Ambassador Ahmed on Fox News talking about the mosque controversies at Ground Zero and some of the issues raised in Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam. Watch the video here.
‘Journey’ Teaser Series: Are Indians Aryan?
For a full answer to this and other questions, see Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam
With the issue of race still very much in the public eye in 2010, we thought it interesting to re-investigate the position of the country earlier in the country’s history. In doing research for Journey into America, we found that in 1923, the Supreme Court of the United States passed a verdict stating that “naturalization”, or US Citizenship, was reserved for “whites” only.
The case, United States v Bhagat Singh Thind, involved Singh, a man of Indian origin, who had come to the United States in 1913 looking for higher education. After having been honorably discharged from the Army, Singh applied for citizenship from the state of Washington in 1918. The Immigration and Naturalization Service insisted that US Citizenship was only for “free white men.”
Singh’s lawyers argued that as Singh was of “Aryan blood” he was racially “pure” and therefore met the stipulations for citizenship. There is controversy to this day about the historical accuracy of the “Aryan Invasion” of India whereby the “Aryans” had come to India and subordinated the natives. Therefore, it was argued, Singh, and many others, were in fact Aryan and could be considered “white”.
This line of reasoning was lost on the Supreme Court. The court, which rejected Singh’s claim in unanimous opinion, noted that while Singh may have had “purity of Aryan blood” and was of “high caste” status, he was still not Caucasian in the “common understanding” so he could not be included in the “statutory category as white persons.” President Johnson, following initiative begun by President Kennedy, later signed the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act in 1965, which reversed many of the previous laws. The act laid the groundwork for the immigration laws that we use today.
Singh finally received citizenship through the State of New York through a loophole that allowed veterans of World War I to gain US citizenship. This was over the objections of the INS which was adamant that no non white could receive US citizenship.
The Bhagat Singh case raises obvious questions about who can be an American and the history of this question, which we discuss in detail in the book Journey into America.
Order Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam.
New Washington Post On Faith Article on Swat, Pakistan
The article below originally appeared on The Washington Post On Faith website by Akbar Ahmed.
Compassion in Taliban territory
If you were a Swati and lived in that idyllic land and were suddenly forced to leave your home to seek shelter outside the district ,and then saw the destruction of your beloved home first by the violence of the Taliban and then the violence of the Pakistan army in their attempt to defeat the Taliban, you would be either dismayed or angry. You would argue that neither Swatis nor Pakistanis were involved in the events on 9/11 but the unfolding developments since that tragic day have directly or indirectly shattered your life.
I have just received a letter from Swat written by Zebunissa Jilani, my sister-in-law. Last year, she organized a trip to work among Swat refugees with my wife Zeenat, and their respective daughters, Zahra and Nafees after they opened the Swat Relief Initiative specifically to help refugees.
The girls did exemplary work among the refugees including the distribution of desperately needed medical supplies and equipment. But they observed the dire condition of the Swati population living in tents and makeshift accommodation in the Frontier Province. This was Taliban territory and the Taliban were targeting their families having killed several cousins. While the women were seen as a threat by the Taliban, for the ordinary Swati refugees they were a ray of hope. As they belonged to the royal family of Swat, their presence in the midst of the dire poverty and chaos allowed the people to rally around their own heritage and traditions.
These women were driven by the idea that charity and compassion are more powerful than the hatred and anger that had devastated Swat. While charity and compassion are seen as quintessentially Christian values that have driven millions of Christians to acts of kindness, these same virtues are at the core of Islam also. The Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet emphasize charity and compassion again and again. In Islam, God’s two greatest attributes are compassion and mercy and the Prophet clearly said that mercy must always trump anger.
These women had unknowingly introduced a new method of fighting the men of violence in their region. They were using the power of their own religion, Islam, in their acts of charity and above all giving people hope of an alternative vision of humanity to the violence that has prevailed.
This summer Zebu, tireless and courageous in her desire to help the population has gone to Swat by herself. She has left her comfortable suburban life and family in Princeton to work in the sweltering heat and challenging conditions of Swat. From her vantage point, she is able to give an unvarnished picture of what is actually going on there that should concern all of us. In her letter she writes: Read the rest of this entry »
‘Journey’ Teaser Series: Why do some American Christians pray facing Mecca?
For a full answer to this and other questions, see Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam.
Cemetary in Sapelo where people are buried facing east as in the Islamic tradition
Off the coast of Georgia, in the Atlantic, lies Sapelo Island. Sapelo has an incredible history. Bilali Muhammed was brought to the plantation in the early 19th century from West Africa where he was a Muslim scholar. Bilali’s descendants, some of whom still live on the island, eventually converted to Christianity but maintained some of the Islamic practices.
We were fascinated to find that the Churches still face east, women and men are separated in church, Bilali’s emphasis on the washing of the arms, elbows, and feet would be passed on to the following generations and worshippers take off their shoes when they enter the church.
As Frankie Martin wrote when we visited the island on inauguration day, “The case of Sapelo illustrates some of the deep links between Islam and America going back to the founding of the country itself. Here are Americans talking with pride about their Muslim roots many years before the immigration booms of the late 19th century. At a time when some have dismissed Islam foreign, dangerous, and “un-American” it is a story and legacy worth remembering.”
Order Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam.
“Journey into America” at Politics and Prose
Join us Saturday evening at 6:00 for a book discussion at Politics and Prose on Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam.
Where: Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW • Washington, DC
When: Saturday, July 10 6:00 p.m.
About the book: The most comprehensive study ever done on the American Muslim community, Journey into America explores and documents how Muslims are fitting into U.S. society, seeking to place the Muslim experience in the U.S. within the larger context of American identity.In doing so, it is a major contribution to the study of American history and culture.
Renowned scholar Akbar Ahmed and his team of young researchers traveled through over seventy-five cities across the United States—from New York City to Salt Lake City; from Las Vegas to Miami; from large enclaves such as Dearborn, Michigan, to small towns like Arab, Alabama. They visited over one hundred mosques and visited homes and schools to discover what Muslims are thinking, what they are reading, and how they are living every day in America.
Ahmed illuminates unexplored Muslim-American communities through his pursuit of challenging questions: Can we expect an increase in homegrown terrorism? How do American Muslims of Arab descent differ from those of other origins (e.g. Somali or South Asian)? Why are so many white women converting to Islam? He also delves into the potentially sticky area of relations with other religions. For example, is there truly a deep divide between Muslims and Jews in America? And how well do Muslims get along with other larger religious groups, such as Mormons in Utah?
Much like Ahmed’s widely hailed Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Brookings, 2007), Journey into America is equal parts anthropological research, listening tour, and travelogue. Whereas the previous book took the reader into homes, schools, mosques, and public places in heavily Muslim nations, Journey into America takes us into the heart of America’s Muslim communities in America. It is absolutely essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of America today, especially its Muslim population—the challenges it faces, the challenges it poses, and its prospects for the future.
Journey Into America
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Madeeha Hameed
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