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Multinational Convention Brings Muslims Together

M I Jaffer in Chicago

A casual visitor to the Islamic Society of North America's convention at McCormick Place last weekend would have been surprised to see the diversity of the American Muslim world.

There were Muslims from India and its neighboring countries, from Egypt and the Gulf countries, from Indonesia, Britain and several European countries. There were Muslims representing the Kosovo community too.

"I came from New York to attend the convention," says Aslam Chowdhary, a businessman. "It helps us network with Muslims from different countries and different American cities, so that we feel stronger in the new country that we have adopted."

Many of the participants who gathered for the last day of the 36th annual convention stressed that it was religion that linked them, despite family trees rooted in India, Egypt, Yugoslavia and other areas around the world.

For nearly half of its existence, the convention used to be dominated by immigrants from Lebanon and Egypt who live in and around Detroit in significant numbers. But with the arrival of Indian Muslims, and their co-religionists from the neighboring countries, the Society has changed.

"Surely, you hear Arabic spoken, but so is Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu and at times Tamil from India and Tamil from Sri Lanka," said Nasreen Khan.

The four-day convention was a call to Muslims to pray and meditate on their faith and keep it alive and shining in America. The conference invited them to listen to Muslim scholars and introduced them to celebrity converts. Yusuf Islam, the former British singer Cat Stevens, lectured on "One God, One Humanity."

But as many participants pointed out, the social component of the conference was nearly as prominent as the religious and spiritual.

"Like many eastern religions, Islam is also misunderstood," said Khan. "Some Americans think it is a cult. They are surprised when we tell them we share most of the principles of the Christian faith -- we believe in the sanctity of marriage, in abstinence of sex before marriage and family values. The convention helps us to understand Islam better and explain it better to non-Muslims,'' she added.

There was food from more than 40 countries. Conference organizers even used food to link diverse Muslims. Families sampled beef massage, pit bread and fried chicken.

"We made sure there was a wide variety of international cuisine," said Karen Irma, spokesman for the convention. "You could have Middle Eastern food at lunch and Indian food at dinner,'' she said.

In the incense-laden bazaar, families browsed through Cashmere handicrafts, inlaid furniture and Persian rugs. Artwork depicting Mecca or Jerusalem could be bought, as well as Arabic calligraphy on Egyptian papyrus.

The Malik family drove six hours from New Jersey to set up one of the bazaar's stalls. Ibrahim Malik, dressed in pink cameos or Pakistani traditional dress, bustled amid the rainbow of tunics and scarves in her stall. The family had purchased the wares to sell at the convention, to raise money for their mosque at home.

Ibrahim, Ashram's husband, said his four daughters and niece needed the exposure of the convention to learn about a global Islamic culture.

"It's a great experience for us from a religious standpoint because we can socialize with Muslims of different ethnic backgrounds," he said. "In this country, Muslims are a minority, and it's nourishing to the spirit to gather with a huge number of Muslims."

The convention this year brought together 27,000 people. "We should have at least 30,000 next year," one of the organizers said, adding there were more than three million Muslims from abroad spread across America.

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