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| Living in Two Cultures |
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| "I don't view myself through separate identities. The yardstick I measure by is my faith; everything else falls into place. My identity is an American Palestinian who is a Muslim." |
| -Dr. Laila al-Marayati, member U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom |
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| "I feel not only proud to be an American - to carry an American passport and travel worldwide - I feel that I can be myself, a fully practicing Muslim, particularly in America. This means I wake up in the morning without fear and come home at the end of the day without fear." |
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-Imam Yahya Hendi, member U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom |
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| "I consider myself lucky to have been exposed to both cultures. My children recall the close ties of our extended family in Istanbul - we had no TV, we shared every emotion. In the United States individuality is respected. I enjoy my privacy and solitude, the freedom of the press, and political expression." |
| -Necva Ozgur, School principal, Pasadena, California |
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| "Research shows that girls generally tend to stay away from sports, especially if they must compete with boys. We're making sure the girls learn athletic skills without feeling hindered by their conservative attire. We want them to feel part of the American mainstream and not like oddballs. A Muslim soccer mom in hijab sitting on the sidelines of her child's game should not be a rare occurrence, but the norm." |
| -Semeen Issa, educator |
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| "When people say we'll never have elected Muslim-American officials, I say, 'Hey, those are the same things they said about a Catholic named Kennedy running for president'." |
| -Suhail Khan, congressional staffer |
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| "Muslims all over the world are looking with high expectations toward the ummah community in the United States and Canada. Its dynamism, fresh approach, enlightened scholarship and sheer growth is their hope for an Islamic renaissance worldwide." |
| -Murad Wilfried Hofmann, Muslim jurist |
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| "Increasingly, they [Muslims] are going to be claiming a place in the public square. They still see themselves as an 'out' group rather than a 'core' group in American life right now, but that is going to change as they move into positions where they can assert their heritage.... It's a red-white-and-blue pattern in American history as each immigrant group has developed a congregational, organizational life different from their home countries. Their houses of worship are more than just houses of prayer, but centers for a whole range of fellowship and community programs just as the German Lutherans, the Irish and Italian Catholics and the Dutch Reform did in centuries before." |
| -David Roozen, Hartford Seminary |
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| Photos: Faces of Islam » |
