The future of Islam
Is this year’s dramatic bid for the presidency the most important American election for Muslims across the world?
The experts
Ako Abdul-Samad is the elected State House Representative for the Democrats in Iowa, home to the first mosque in America.
Shereen Al ’Abd is the Chair of Arab-Americans for Bush, and a key player in the Republican Party’s last two election campaigns.
Abed Awad teaches Shariah Law across America. He is at the forefront of the movement to increase Arab-American political participation for the Democrats.
Presenter Tazeen Ahmad opens the final programme in this series of Shariah TV which comes from New York. How important for Muslims is this year’s dramatic Obama vs McCain battle for the presidency?
It’s crucial for all Americans, including Muslims, who are part of the fabric of American society, says, Abed Awad. Having a biracial presidential candidate opens a new chapter in US history. Ako Abdul-Samad says that America is ready for a black president and for change. This is a chance for Muslims to look at themselves, to see how they can strengthen their own community as a voting block.
Is America ready?
Tazeen asks if America is ready for a Muslim president, given that Ako himself has been elected as a representative. I wasn’t elected as a Muslim, but as a community activist, says Ako, and I wouldn’t allow people to make that an issue. Abed says that he does not represent his party as a Muslim but as an American who happens to be of the Muslim faith. Shereen Al ’Abd says that being Muslim has not had a negative impact for her in the Republican Party. On the contrary, the party has provided her with a platform from which she can inform other Republicans about what it means to be a Muslim.
An audience member feels there has been a sea change in American politics, and even the Bible Belt is ready for a black president. He believes that this is a chance for Muslims to get involved in politics. Shereen is not so confident that the heartlands of the country have become as open-minded as all that, but says: ‘It is our responsibility as Americans to become more open.’
Every vote counts
An audience member asks whether Muslims should be voting in an election for a non-Islamic government? We have a civic obligation to vote, says Abed. The concept of the nation state, and the notion that people are citizens regardless of race or religion did not exist until after Islam was established. But it does not contradict Islam, because Shariah places an injunction on us to seek justice. Today, the most just system is where people can participate, and participation is an important element in Islamic jurisprudence. Shereen agrees, saying that it is a religious and moral obligation to support what she believes to be the one government in the world that supports religious freedom. A young woman in the audience says that not only is it our duty, but it serves the interests of Muslims to be involved in elections.
Women in politics
‘Is there anything in Shariah that would deter me, as a woman, from running for office?’ asks an audience member. Tazeen Ahmad quotes a popular saying, attributed to the prophet Muhammed – ‘Any nation whose leader is a woman is cursed…’ – and asks Shereen if this has affected her. It has not, says Shereen, who argues that people support her because they can see she has a commitment to the community. Abed points out that women were prized as jurists and historians in classical Islam.
An audience member says that it is easy for a woman to be politically involved in the USA, but that you get more support as a woman than as a Muslim. Another participant points out that many Muslim majority states have had female political leaders. Ako says America has gone through a long process to arrive at a point where a woman and an African American would dare to run for president but adds that it is easier if you don’t wear your Islam on your sleeve.
Issues for Muslims
Most people in the audience say they are voting on a whole range of issues, such as healthcare, education and the economy, rather than on policies that specifically relate to them as Muslims. But American foreign policy, particularly the war in Iraq, does loom large. One young man says that, although he supports Republican policies on the economy and religious conservatism, he would rather remain poor and not have had thousands of people killed in Iraq.
Do the panel think Obama is deliberately distancing himself from Muslims? This question relates, in part, to the incident in which two women were asked not to appear in a photo with Barak Obama because they were wearing hijabs. The Democratic party has since apologised, but it has opened Obama to particular scrutiny from Muslims. ‘Why hasn’t he set foot in a mosque to campaign, when he has gone to churches and synagogues?’ asks one audience member.
Abed says it is good that this incident happened early in the campaign because it gave the people at the top a chance to let the lower echelons of the party know that bigotry is unacceptable. Ako does not want this to distract people from the central issues of the election, such as the economy. But, says Shereen, the incident sends a message which she rejects.
A woman in the audience says, on foreign policy, it’s hard to distinguish Obama from McCain, and that it would make more impact to vote Green or Independent.
Local or global?
The final questioner of the programme asks: ‘Should I be voting on domestic issues as an American citizen or on foreign policy as a Muslim? There’s no conflict between your faith and being an American, says Abed. Current foreign policy has devastated American interests.
Aren’t we obliged to support the global Ummah? asks an audience member. Tazeen asks: what comes first – global issues or domestic issues? You can’t separate the two, replies Ako. Shereen feels strongly that domestic issues come first. She says: ‘When you’ve got your own house in order, you are then in a position to help people outside it.’
A young man from the audience says he is amazed to discover the existence of Muslim politicians in America. When he goes back to Kashmir, where his family come from, everyone says they hate what America is doing; when he returns to the US he experiences animosity because he is a Muslim.
Ako responds by saying that, if Obama is elected, the world will see America differently. He acknowledges, though, that internally the community will have a lot of work to do to build connections with each other, both nationally and internationally.