Thousands of American Muslims are spending the weekend in Chicago to attend the annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a conservative group that is ideologically aligned with the Jamaat-e-Islami. To counter the hostility engendered against Muslims in general and the conservative variety in particular, ISNA invited moderate and liberal Protestant leaders to address participants at the opening on Friday. Rev Daniel Vestal of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which represents moderate Southern Baptists, told the audience that not all Baptists agree with recent statements by evangelicals âdemeaning Islam,â whereas Rev Jerry Vines, a Southern Baptist Convention leader, has enraged Muslims by making derogatory statements about Islam and its most revered figure. Others who have criticised Islam have include Rev Franklin Graham and Rev Pat Robertson. Rev Graham, Billy Grahamâs son swore in President George Bush at his presidential inauguration.
ISNA Secretary General Dr Sayyid M. Syeed told the gathering that when Muslims began immigrating en masse to the United States in the 1960s, the Christian campus ministries provided Muslim college students with space to worship. Rev Bob Edgar, head of the National Council of Churches, which represents thousands of mainline Protestant and Orthodox Christian congregations, was cheered when he said his group had opposed the war in Iraq. He also derided those who used âhateâ language against Muslims.
| He'd much rather have left Sammy in charge. Iraq was so much more congenial then... |
This is ISNAâs 40th convention and is being attended by more than 30,000 people from all over the United States. According to the Associated Press, âThe meeting comes at a difficult time for the US Muslim community, which has felt under siege since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Estimates of the number of Muslims in the United States vary dramatically, between two million and six million.â |