senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "They can be a good model for any group that feels alienated."

Which perhaps explains an open-mosque day held last fall at the Islamic Center of Irvine. More than half the guests were Mormons.

"A Mormon living in an Islamic society would be very comfortable," said Steve Young, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attending the event.

The sentiment is echoed by Muslims. "When I go to a Mormon church I feel at ease," said Haitham Bundakji, former chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County. "When I heard the president [of LDS] speak a few years ago, if I'd closed my eyes I'd have thought he was an imam."

Though the relationship has raised eyebrows and provided ammunition for critics of both religions, Mormons and Muslims have deepening ties in the United States.

What binds them has little to do with theology: Mormons venerate Jesus as interpreted by founder Joseph Smith, while Muslims view Muhammad as god's prophet. Based on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America, the connection was intensified by 9/11 and cemented by the Southeast Asia tsunami. It is especially evident in Southern California, with large Mormons and Muslim populations.

The Mormon Church has become the biggest contributor to Buena Park-based Islamic Relief, touted by its administrators as the West's largest Muslim-based charity. Relief officials say the church has donated $20 million in goods and services since the 2004 tsunami, equal to about 20% of the charity's annual budget.

Brigham Young University in Utah, the church's major institution of higher learning, features what is thought to be one of the world's best programs for translating classic Islamic works from Arabic to English. Though created primarily for academic purposes, the results have impressed Muslims flattered by the close attention.

"It shows they have a keen interest in the Muslim world," said Levent Akbarut, a member of the Islamic Congregation of La Cañada-Flintridge.

And Mormons and Muslims say they often are co-hosts of educational and social programs at which, though some may be angling for long-term doctrinal influence, very little open proselytizing of each other seems to take place. "We have a very close and friendly relationship," said Keith Atkinson, West Coast LDS spokesman.Mormons "explain our faith to anyone who will listen" and "treat Muslims like anybody else," said Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, one of the church's top governing bodies in Salt Lake City. But Oaks added that "we don't preach to people who would be disenfranchised" or likely offended by the effort.

Arnold H. Green, a history professor at BYU, has traced how early Mormons in the 19th century were hounded by accusations that church founder Smith was the American Muhammad. The first Mormons angrily denied any connection to the Muslim prophet but gradually accepted some comparisons, particularly that both religions were founded by post-Christian prophets with strong sectarian views. "As the church grew into a global faith," Green wrote in a 2001 essay, "its posture toward Islam became . . . more positive" until, today, "the two faiths have become associated in several ways, including Mormonism's being called the Islam of America."

Both religions strongly emphasize family. They tend toward patriarchy, believing in feminine modesty, chastity and virtue. And although Islam discourages dancing involving both sexes, Mormons report that church-sponsored "modesty proms" commonly draw Islamic youths.

Both faiths adhere to religion-based health codes, including prohibitions against alcohol, but Mormons and Muslims share something more: membership in quickly growing minority religions that many other Americans have sometimes viewed with suspicion and scorn.

"We both come from traditions where there has been persecution in the past and continues to be prejudice," said Steve Gilliland, LDS director of Muslim relations for Southern California. "That helps us Mormons identify with Muslims."

A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that although a thin majority of those polled expressed positive opinions of Muslims and Mormons, the number was significantly less than those favoring Roman Catholics or Jews.

More than half the respondents said they had little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of either faith. But 45% saw Islam as more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and 31% said that Mormons weren't Christian.

Armand L. Mauss, a Mormon and professor emeritus of sociology at Washington State University specializing in religious movements, said that unlike mainstream Christians and Jews, Muslims and Mormons "tend to make fairly stringent demands for religious conformity on their members." These practices, he said, include discouraging marriage outside the religion and observing dietary laws, such as the Mormon prohibition against tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.

But the clincher, according to Mauss, is that both communities "have been stung in recent years by the recurrence of scandals over which they have no control." For Muslims, the obvious example is 9/11.

For Mormons, Mauss says, the problem is polygamy, which, though rejected by the mainstream church more than a century ago, is still the first thing that occurs to many Americans when they think about the religion.

The relationship between the two religions has sometimes drawn ire.

