Tigard man working to dispel fears, myths about Muslims

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Zafar will be at Washington Square mall Thursday evening to discuss Islam. He will be sitting at a table outside Dick's Sporting Goods with free coffee and cake at 6 p.m.

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Pamplin Media
By Jill Rehkopf Smith | December 7, 2016

Harris Zafar will be at Washington Square on Thursday evening to meet and talk to people.

Harris Zafar plans to talk with people at Washington Square this week.Harris Zafar is on a mission. His goal: to eliminate people's fear, suspicion or negative stereotypes of Muslims.

"We can't wait for those who don't know us to say, 'I want to get to know you,'" said Zafar, a Tigard resident who spoke to more than 60 people Monday night at Pacific University.

According to a 2014 Pew Research poll, 60 percent of Americans don't know any Muslims — or at least, they think they don't, said Zafar, a humorous, self-deprecating dad who was born in Chicago to parents who emigrated from Pakistan.

But America's 3.3 million Muslims are so racially, ethnically and professionally diverse, many of that 60 percent probably do know Muslims but don't realize it, he said.

Zafar has lived in Portland for 30 years. He attends a Southwest Portland mosque and has written columns for national newspapers, sparred with Bill O'Reilly on FOX News, given a TED talk and written a book in his quest to help Americans understand Muslims.

Zafar will be at Washington Square mall Thursday evening to discuss Islam. He will be sitting at a table outside Dick's Sporting Goods with free coffee and cake at 6 p.m.

People are encouraged to stop by and chat, even just about general topics, Zafar said.

"We don't have to talk about Islam," he said.

This won't be the first time Muslims have attempted to break through Americans' fear of Muslims. Last summer, a group of young male Muslims traveled around the country and stationed themselves in public places, each holding a sign saying, "I Am a Muslim — Ask Me Anything" (video clips available online).

At Pacific University last spring, the newly formed Muslim Student Association set up a booth in the University Center inviting students to stop and talk.

The outreach is needed, Zafar said, to counteract real, horrifying incidents that give Muslims and their religion, Islam, a bad name. Most of these incidents happen in countries with leaders who interpret the Quran in a way that Zafar and many other Muslims, especially in more moderate countries, see as misguided and destructive: sentencing rape victims to prison for adultery, sentencing former Muslims to death when they convert to Christianity, calling for the destruction of churches, applauding terrorist attacks, and more.

Zafar and many of his fellow Muslims in the Portland area say they are appalled by such actions and also exasperated by news reports — particularly on FOX News — that lump all Muslims together into a monolithic "they" or "them" and use the words "jihadist," "Islamist" and "Muslim" interchangeably.

In fact, there are many different Muslim sects, just as there are many different denominations in Christianity — from extreme, conservative sects to peaceful, progressive sects such as Zafar's Ahmadiyya sect.

After the election of Donald Trump as president last month, the Ahmadiyya spiritual leader sent a message reminding the sect's American members that "we are peaceful, law-abiding citizens so we are not going to take to the streets," Zafar said. Instead, they were instructed to wait and see what Trump will do. If he does anything unjust or takes away anyone's rights, they will fight such actions through the legal system.

Islam discourages demonstrations, Zafar said, because they often turn negative. Even when arguing on a personal level, he said, Islam exhorts people to argue in a positive way that will bring people together rather than drive them apart.

When the Pacific University talk ended, a young woman approached to tell him about people who criticized outreach efforts by her and her friends. Zafar referred to a principle he's tried to live by: "Seek to understand before you seek to be understood." Truly understanding another person can help break down barriers, he said.

After the election, "that's how I started to realize in the heartland of the U.S., we didn't hear what they were saying. Once I understand their side, I can feel sympathy," he said. And that can sometimes change the conversation, he explained.

Zafar's talk at Pacific University was co-sponsored by the school's Center for Gender Equity, Center for Peace and Spirituality and McCall Center for Policy Innovation.


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