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Chronology of Islam in America (2008)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
August 2008
Eid stirs fury in Shelbyville, Tennessee
August 1: The Shelbyville Times-Gazette (Tennessee) ran a story entitled “Teyson drops Labor Day holiday for Eid al-Fitr” that unleashed a firestorm of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment, both of which seem far too prevalent for a nation built by immigrants and priding itself on the freedom of religion. The story was based on an a press release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) announcing that its new contract included a paid holiday for Eid al-Fitr, which is the most important Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Eid al-Fitr, often called just Eid, is as important to Muslims as Christmas or Easter is to most Christians. The Times-Gazette article explained that the negotiated contract gave workers Eid as a holiday in place of Labor Day. Both Tyson Foods and RWDSU seemed a bit surprised by the vitriolic community response to a negotiated contract that addressed both worker and employer concerns. In past years it had been difficult to operate the plant because so many of the plant's Muslim workers took off on Eid, so the contract appeared to be a win-win approach. The plant employs approximately 1,200 workers of which 700 are Muslim. Among the Muslim workers are 250 relatively new Somali refugees. Unfortunately, many Shelbyville residents didn't see the contract as a win-win. Instead, many viewed the switching of Eid for Labor Day as anti-American. The reader responses to the initial articles offer a flavor of the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments. (Religion Dispatches)
Muslim holiday at Tyson plant creates furor
August 6: The union that represents workers at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Tennessee has negotiated a contract that substitutes a Muslim holiday for Labor Day as one of the eight paid holidays at the plant. The provision, which was proposed by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, has delighted the plant’s Somali workers, who account for hundreds of its 1,200 employees. But it has infuriated many outsiders, leading some to denounce Tyson and the union alike. “You are a union that is proud of achieving a Muslim holiday and prayer room?” one person wrote the union. “A union in the U.S.A., a country based on Christianity. You call yourselves Americans? Have you forgotten 9/11?” Another wrote: “You had no right to drop Labor Day. Muslim employees must integrate Labor Day into THEIR lives if they are going to live in America.” Stung by the criticism, Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president, said the decision was fully consistent with the spirit of Labor Day. “We in the labor movement have always understood that unions are only strong when we work to protect the dignity of all faiths, and that includes Muslims,” said Mr. Appelbaum, who also serves as president of the Jewish Labor Committee. “What we negotiated was the will of the workers,” said Mr. Appelbaum, who added that his was the first union to negotiate a paid day off for a Muslim holiday and that he was sure Tyson would not be the last employer to agree. The plant affected is in the town of Shelbyville, some 40 miles south of Nashville. Under a five-year contract there, Id al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, is now one of the plant’s eight paid holidays. (New York Times)
Hate Radio’ Host Drops Suit Against Muslim Group
August 14: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced tonight that syndicated “hate radio” talk show host Michael Savage will not re-file his lawsuit against the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group. Savage’s attorney today filed a “Notice of Plaintiff Michael Savage's Decision Not to File an Amended Complaint as to Rico Cause of Action” with the U.S. District Court – Northern District of California. Last year, Savage sued CAIR after the group posted audio clips from his October 29, 2007, program on its website. In those clips, Savage, whose "Savage Nation" program airs on more than 300 radio stations nationwide, screamed attacks on Muslims, Islam and the Quran. CAIR called on radio listeners of all faiths to contact companies that advertise on the program to express their concerns about the host's anti-Muslim bigotry. In a ruling issued on last month, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said members of the public are entitled to take excerpts from programs like Savage's in order to use them for comment and criticism. Judge Illston also dismissed a bizarre racketeering claim against CAIR in Savage's lawsuit, but allowed for an amended filing by August 15. Savage has a long history of on-air bigotry. Parents of autistic children were outraged by comments Savage made on his July 16 program in which he claimed that 99 percent of autism cases are fraudulent. (CAIR)
Atlanta’s biggest mosque opens
August 17: Al-Farooq Masjid, Atlanta’s largest mosque, opened its doors on 14th Street Northwest today, proudly showing off to invited guests the $10 million edifice with it 65-foot-high dome over the main prayer hall. “It’s with a sense of humbleness and gratitude toward God Almighty that he has allowed us to see the completion of this mosque,” said Khalid Siddiq, a Cobb County resident and longtime leader in Atlanta’s Muslim community. “The community has been trying to build this mosque for the last 10 years.” The Muslim community has grown quickly in metro Atlanta in the past 25 years.The community started services in 1980, meeting in an older building on the 14th Street property when that part of town was run-down. The original building’s old prayer hall was razed to make way for the new mosque. The influx of immigrants to metro Atlanta included many Muslims, which helped local congregations including that of Al-Farooq Masjid grow. There are now about three dozen mosques scattered from Gwinnett County to Clayton County. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
As Chicago suburbs grow, Muslim population booms, too
August 18: It was only 17 years ago when the first mosque opened in Naperville (Michigan), now a community of 145,000 people. Like the city, its Muslim population grew in leaps and bounds. A second mosque was established last year, and the Islamic Center of Naperville is acquiring land for a third mosque to be built on the southwest side of town. There were about 50 Muslim families in Naperville in the late 1980s; today, there are roughly 1,300 families, said Kareem Irfan, former chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. That story has been repeated throughout the suburbs. The Chicago area's Muslim population has grown from a few thousand in the early 1970s to more than 400,000 today, Irfan said. In 2001, there were 50 mosques in the metropolitan area. That number doubled by 2005. Most recently mosques were built in Bensenville, Burr Ridge, Carol Stream, Des Plaines, Schaumburg and West Chicago, while another is in the works in Elgin. (Daily Herald Chicago)
Muslim pilot back in the skies pending court decision
August 20: A Muslim commercial pilot is free to fly after his name appeared on a U.S. government terrorist watch list, leaving his job up in the air. Eric Scherfen, a Gulf War veteran, was scheduled to be terminated Sept. 1, but his employer, Colgan Air Inc., restored his flight status while the case is under review. Scherfen sued the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies last month for putting his name on a watch list because he converted to the Muslim faith, he said. His constitutional rights were violated and job jeopardized, according to the claim filed by Scherfen and his wife. In their lawsuit, the couple said they have been repeatedly subjected to searches, questioning and detention at airports and border crossings since 2006. Ticket agents and others have made vague references to their names being on lists, but there was no clear explanation for the extra scrutiny. A New Jersey native, Scherfen, 37, said he believes his name was placed on a watch list because he converted to Islam in 1994 — even though he is a Gulf War combat veteran. Both he and his Pakistan-born wife, who is also a Muslim, said they have no criminal records. Scherfen said he learned that he was a "positive match" on a list maintained by the Transportation Security Administration in April, when his employer, Colgan Air Inc., suspended him for that reason. (Media reports)
'Towelhead' draws protest
August 25: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has asked Warner Bros. to change the title of its upcoming film "Towelhead," saying "the word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin." The studio said it plans to keep things as it is and stand by the filmmakers, who chose the title to point out racial stereotypes, though it added, "We apologize for any offense that is caused by the title." "Towelhead," directed by Alan Ball and adapted for the screen by Alicia Erian from her novel of the same name, looks at the life of a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl in the early '90s. The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday that since the moniker is a "racial and religious slur," Warners should consider calling the film "Nothing Is Private," the title under which it debuted at last year's Toronto International Film Festival. (Hollywood Reporter/CAIR)
Is fear of Muslims a cover for racism?
August 25: Race, of course, is already an issue in this presidential election, though it has largely been discussed via the proxy issue of ideology -- black ideology, and '60s black ideology in particular. It's way more comfortable to ask whether the Obamas' membership in Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church, and whether the thinking in Michelle Obama's senior-year college thesis, "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community," are evidence of their now-concealed belief in black separatism, black power and black liberation theology, than it is to interrogate our nation's melting-pot self-image, or to figure out why our prison population and our intractable economic underclass are overwhelmingly African-American. The Muslim issue is a way to talk about race without talking about race, and without having to squirm about saying that race is not an issue. To enough voters that it matters for the outcome of this election, Muslims are as other, if not more so, as blacks. A Muslim running for president of the United States may just as well be the Manchurian Candidate, with al-Qaeda, the Palestinians, the Saudis, your-Islamic-bad-guys'-name-here, playing the role of the brainwashing North Koreans nefariously plotting to plant one of their own in the White House. (Jewish Journal)
AZ Airport Approves Uniform for Muslim Workers
August 26: Muslim workers at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport were allowed to wear uniforms that accommodate their religious need for modest attire. A major contractor providing janitorial services at the airport had recently issued a "mandatory dress code" that required wearing pants and a tucked-in shirt. The employees were allegedly told that unless they complied with this new policy, they would lose their jobs, be transferred or suffer a cut in pay. A CAIR-AZ representative and members of the Somali Association of Arizona met with city and airport officials to discuss a request for accommodation by more than 30 Muslim workers at the airport who believed the new policy violated their religious principles. After preliminary meetings with CAIR-AZ and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the workers were able to come up with a uniform they believe accommodates their religious needs and the legitimate needs of the company. The new uniform includes a black skirt, an apron and an Islamic head scarf, or hijab. Airport officials were shown the new uniform and approved its use. The EEOC subsequently signed off on the uniform change. (CAIR)
Fox uses pro-Israel extremist to attack Islamic financing
August 27: CAIR today called on American Muslims and all those who value interfaith understanding and religious freedom to contact Fox Business Network to express their concerns about a recent interview with a pro-Israel extremist who sought to demonize Islam and Muslims by demonizing Islamic law, or shariah. In an interview yesterday on Fox Business, Allyson Rowen Taylor linked shariah financing and shariah to terrorism, beheadings and the 9/11 attacks. She also claimed shariah financing, under which Muslims simply seek to avoid dealing in interest, is a “subtle way of creeping Islam into the American culture.” Rowen Taylor seemingly advocated that Muslims invest in companies selling pornography because it is “instrumental to the economy of the United States.” Fox did not tell viewers that Allyson Rowen Taylor is associated with pro-Israel groups such as Stand With Us. She is a former official of the American Jewish Congress in California. She has made bizarre claims on anti-Muslim hate sites, including: “…there is a requirement in the [Islamic] laws to ‘cleanse’ the ‘haram’ (filth) from the ‘infidels: (non Muslims) by donating a portion of the interest made to Zakat (charity).” In the past, she has gone so far as to recommend the introduction of brothels in Saudi Arabia. (CAIR)
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