Scattered throughout the Internet are numerous tracts, many by evangelical Christians, comparing the two religions in less-than-complimentary terms. "Modern Mohammedanism has its Mecca in Salt Lake," reads one. "Clearly the Koran was Joseph Smith's model, so closely followed as to exclude even the poor pretension of originality in his foul 'revelations.' "

In Southern California, the relationship between the two religions became closer after the Los Angeles riots in 1992, when the Mormon Church, hoping to promote diversity, invited several ethnic and religious groups to attend the opening of its new temple in San Diego. Muslims responded in higher numbers and with greater enthusiasm than most others.

The church later feted prominent Muslims in Salt Lake City.

"We were treated as dignitaries," said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Muslim-based Institute on Religion and Civic Values in Fountain Valley, which encourages tolerance through research and education. "I met with the president of LDS and the governor of Utah. We were sitting in the front row of the Tabernacle. Mormons would give their right arms to be there."

The relationship deepened on Sept. 11, 2001. The first call Mansuri received that day came from Elder Oaks. "He was concerned and wanted to send us a very clear message that we were in their prayers," Mansuri recalls. "It was like having someone who loves and cares for you; not so much a Mormon reaching out to me as a fellow believer reaching out."

Oaks said he was primarily motivated by friendship. "I consider Shabbir Mansuri a brother," he said. "He's a good man who's doing good work. We try to be friendly to all people, and in the days after 9/11, lots of Muslims felt rejected."

In the months that followed, Mormons nationwide opened their churches to Islamic worshipers fearful of reprisals in their mosques. When Muslims needed a cannery to process the Bosnia-bound beef slaughtered for the annual Eid al-Adha observance, the Mormons offered theirs in Utah.

Following the tsunami that devastated many Islamic communities, the Mormon church, which has a history of contributing to a wide range of charities, began working closely with Islamic Relief. Though LDS had helped Muslims before -- providing 195 tons of powdered milk, hygiene kits, medical supplies and other provisions -- it had never previously worked with this major Islamic agency, or on such a scale.

And though the church continues to aid non-Muslim causes, only two of the six major disaster assistance efforts listed on its website since 2004 -- Hurricane Katrina and Africa measles vaccination campaigns -- did not primarily affect Islamic nations.

Locally, LDS helped the Islamic Society of Orange County's Al-Rahman Mosque in Garden Grove develop its library with a $15,000 donation. "Their beliefs are similar to ours," Robert Bremmer, a Mormon bishop, said at that facility's open-mosque day in 2005. "They have modest dress, and so do we. They believe in all the [Old Testament] prophets, as do we."

During Al-Rahman's most recent open house in August, attended by many Mormon elders and dignitaries, a tribute was paid to a deceased LDS official supportive of the mosque.

The effects of Muslim-Mormon interaction are showing in subtle ways too. Spending time with Mormons, Bundakji says, has inspired him to stop drinking coffee. "I thought they had a good idea," he says. "Now I don't drink caffeine and I don't have headaches anymore."

david.haldane@latimes.com



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latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-esposito2apr02,0,5220274.story



From the Los Angeles Times

Muslim true/false

What you think you know about them is likely wrong -- and that's dangerous.

By John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed

April 2, 2008

Winning hearts and minds -- the Bush administration, foreign policy wonks, even the U.S. military agree that this is the key to any victory over global terrorism. Yet our public diplomacy program has made little progress on improving America's image. Few seem to recognize that American ignorance of Islam and Muslims has been the fatal flaw.

How much do Americans know about the views and beliefs of Muslims around the world? According to polls, not much. Perhaps not surprising, the majority of Americans (66%) admit to having at least some prejudice against Muslims; one in five say they have "a great deal" of prejudice. Almost half do not believe American Muslims are "loyal" to this country, and one in four do not want a Muslim as a neighbor.

Why should such anti-Muslim bias concern us? First, it undermines the war on terrorism: Situations are misdiagnosed, root causes are misidentified and bad prescriptions do more harm than good. Second, it makes our public diplomacy sound like double-talk. U.S. diplomats are trying to convince Muslims around the world that the United States respects them and that the war on terrorism is not out to destroy Islam. Their task is made infinitely more difficult by the frequent airing of anti-Muslim sentiment on right-wing call-in radio, which is then heard around the world on the Internet.

Finally, public ignorance weakens our democracy at election time. Instead of a well-informed citizenry choosing our representatives, we are rendered vulnerable to manipulative fear tactics. We need look no further than the political attacks on Barack Obama. Any implied connection to Islam -- attending a Muslim school in Indonesia, the middle name Hussein -- is wielded to suggest that he is unfit for the presidency and used as fuel for baseless rumors.

