I am sure other Islamic Centers also must be involved in activities with their neighbors and local communities, but I want to share my views about what Islamic Center of Rockland is doing, and start a discussion to learn from each other and figure out a best way  forward and respond to legitimate concerns as well as counteract onslaught of  propaganda and misconceptions.

Islamic Center of Rockland hosted the first discussion session of Interfaith on March 11, 2012. There will be multiple sessions held on all three religions, Islam, Christianity  and Judaism. The topic of first session was ” Islam ” . The Islamic Center of Rockland did a great job in arranging this session. It was well-organized, the    lecture hall was full, and I think about 70 to 80 % of the audiences were American Christians and Jews. Local politicians also attended the forum.The speaker and panelists did a great job in their presentation and by adding the human history and stories made the discussion very interesting and effective. Some of the questions raised and discussion included, the commonality in three Abrahamic religions, the veil issue, Sharia Law, the US constitution and Sharia Law, Democracy in Islam, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and extremist elements, Islam in Saudi Arabia, mixing of local customs and culture in Muslim Societies with Islam and confusion it created in minds of west in differentiating the two. The panelists did a very good job of keeping the focus of on commonality among three religions and avoiding the friction points.

During the snacks the discussion in small groups also continued. Most of the discussion in small groups included the same topics but I think the Sharia Laws were the main focus. These discussions were more on personal level. Distribution of English Translation copies of Quran and pamphlets prepared by Mr. Azeem Farooki was a great idea. One of the pamphlet on the Lecture by Professor Mark David Welton , who teaches Sharia Law at US Military Academy at West Point, mentions that 90 % of the Sharia Law is in US Constitution, is worth reading.

About two weeks ago Islamic Center of Rockland held a session on “Prevention of Domestic Violence In Muslim Community “. It was held with the co-operation of Rockland Family Shelter and AWAKE, an Asian Women’s organization. The focus of this session was awareness about domestic violence in light of Quran and Sunna and its prevention. The discussion and video presentation in this session was extra ordinary. This session was also attended by American Christians and Jews.

Islamic Center of Rockland also joins other organizations for charity on Christmas, Thanksgiving and other occasions.

I think such activities in co-operation with local organizations are more effective and have more impact. These sessions  give us the chance to interact with our neighbors at human level, and this way they don’t see us in some scary abstract image as projected by media.

I think following are the points of discussion:

1- Is this the most effective way to address the legitimate concerns of our neighbors and counteract propaganda and misconceptions?

2- What other Islamic Centers are doing in this regard on local level ? By sharing this information we can learn from each other.

3- Questions and comments on what was said during these sessions and individual comments after the session. This will help other Islamic Centers to learn the points of discussion.

4- Individuals who attended the Lecture by Professor Welton or others who are knowledgeable should share the basis of comments made by Professor Welton ” 90 % of Sharia Law is in US Constitution”. I think it is based mostly on civil rights, individual rights and equal justice for all in the Constitution Amendments. Similar views are expressed by Professor Abou El Fadl in his writings about Democracy in Islam.

5-Any other comments or questions?

Fayyaz Sheikh

PLEASE FORWARD THIS POST TO YOUR FRIENDS AND MEMBERS OF YOUR ISLAMIC CENTER AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO TAKE PART IN THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION