A Common Faith, but Little Common Ground?
On Labor Day weekend, American Muslims gathered in the Chicago area for fellowship -- at two separate conventions. Some see a schism; other see 'different tracks of growth.'

By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
Saturday, September 8, 2007

CHICAGO -- When black nationalist leader Timothy Drew founded the Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913, he predicted that Chicago would one day become an American Mecca, drawing Muslim pilgrims from across America much like Islam's holiest city.

And on Labor Day weekend for the past several years, Drew's prediction has seemingly come to life, as tens of thousands of North American Muslims descend on the Windy City seeking spiritual knowledge and fellowship.

But the comparison only goes so far, because although Muslims of all races come together in Mecca during the hajj, North American Muslims have yet to achieve that same kind of unity at home.

In suburban Markham, Ill., the overwhelmingly black followers of Warith Deen Mohammed (whose father, Elijah Muhammad, founded the Nation of Islam) headed to a convention organized by his ministry. About 30 miles north in Rosemont, Ill., the Islamic Society of North America drew an estimated 40,000 people to its annual convention, most of them of South Asian descent.

Which prompts the question: If American Muslims can't agree even to meet together on the same weekend in the same city, does unity really exist? To many, the side-by-side conventions reflect a failure to strengthen their community and live up to Islamic ideals.

"I don't think there there's any benefit in separation," said Khalidah Thomas, a black Muslim visiting the ISNA convention from Port Arthur, Tex. "We all have the same goals, and we can accomplish more together."

One reason for the separate conventions, observers said, is the two organizing groups are composed of constituencies with different pasts and present-day challenges.

Black Muslims share a history of slavery and segregation, and most can trace their Muslim identities to 20th-century black nationalist movements such as the Nation of Islam. When Warith Deen Mohammed inherited the Nation of Islam from his father in 1975, he took hundreds of thousands of followers through a soul-jarring transformation in which they were asked to reject black nationalism and learn Sunni Islam from scratch; the Nation of Islam is now a separate group headed by Louis Farrakhan. The educational process for many black Muslims, especially growing ranks of converts, continues today.

Most South Asian and Arab Muslims in the country came in the 1960s and later, when relaxed immigration laws allowed large numbers of them to enter the United States.

"It doesn't represent a rivalry, but the different tracks of growth," said Sultan Muhammad, a black Muslim with the Chicago-based Inner-City Muslim Action Network, which had booths at both conventions.

In short, one group -- immigrants -- is trying to establish its identity, Muhammad said, while the other -- black Muslims -- is trying to further its identity.

But Khadija Ansari, who was attending the Markham convention from Hartford, Conn., said prejudice remains an obstacle.

"The foreigners think they're superior because they come from Muslim countries," she said. "But prophet Muhammad said Arabs are not superior to other races, and vice versa."

Louay Safi, who heads the ISNA Leadership Development Center, acknowledged that the conventions did seem to reflect a failure to unite but cited efforts to bring the two groups together. A few years ago, for example, ISNA granted automatic entry to anyone registered for the Warith Deen Mohammed convention.

"We have a good relationship," Safi said. "The two conferences do not reflect a split, and we've moved closer."

Many black Muslims who were at the ISNA convention said they felt welcome there. "ISNA is very inclusive," said Qasim Wasi, 24, who was manning a booth for the Islamic Post newspaper, which he publishes out of South Carolina.

At his convention, Warith Deen Mohammed cautioned listeners against putting too much emphasis on race. Instead, he said, they should reach out to people of all races and faiths.

"I'm the son of Adam and the son of Abraham," he told the overwhelmingly black audience. "Satan makes you look at physical color; we have to get past that."

Although having two conventions was disappointing for some, people at both sites said progress was being made in intra-Muslim race relations, often at the grass-roots level. Many black Muslims, such as Siraj Wahaj of Brooklyn and Johari Abdul-Malik of Washington, for example, have become prominent imams, leading large congregations in which racial and ethnic composition reflects the national composition of U.S. Muslims (about one-third black, one-third South Asian and one-third Arab and other groups, according to estimates).

At the same time, many Muslims from South Asian and Arab backgrounds have started social programs such as volunteer health clinics and soup kitchens in urban neighborhoods with large black and Latino populations.

"There's still interaction between the communities outside of the conventions," said Sultan Muhammad of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. "There are joint efforts to forge that Islamic inclusiveness."