Anti-Muslim sentiment fuels misinformation, and is fueled by it -- misinformation that is squarely contradicted by evidence.

Starting in 2001, the research firm Gallup embarked on the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind, spending more than six years polling a population that represented more than 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims. The results showed plainly that much of the conventional wisdom about Muslims -- views touted by U.S. policymakers and pundits and accepted by voters -- is simply false.

For instance, Gallup found that 72% of Americans disagreed with this statement: "The majority of those living in Muslim countries thought men and women should have equal rights." In fact, majorities in even some of the most conservative Muslim societies directly refute this assessment: 73% of Saudis, 89% of Iranians and 94% of Indonesians say that men and women should have equal legal rights. Majorities of Muslim men and women in dozens of countries around the world also believe that a woman should have the right to work outside the home at any job for which she is qualified (88% in Indonesia, 72% in Egypt and even 78% in Saudi Arabia), and to vote without interference from family members (87% in Indonesia, 91% in Egypt, 98% in Lebanon).

What about Muslim sympathy for terrorism? Many charge that Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, but studies show that Muslims around the world are at least as likely as Americans to condemn attacks on civilians. Polls show that 6% of the American public thinks attacks in which civilians are targets are "completely justified." In Saudi Arabia, this figure is 4%. In Lebanon and Iran, it's 2%.

Moreover, it's politics, not piety, that drives the small minority -- just 7% -- of Muslims to anti-Americanism at the level of condoning the attacks of 9/11. Looking across majority-Muslim countries, Gallup found no statistical difference in self-reported religiosity between those who sympathized with the attackers and those who did not. When respondents in select countries were asked in an open-ended question to explain their views of 9/11, those who condemned it cited humanitarian as well as religious reasons. For example, 20% of Kuwaitis who called the attacks "completely unjustified" explained this position by saying that terrorism was against the teachings of Islam. A respondent in Indonesia went so far as to quote a direct verse from the Koran prohibiting killing innocents. On the other hand, not a single respondent who condoned the attacks used the Koran as justification. Instead, they relied on political rationalizations, calling the U.S. an imperialist power or accusing it of wanting to control the world.

If most Muslims truly reject terrorism, why does it continue to flourish in Muslim lands? What these results indicate is that terrorism is much like other violent crime. Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims.

Still, the typical American cannot be blamed for these misperceptions. Media-content analyses show that the majority of U.S. TV news coverage of Islam is sharply negative. Americans are bombarded every day with news stories about Muslims and majority-Muslim countries in which vocal extremists, not evidence, drive perceptions.

Rather than allow extremists on either side to dictate how we discuss Islam and the West, we need to listen carefully to the voices of ordinary people. Our victory in the war on terrorism depends on it.

John L. Esposito is an Islamic studies professor at Georgetown University. Dalia Mogahed is executive director of the Center for Muslim Studies at Gallup. They co-wrote "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think."



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WIKIPEDIA
Hamtramck, Michigan

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Hamtramck, Michigan

Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan

Location in Wayne County and the state of Michigan

Coordinates: [show location on an interactive map] 42°23′52″N 83°3′26″W / 42.39778, -83.05722

Country


United States

State


Michigan

County


Wayne

Organized (township)


1798

Incorporated (village)


1901

Incorporated (city)


1922

Government

- Type


Council-Manager

- Mayor


Karen Majewski

- City Manager


Donald Crawford

Area

- Total


2.1 sq mi (5.4 km²)

- Land


2.1 sq mi (5.5 km²)

- Water


0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)

Elevation


623 ft (192 m)

Population (2000)

- Total


22,976

- Density


10,900.5/sq mi (4,208.7/km²)

Time zone


EST (UTC-5)

- Summer (DST)


EDT (UTC-4)

ZIP codes


48211-48212

Area code(s)


313

FIPS code


26-36280[1]

GNIS feature ID


0627707[2]

Website: http://www.hamtramck.us/

Hamtramck (pronounced /hæmˈtɹæmɪk/) is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,976. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park. Hamtramck is named for the soldier Jean François Hamtramck who was the first American commander of Fort Shelby, the fortification at Detroit.

Hamtramck was originally settled by German farmers, but Polish immigrants flooded into the area when the Dodge Brothers plant opened in 1914. Poles still make up a large proportion of the population. It is sometimes confused with Poletown, a traditional Polish neighborhood, which lies mostly in the city of Detroit and includes a small part of Hamtramck. As of the 2000 census, over 22% of Hamtramck's population is of Polish origin; in 1970, it was 90% Polish.

