VOICE ONE:
Forty or fifty years ago, Americans knew very little about Islam.Today, Islam is one of the nation’s fastest-growing religions. I’mShirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long. We tell about Muslims in the United States onthe VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE: Muslims throughout America have just celebrated theend of the holy month of Ramadan. The month marks the time when theProphet Mohammed received the first revelations of the religion.Muslims believe these messages and teachings come directly from God.Revelations to Mohammed became the Muslim holy book, the Koran(‘qu-rahn).
Muslims say special prayers during Ramadan. They restrict eatingand drinking between sunrise and sunset. They are urged to take partin self-denial and self-examination. Some Muslims who have studiedthe Koran intensely repeat the whole book from memory.
VOICE TWO:
Many Muslims arrived in the United States from other nationswithin the past thirty years. They came from the Middle East, Africaand Asia. Some came to the United States to get work or training.Some came to attend universities. Now the children and grandchildrenof these people also have made their homes in America.
On September Eleventh, foreign Islamic extremists attacked theUnited States. The attacks killed more than three-thousand people inWashington, D-C, and New York City. The attackers belonged to theal-Qaeda group led by Osama bin Laden. He is Muslim, and hasdeclared a holy war on the United States.
American Muslims condemned theterrorist attacks. They declared their loyalty to the United States.They noted that many victims of the attacks were Muslim. Muslimreligious centers all over the country held prayer services forvictims of the attacks.
VOICE ONE:
Still, Muslims and others from Arab countries say they havesuffered as a result of the attacks. Some Muslims say they werethreatened or insulted at work. Others say they were dismissed fromtheir jobs because of their religion. Still others say they areunable to get work. In several incidents, airplane and buspassengers said they were afraid to travel with other passengers whoappeared to be from the Middle East.
After September Eleventh, hundreds of students from MiddleEastern countries left universities in the United States andreturned home. They said they feared being attacked or beingsuspected of something.
VOICE TWO:
The United States government is now holding hundreds of youngMuslim men. They were seized because they were similar in some waysto the young Muslims responsible for the terrorist attacks. Only avery few of the men held are suspected in connection with terrorism.The others are suspected or charged with less serious violations.Some, for example, are in the United States illegally.
The government has made an offer to any of these men who providehelpful information about the attacks. In return, they will get helpgaining travel documents or becoming United States citizens. Otherforeigners also may receive this help if they co-operate with thegovernment.
VOICE ONE:
President Bush has called for such cooperation in the search forthe terrorists who attacked the United States. At the same time, thepresident has repeatedly expressed friendship toward the AmericanIslamic community. He urges other Americans not to blame innocentMuslims for the deadly attacks.
Mister Bush visited the main Islamic mosque in Washington, D-C,soon after the attacks. He described Islam as a religion of peace.He also held a Ramadan dinner recently for members of theMuslim-American community. It was probably the first such event everheld in the White House.
VOICE TWO:
Many Americans say they want to increase their understanding ofIslam. Booksellers say they are having trouble supplying all therequests for books about the religion.
Members of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues have metrecently with Muslims. For example, members of the Foundry MethodistChurch in Washington visited a nearby mosque. Members of the Daral-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, soon will visitFoundry church.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
The State Department reports that at least six-million Muslimslive in the United States. More than seventy percent work asdoctors, professors, teachers, or in technical or business jobs.However, some of the newest arrivals are poor.
About three-hundred-seventy-thousand Arab-Americans live in ornear the major city of Detroit, Michigan. Estimates say about halfare Muslims. Population experts say many Muslims in the Detroit areawere Palestinians.
Others fled countries like Iraq and Yemen. They left because ofeconomic and political problems in those areas during the earlytwentieth century. A similar immigration took place about thirtyyears ago. Many of the arriving Muslims first worked in carfactories, a major industry in Detroit.
Dearborn, Michigan, is said to have the largest population ofMuslims of any American community. Other cities with large Muslimpopulations are New York; Los Angeles, California; and Chicago,Illinois. However, Muslims live all over the United States.
VOICE TWO:
Muslims now have more than two times as many religious centers inthe United States as they did eleven years ago. Today, Muslimsworship in more than one-thousand-two-hundred mosques. Many mosquesare expanding and new ones are being built.
For example, workers are increasing the size of the mosque inDearborn, Michigan by one-hundred percent. Members need more spacebecause so many people attend services. Muslims also are buildingone of the largest mosques in North America in Dearborn. ThisIslamic Center of America will cost fifteen-million dollars.
VOICE ONE:
Most mosques in the United States have Asian, African-Americanand Arab members. In any Islamic mosque, men and women prayseparately. Muslims hold weddings and memorial services in themosque. Children and young people receive religious education there.At the same time, adults discuss the Islamic religion. Some AmericanMuslims gather for meals and social events in the mosque, too.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
The Prophet Mohammed was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in theseventh century. He declared the Islamic religion in the yearSix-Hundred-Ten. Like Jews and Christians, Muslims believe there isonly one God. Muslims believe God also spoke to people besidesMohammed. They include the prophets of Judaism and Jesus ofNazareth. However, Muslims believe Mohammed completed God’s message.
Mohammed is said to have repeated the revelations he received tohis supporters. Some experts in Islam say people wrote down thewords. Older Muslims also repeated the Koran to their children overthe centuries. Some modern Muslims also learn every word in theKoran.
VOICE ONE:
Islam has been known in the United States since slaves werebrought here from Africa in the Sixteen-Hundreds. Perhaps twentypercent of the slaves were born Muslims. Most changed their religionto Christianity. Some were forced to do so. This history partlyexplains why some black Americans have joined the Islamic religion.
The first Muslims who came freely to America arrived in theEighteen-Seventies. They were among many Middle Eastern people whocame during that time. Some Muslims gave up their religion andcustoms. They married Christians and followed Christian ways. Othersfollowed the ways of Islam.
VOICE TWO:
Muslims pray five times each day. They are not permitted to drinkalcohol or use illegal drugs. They may not eat pork or any meat thathas not been prepared under Islamic supervision. They must keeptheir bodies well covered. These rules require a way of life that isdifferent from the main American culture.
A Muslim writer says it is not always easy to live a truly Muslimlife in America. However, she says it is worth the effort.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byPaul Thompson. I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.