Official statement from the Desk of Safaa Zarzour of Islamic Society of North America.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my warmest wishes for a wonderful Eid to you and your families. Ramadan highlighted for us all, in a very human way, the importance of constant reflection to examine ourselves as Muslims, as Americans, as parents, as students and as positive contributing members of our community. Suhoor provided a new time for families to sit together while interfaith iftars allowed communities to come together to learn from one another, and highlight that there is hope for us to work together in an atmosphere of respect and mutual understanding.
This year's Ramadan came with many challenges. As we examined our lives as Muslims, we also had to worry about the events in New York, Tennessee, Florida, as well as else where in the country impacting our own Mosques and community. We wondered how to be proactive and positive in our response. The leadership at ISNA held several consultative meetings and then decided that what better way to address the growing Anti-Muslim bigotry in America, than to bring America's faith leaders together to discuss this alarming phenomenon and to form a unified response to it.
 In that spirit, ISNA organized an emergency interfaith summit this past Tuesday that brought together the largest and the most diverse religious gathering around a single issue in recent memories. As a result of our emergency interfaith summit, a statement was released by interfaith leaders across the nation reading in part, "We are profoundly distressed and deeply saddened by the incidents of violence committed against Muslims in our community, and by the desecration of Islamic houses of worship.... As religious leaders, we are appalled by such disrespect for a sacred text that for centuries has shaped many of the great cultures of our world, and that continues to give spiritual comfort to more than a billion Muslims today." Religious leaders are now sharing this statement in local diocese and ecumenical agencies across the country, and every media outlet carried positive coverage of the summitincluding live coverage on CNN and C-Span. The media coverage of the summit decidedly changed the national scene from one of Muslims having to debate the merit of one of their projects or another into people of faith in America standing with their Muslim brethren in support of religious freedom and the right of Muslims to be free from bigotry and hate rhetoric.
A subsequent meeting with U.S Attoney General Eric Holder was held, after which the following statement was released, "Americans of every faith have the right to worship and practice their religion in peace, and the Department will continue to work with its state and local partners to ensure that this right is upheld."
 From Vatican city to small farms in Georgia, our fellow citizens began issuing statements supporting Muslim religious rights, and starting their own initiatives in their local communities - all the while looking to ISNA as a resource. Also, many Muslim communities on the state level organized similar interfaith gatherings inspired by our summit. I myself had the privilege to join such a gathering in Illinois after Eid prayer, where 16 speakers from different religious denominations voiced their support for the right of the Muslim American Communities to exercise their religious freedom. In addition, hundreds of articles, blogs, and requests for interviews with ISNA leaders were made on Tuesday and the rest of the week following the interfaith summit. Below is a highlight of the immediate press coverage of Tuesday's interfaith summit, organized by ISNA.
By under taking this emergency interfaith summit, we answered the call from our community to act to safeguard our rights to practice our religion freely. Now, I appeal to you to answer our call, commit a generous gift to help ISNA cover expenses of the summit, and allow us to prepare for the next steps and actions suggested by the summit's participants. Help us reach our goal of $100,000.
Sincerely,
 Safaa Zarzour
ISNA Secretary General |
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