Over the past thirty years, a large number of immigrants from the Middle East (especially Yemen) and South Asia (especially Bangladesh) have moved to the city. As of the 2000 census, the city's foreign born population stood at 41.1%[1], making it Michigan's most internationally diverse city (see more at Demographics below).



Contents

[hide]

* 1 History

* 2 Government

* 3 Geography

* 4 Demographics

* 5 Culture

* 6 Economy

* 7 Education

* 8 Hamtramck Festivals

* 8.1 Pączki Day

* 8.2 Hamtramck Blowout

* 8.3 St. Florian Strawberry Festival

* 8.4 Hamtramck Labor Day Festival

* 8.5 Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck

* 9 Famous People From Hamtramck

* 10 See also

* 11 External links

* 12 References

[edit] History

Historical populations

Census


Pop.





%±

1910


3,559





—

1920


48,615





1266.0%

1930


56,268





15.7%

1940


49,839





-11.4%

1950


43,555





-12.6%

1960


34,137





-21.6%

1970


26,783





-21.5%

1980


21,300





-20.5%

1990


18,372





-13.7%

2000


22,976





25.1%

Est. 2006


21,615





-5.9%

* 1796 - Colonel Jean Francois Hamtramck took possession of Detroit after British troops evacuated.

* 1798 - The Township of Hamtramck was established.

* 1901 - Hamtramck was established as a village.

* 1908 - Saint Florian's parish is the first Catholic church in Hamtramck

* 1910 - Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company break ground for an automotive plant in Hamtramck; rapid influx of European immigrants begins.

* 1914 - Dodge Brothers plant begins operations.

* 1922 - Hamtramck is incorporated as a city to protect itself from annexation by Detroit; Peter C. Jezewski is the first mayor.

* 1926 - St. Florian's present church edifice is built.

* 1959 - Won Little League World Series of Baseball.

* 1960 - Phillip Kwik was born

* 1996 - Ordinanace to Preserve Park Land passed by voters.

* 2000 - Hamtramck goes into state receivership after running million dollar deficits and political in-fighting.

* 2006 - Hamtramck is out of state receivership after the resignation of state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager Louis Schimmel

[edit] Government

Hamtramck is governed under a council-manager form of government in which the elected mayor of the city is the chief executive officer. The city council hires a city manager, who becomes the city's chief administrative officer. The city manager has the vested powers and responsibility to appoint and remove all city employees and department heads, prepare the city's budget, and other city functions.[3]

The city council consists of six seats. The mayor is elected separately, and votes only in the case of a tie and on ordinances and contracts. The council elects its own mayor pro tem, who serves in the mayor's absence.

As of the November 2007 city elections, the current mayor of the city is Karen Majewski, Hamtramck's first female mayor[4]. The current City Council members are mayor pro tem Scott Klein, Shahab Ahmed, Abdul Al-Ghazali, Cathy Gordon, Alan Shulgon, and Catrina Stackpoole.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 sq mi(5.5 km² ), all land.

Hamtramck is mostly surrounded by Detroit except a small common border with the city of Highland Park. Hamtramck lies about five miles (8 km) from the center of Detroit. The I-75 Freeway roughly runs along this city's western border and I-94 runs near its southern border.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 22,976 people, 8,033 households, and 4,851 families residing in the city. The population density was 10,900.5 per square mile (4,204.3/km²). There were 8,894 housing units at an average density of 4,219.6/sq mi (1,627.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.96% white (which includes people of Middle Eastern ancestry), 15.12% African American, 0.43% Native American, 10.37% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 11.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.31% of the population.

As of the 2000 Census, major ancestry groups reported by Hamtramck residents include:

· Polish - 22.9% · Black or African American - 15.1% · Yugoslavian - Albanians 10.5% · Arab (Excluding Iraqi and Lebanese) - 8.2% · Asian Indian - 5.4% · Ukrainian - 3.2% · German - 2.9% · Albanian - 2.8% · Bangladeshi - 2.7% · Irish - 2.2% · Italian - 1.8% · Russian - 1.4% · English - 1.1% · French (except Basque) - 0.8% · Lebanese - 0.7% · Scottish - 0.7% · Mexican - 0.6% · Pakistani - 0.6% · Macedonian - 0.5% · Iraqi - 0.5%

3.1% of Hamtramck's population reported Albanian ancestry. This made it the second most Albanian place in the United States by percentage of the population, second only to Fairview, North Carolina.[5]

There were 8,033 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.59.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 110.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,616, and the median income for a family was $30,496. Males had a median income of $29,368 versus $22,346 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,691. About 24.1% of families and 27.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.9% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Culture

Hamtramck flourished from 1910 to 1920 as thousands of European immigrants, particularly Polish, were attracted by the growing automobile industry. The city has grown increasingly ethnically diverse but still bears many reminders of its Polish ancestry in family names, street names and businesses. A recent survey found 26 native languages spoken by Hamtramck schoolchildren. The city's motto was "A League of Nations".

