Rep. Peter King

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March 18, 2011 | 1:46 PM | By

A week’s worth of reactions to the House hearings on Islam

Photo by waltarrrrr/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A view of the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, CA, November 2009

The news of last Friday’s earthquake in Japan all but obscured what had been some of the biggest news of the previous day, the first hearing of a planned series in the House Committee on Homeland Security on the “extent of radicalization” among American Muslims, led by committee chair and New York Republican Rep. Peter King.

Muslim groups and other minority organizations condemned the hearings as xenophobic; King defended them as “absolutely essential.” Prior to the first hearing March 10 (the next one has not been scheduled), KPCC’s Public Insight Network sent out a series of questions to members of its audience, inviting Muslims and people of all faiths to share their take on the hearings.

By last Friday morning, the House hearing had quickly fallen off the news radar, but people continued to respond. The majority were Muslim, though Christian and Jewish respondents answered the questions as well. Here are some excerpts from their responses.

Q: King’s hearing is titled: “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.” How, if at all, does King’s asking these questions in Congress change how you feel or speak about Islam?

Nadia Hassan, Villa Park, CA: It doesn’t change anything at all for me. If anything, it enforces my speech and what I stand for, which is justice for all.

Yasmin Elhady, Orlando, FL: Muslims in America have undoubtedly carried the burden of explaining away the extremists in their faith who unleashed the violence and tragedy of September 11th, 2001, and beyond. Muslims in America constantly feel the pressure of defending their faith and helping people understand that Islam too has individual members who claim to follow the faith, but contort the teachings to serve their own selfish agenda. The hearings on “Radicalization” are an unfortunate setback for American Muslims who have been educating, informing, and cooperating with their American communities–both in law enforcement and in the civilian population.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Politics/Justice, Islam, Islam hearings, KPCC, Muslims, Public Insight Network, Rep. Peter King, Temecula mosque
March 10, 2011 | 12:20 PM | By

Q&A: Temecula imam speaks out about today’s House hearing on Islam

Photo by Steven Cuevas/KPCC

Harmoush at a Temecula planning commission hearing, December 2010

Today marked the first hearing in the House Committee on Homeland Security on the “extent of radicalization” among American Muslims, led by committee chair and New York Republican Rep. Peter King.

The hearings, which were broadcast on C-SPAN, began at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time, not the best time for West Coast viewers. But those who have followed the story have strong opinions about the gist of the hearings nonetheless. Among them is Imam Mahmoud Harmoush of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, which last year drew heated opposition and protesters to the Riverside County wine region over its plans to build a larger facility a few miles away, by a Baptist church. The project received city approval recently.

Yesterday, Harmoush was among those who responded to a query from KPCC’s Public Insight Network inviting local Muslims and people of all faiths to share their take on today’s hearings. He agreed to allow his response to be published.

Q: King’s hearing is titled: “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.” How, if at all, does King’s asking these questions in Congress change how you feel or speak about Islam?

A: This type of investigation assumed that the claim of radicalization is a fact, he just want(s) to know to what extent? Thus, It seems that I need to defend Muslims that they are not radicals! It is very disappointing to have a legislator instigating doubt and hatred instead of harmony and respect among our citizens of different religious convictions.

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FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Islam, Islam hearings, Muslims, Rep. Peter King, Temecula mosque
March 9, 2011 | 11:14 AM | By

American Muslims: Understanding a little-understood minority

Photo by HORIZON/Flickr (Creative Commons)

The interior of a mosque in Ishafan, Iran, May 2006

Source: Pew Research Center

Screen shot from “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream”

Tomorrow’s Congressional hearing on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism is likely to be remembered as a key moment defining racial and ethnic relations in the United States in the post-9/11 era. New York’s Rep. Peter King, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, has defended the hearing as “absolutely essential;” American Muslims, along with other immigrant groups and civil rights advocates, have condemned it as government-sanctioned xenophobia.

At the heart of the conversation are American Muslims, perhaps the nation’s least-understood minority. Here are a few details about a segment of the U.S. population that numbers more than 2 million:

A Pew Research Center study from 2007 identified American Muslims as “mostly middle class and mainstream.” While predominantly immigrants, the study found them to be generally more integrated into American society and culture and more affluent than their immigrant counterparts in Europe.

From the report:

The survey shows that although many Muslims are relative newcomers to the U.S., they are highly assimilated into American society. On balance, they believe that Muslims coming to the U.S. should try and adopt American customs, rather than trying to remain distinct from the larger society. And by nearly two-to-one (63%-32%) Muslim Americans do not see a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society.

The report estimated a total U.S. Muslim population of roughly 2.35 million at the time, 65 percent foreign-born and 35 percent native-born, with more than half of the latter non-immigrant African Americans. The study also found that while there were some exceptions, “absolute levels of support for Islamic extremism among Muslim Americans are quite low, especially when compared with Muslims around the world.”

The role of mosques will come up in the hearing, and there’s a recent study that connects mosque involvement among American Muslims with civic involvement.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Politics/Justice, Islam, Muslim hearing, Muslims, Pew Research Center, Rep. Peter King