Rep.: Muslims must feel part of America

The first Muslim elected to Congress will address the Islamic Society convention this weekend.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

CHICAGO — “Get out the vote” is so 2006. Or as Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, prefers to say: It’s kindergarten.

The newly elected congressman will say as much when he addresses the 30,000 members of the Islamic Society of North America at its annual convention in Rosemont this weekend.

“My message is going to be simple: A higher level of civic engagement is not only good for Muslim Americans but to Americans in general,” he said in an interview Thursday. “Home is not where your grandparents are buried but where your children are born. Muslim Americans, a majority of which were born in another country, should start looking at America as their very own country. They really need to invest and feel a part of America.”

For decades, ISNA has convened on Labor Day weekend to offer a spiritual refresher for members who feel isolated in their small communities or worn down by indignities both real and perceived.

Political empowerment

But looking ahead to a national election in which conversations about religion have already played a prominent role, this year’s convention features a series of seminars to show members how to shake off the stereotypes that marginalize them and to demonstrate that pushing for change is an authentic act of faith for Muslims.

“Many Muslim-Americans are feeling under siege and they are starting to lack confidence in that engagement,” said ISNA president Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary. “There’s not an ideological reluctance. There are emotional and psychological barriers that Muslims are feeling. Socially some of us who want to be engaged find we are rebuffed because of the eroding trust between Muslims and the general society.”

Many say this year’s agenda is a sign of the organization’s maturity and that of the Muslim-American community. Whereas first-generation Muslims were historically more concerned with conflicts in the Middle East or Pakistan, second-generation Muslims have turned more of their attention toward domestic issues such as education, health care and transportation.