At the time of the 2000 census, Hamtramck was again experiencing considerable growth, with over 8,000 households and a population of almost 23,000.

In 1997, the Utne Reader named Hamtramck one of "the 15 hippest neighborhoods in the U.S. and Canada" in part for its punk and alternative music scene, its Buddhist temple, its cultural diversity, and its laid back blue-collar neighborhoods. And in May of 2003, Maxim Blender selected Hamtramck as the second "Most Rock N' Roll City" in the U.S., behind Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City. Hamtramck is home of several of Michigan's most distinguished music venues.

In January 2004, members of the Al-Islah Islamic Center requested permission to use loudspeakers for the purpose of broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer. This request set off a contentious debate in the city, ostensibly about the noise that would be caused by the call to prayer, eventually garnering national attention. Ultimately, Hamtramck amended its noise ordinance in July 2004 regulating the volume level of all religious sounds.

[edit] Economy

General Motors' Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant, one of the automaker's premiere facilities, produces the Cadillac DTS and the Buick Lucerne. GM will begin manufacturing the new plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in 2010.

The Polish Art Center, at 9539 Jos. Campau, is a local institution in Hamtramck. There, one can find many Polish art objects, books, foods, and art from other areas of Europe. The center's selection of Communist-era Polish theatrical and operatic posters is extremely unusual.

Kowalski Sausage Co. manufactures meat products at 2270 Holbrook Avenue.

[edit] Education

Hamtramck is served by Hamtramck Public Schools. [2].

[edit] Hamtramck Festivals

[edit] Pączki Day

Polish immigrants, residents of Hamtramck, and southeastern Michigan celebrate "Fat Tuesday" (known locally as Pączki Day) by lining up at the city's numerous Polish bakeries to purchase pączki. On Pączki Day, several local bars host parties with live entertainment, some starting as early as 7 A.M..

[edit] Hamtramck Blowout

The Hamtramck Blowout is an annual music festival in Hamtramck. It is said to be the largest festival of its sort in the world. There's usually over 200 bands there and the festival lasts for 4 days all over bars in the neighborhood.

[edit] St. Florian Strawberry Festival

Held annually in the first weekend in May at grounds at St. Florian Church.

[edit] Hamtramck Labor Day Festival

Held Labor Day weekend, ending with the Polish Day Parade on Labor Day. Live music on three stages, carnival area, beer, and food tents line a half mile stretch of Jos. Campau from Caniff to Carpenter.

[edit] Planet Ant Film & Video Festival in Hamtramck

The festival celebrates independent movies and the people who make them, featuring comedies, dramas, documentaries, animation and music videos.

[edit] Famous People From Hamtramck

* Jane "Peaches" Bartkowicz

* Rocky Fisher (USAC driver)

* John Hodiak

* Ed Klewicki

* Gail Kobe

* James Marcinkowski

* Warith Deen Muhammad

* Mitch Ryder, musician known for his "blue-eyed soul" stylings and creative medleys

* Rudy Tomjanovich - Former player and coach for The Houston Rockets. He was born and raised in Hamtramck and is a 1966 graduate of Hamtramck High School.

* Tom Tyler

[edit] See also

* Detroit

* Polish American

[edit] External links

* City of Hamtramck

* Hamtramck Firefighters

* Hamtramck Chamber of Commerce

* Hamtramck Labor Day Festival

* http://www.waynecounty.com/commun/hamtramck.html

* www.rootsweb.com/~miwayne/tour.html

* Preserve Our Parks in Hamtramck website

* Blowout Schedule and band info

* Hamtramck.org

* Hamtramck Star *

[edit] References

1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

2. ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

3. ^ Hamtramck City Manager Description, Accessed April 17, 2007

4. ^ City of Hamtramck, Department Descriptions, Accessed April 17, 2007

5. ^ http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Albanian.html