By Deborah Horan Tribune staff reporter Published November 12, 2002 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0211120013nov12,0,6534863.story Columbus traveled with Arabs to the New World, Jefferson had a copy of the Koran in his library, and African Muslim slaves were brought to the Americas, said a speaker at a weekend feast celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "Islam has been a part of America since its inception," Khurram Mozaffar, a Muslim activist, told Muslim and non-Muslim dinner guests at the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park. The feast is among several being held nightly across the Chicago area during the holy month of fasting, which began Wednesday and ends in the first week of December. The guests came to celebrate iftar, which marks the end of the daily fast. Mozaffar said his speech was intended to educate the church members, librarians and other non-Muslims in attendance about the region's Islamic community, particularly in the wake of recent events. "After Sept. 11, all my in-boxes and voice mails were filled with messages from my non-Muslim friends who wanted me to explain to them what they were seeing on TV," Mozaffar said. "It occurred to me that if we don't speak then they'll turn to other sources that might be less accurate." Over the weekend, Muslims across Chicago held similar events as part of a Ramadan outreach program loosely coordinated by the Council of Islamic Organizations. During the rest of the holy month, mosques in Schaumburg, Bridgeview, Libertyville, Chicago and Villa Park plan to invite businesspeople, church leaders, city officials and the public to feast, listen to speakers and perhaps gain a better understanding of Islamic customs. "It gives us a chance to clear our name," said Yusra Gomaa, a high school senior at the Islamic Foundation School, a K-12 school at the Islamic Foundation whose Dawa Club helped organize the iftar. "We don't interact as much with people of different faiths. This gives us a chance to." During his speech, Mozaffar discussed what it means to him to be Muslim and American, the Muslim belief that they worship the same God as Christians and Jews, and some people's perceptions that Islam is inherently violent and oppressive to women. For Scott Helton, principal at Addison Trail High School, the anecdotes on Jefferson and Columbus seemed to have the most impact. "That was new! That was new!" Helton said. "I did not know that." According to historians, Jefferson's library log included a copy of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, under the title "Sale's Koran"--apparently because it was translated by George Sale, said Tom Baughn, a researcher at the Jefferson Foundation Library. William Phillips of the University of Minnesota said Columbus hired an Arabic translator to accompany him on his voyage to the West Indies because he thought he would encounter Arabic speakers along the way. Columbus also read information by Arab geographers to prepare for the voyage, Phillips said. "I never realized that from early on the Islamic faith was here," said Marlene Stratton, a librarian at the Plum Memorial Library in Lombard who attended the dinner with fellow librarians. Helton said students from 54 countries attend his school, including several Muslim students who spent their elementary years at the Islamic Foundation School. So many Muslims attend Addison Trail that the school opened the auditorium for prayer during Ramadan, Helton said. The school has also had student workshops on Islam, Helton said. "They asked questions from dating to politics," he said. The iftar was his first Muslim feast, he said. "You're talking acceptance," he said of the outreach program. "People can learn what other people are all about." Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune |