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Stories from the field – Church presentation

I’ve been an ING Speaker for years, and I love it. It’s such a privilege to have the opportunity to educate people about Islam and American Muslims – and it’s a responsibility too, especially since for many Americans I might be the first Muslim they meet. As I pulled into the church parking lot a few minutes before my presentation, I was excited about meeting the hundred or so people who had come for an event honoring Nostra Aetate, the landmark document of fifty years ago which opened the Catholic Church to interreligious dialogue in fundamentally different ways. When I finished the first part of the presentation and invited questions, two hands shot up. The first bluntly asked me whether I, “like most of you Muslims, want to make the rest of us follow your so-called shariah law,” adding that, “Muslims never speak out about ISIS.” The second questioner, quoting selectively – and not entirely correctly – from the Qur’an, asked how I could possibly follow a religion “which is profoundly oppressive to women and just against women’s rights on every level.” Most of the audience looked surprised and uncomfortable at such aggressive and hostile questions, but I kept my cool. The most important thing, I thought to myself, is to keep this audience in mind and actually engage with these questions. So what did I do? Calmly and cheerfully, I deconstructed these questions, inviting the questioners to reflect on the assumptions they were making, and kindly but firmly offering a different perspective.

As soon as the session ended, many in the audience jumped up to thank me personally with a kind word, a handshake, or a hug. A few told me, shyly, that this is the first time they’d actually spoken with and met a Muslim. The person who had asked that first confrontational question hung back and motioned me over. “Thank you,” he said, “this experience of meeting you, and the way you actually engaged with my questions, has changed my views about you and your community”. Even the second questioner thanked me, and expressed her surprise – and appreciation – to learn that Islam and feminism are very much compatible.

Education is important. In the current climate, it is probably the most important way for our community to respond to the negativity and stereotyping with which we’re faced. ING’s process of training, certifying, and supporting Speakers is unparalleled – and as a Speaker, I am so grateful to ING for their work educating people about Islam and American Muslims. Please join me in supporting this important work, and donate now.