Faith & Loyalty: Members of Muslim group to pledge allegiance to America

"When President Obama came to Racine, he stood on stage with spiritual leaders but there were no Muslim leaders up there with him. How do you balance that? When are we going to come to the point when that can happen?"

Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | US Desk
Source & Credit: The Journal Times
By Grace Johnson | July 2, 2010

Airport security can be an unnerving experience for anyone, but for Daud Ahmad, 36, of Racine, his attempt to board a flight shortly after 9/11 out of Milwaukee on Independence Day ended with him spending a night in jail.

Daud's name was on a no-fly list. Although the spelling wasn't the same and the physical description didn't match Daud, he was still forced to spend the night in jail waiting for FBI clearance, he said.

Daud cooperated with officials at the time, knowing he was no terrorist, understanding the situation as just another part of being a Muslim in America.


Daud is an Ahmadi Muslim, one of at least 12 living in Racine County, who will pledge their loyalty to the United States at an Ahmadi conference in Franklin in August. Today, many Americans remain ignorant about Muslims, said Jameel Ghuari, 57, of Racine, who is the executive director for the George Bray Neighborhood Center, 924 Center St., where Ahmadi services are held on Fridays.

"When President Obama came to Racine, he stood on stage with spiritual leaders but there were no Muslim leaders up there with him," Ghuari said. "How do you balance that? When are we going to come to the point when that can happen?"

Loyalty to one's home country is a core belief of Ahmadi Muslims and one that they are happy to respect as they reap the benefits of living in America, said Daud, who is a painter for Bombardier Recreational Products.

"This is not a Christian country," Ghuari said. "This country is based on freedom of religion and it is the best place to practice that."

Despite the great freedoms allowed to minority faiths, such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Ghuari said that many Americans still don't know what Islam is about.

"We're called Islamic terrorists. We aren't terrorists," he said. "If you want to talk about terrorism let's talk about the Crusades or Timothy McVeigh, who was a Christian terrorist."

Terrorists who commit terrorist acts in the name of Islam do not represent the majority of Muslims, Daud said.

"Islam is a religion of peace," he said. "One percent or less of all Muslims commit those terrible acts."

The prejudice Daud, Ghuari and Waleed Ahmad, 43, an economic development director also from Racine, face as Muslims is nothing compared to the prejudice they have faced as black men, they said.

"The negativity I have faced as a Muslim is not close to the negativity I have faced as an African-American," Ghuari said. "You will always be able to see my black skin, my religion isn't always as apparent."

As black Muslims, the three are sometimes negatively associated with Malcolm X and Black Nationalism, Ghuari said. That negative association that was in the national spotlight when President Obama was falsely accused of secretly being a Muslim during the 2008 presidential campaign.

"It was as if it was okay for him to be black, but not okay for him to be a Muslim," Waleed said.

The connotation of being a Muslim as a bad quality was something Daud found very disrespectful.

"So what if he's a Muslim?" Daud said. "We still have a long way to go."

GRACE JOHNSON grace.johnson@journaltimes.com



Read original post here: Members of Muslim group to pledge allegiance to America