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04 March 2008
U.S. Official Discusses Muslim Life in America
Ask America webchat transcript, February 28
Farah Pandith, a senior adviser to the assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs at the State Department, answered questions in a February 28 Ask America webchat on Muslim life in the United States.
Following is the English translation of the transcript of the Arabic webchat:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
Ask America Webchat Transcript
Muslim Life in America
Guest: Farah Pandith
Date: February 28, 2008
Moderator: Welcome to today's webchat. We will be getting started shortly. In the meantime, you may wish to visit our Arabic homepage at America.gov. We welcome your thoughts and will be posting select comments throughout the discussion.
Farah Pandith: Hello everyone. My name is Farah Pandith and I serve as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs within the U.S. Department of State. I am delighted to have this opportunity to share dialogue with you all. It is both an honor and pleasure. Please forgive my slower response, your questions and my answers have to be translated from Arabic to English and I am sorry for that delay.
Question: Do Muslims live peacefully there? Do they face the least bit of harassment when performing their rites?
Answer [Farah Pandith]: Muslims in America can practice their faith freely and openly. Freedom of religion is a key principle of our country.
Q: What is the situation of working Muslims in America?
A [Farah Pandith]: Muslims in America make up every profession imaginable. There is a very high education rate and income level. In fact, American Muslims are ranked double the “average American” in their annual wages. This makes this demographic a very powerful one on many levels as you can imagine. I know the Gallup organization and others have done a lot of recent work with American Muslim populations and I urge you to learn more specifics from these types of data collecting organizations. One specific note to your question: Muslim Americans, like every other kind of American, is given by law equal opportunities for work.
Q: What do Muslims who live alongside westerners think of the violence by some groups that pretend to belong to Islam?
A [Farah Pandith]: I would note that “westerners” also means Muslims. There are millions of Muslims in America and more than 20 million European Muslims who live in Western Europe.
Anyone claiming to speak on in the name of violence is suspect. It has been made clear again and again by leaders both in government and in civil society in western nations across the board that the narrative of violence in the name of Islam is not the religion of Islam. We understand how important it is to separate the violent extremists who do not represent the religion and those that practice the faith of Islam peacefully and honorably.
Q: How are Muslims’ lives different after September 11th?
A [Farah Pandith]: There has been a lot of discussion about what life in America was like before and after 9/11. It is fair to say that there certainly have been challenges since 9/11, challenges that have made “being Muslim” of interest. Some American Muslims have discussed publicly how in a post 9/11 environment they have had to educate many about Islam. Some have also talked about isolated incidents of prejudice and fear based actions. Our laws are clear in this country and everyone has the right to be protected by law and our government has acted upon such incidents and is working closely with communities around our country to ensure that everyone is safe.
Life prior and post 9/11 for Muslim Americans may have changed in some ways, but this is a reality of our global environment. Muslim Americans have the freedom to practice their faith openly and there are more than 1,200 mosques around our nation.
American Muslims are integrated fully into American life; they are American and see themselves as part and parcel of the fabric of our country. They represent more than 80 different ethnic backgrounds. Prior to 9/11 there really wasn’t a great deal of discussion about the faith of Islam in the media, etc. In the last six years, many American Muslims have talked about this issue of being American and the diversity of faiths and cultures that America represents.
Q: Are the Muslims in the United States exposed to humiliation, harassment or extortion by individuals or [governmental] security [groups]?
A [Farah Pandith]: In the context of post 9/11 America there has been an increase of “hate crimes” against Muslim Americans. As a response to this, our government created an initiative to combat such incidents. The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has investigated and prosecuted individuals for violation of civil rights. If you go to www.usdoj.gov/crt and look at the “post 9/11” link you can learn more about such cases in detail.
Q: Do Muslims in America suffer from racial discrimination?
A [Farah Pandith]: Please see the answers to previous question, which is similar.
Q: Do Muslims live in peace in America? Did the American system vis-à-vis Arab immigration change since September 11? Is there a chance to live in America?
A [Farah Pandith]: Yes, American Muslims do “live in peace” in our country. They are fully integrated into our country and have a very high level of satisfaction according to many polls. Our laws provide for the right for everyone to have equal access to education and jobs, and Muslim Americans can be found in every kind of profession from doctors to teachers to tech entrepreneurs to government worker (and everything in between!) It is important to say as well that American Muslims are part of the diverse landscape of our country. Muslims live side by side with people of all faiths and are integrated fully in our country.
We continue to get thousand of applications each year from Arabs to visit our country. If you are interested in learning more, please go to www.state.gov.
Q: Do Muslims practice their religion without any restrictions or fear? Is there a blending between Muslims and civil society in America?
A [Farah Pandith]: Yes, Muslim Americans, like every other faith group, can practice their religion freely and openly in America. Our laws underscore the principle of freedom of religion. It is a core concept for our nation.
Yes. We have a very robust civil society in America made up of many different skill sets and people of many, many immigrant backgrounds. This includes Muslim Americans. Muslim Americans are part of a -- integrated completely into civil society. There is no distinction as such.
While we are waiting for the next question, you may be interested in the following website, U.S. Elections 2008.
Q: I think Arab or Muslims who live in America have a good life because they have a job and they have everything that they want from food to a good life and they have mosques to pray at and a house to manage and a family to take care of, but sometimes Muslims have a lot of problems because there are many people who are Muslims or Arab that don't know how to speak English.
Q: I believe that Muslims in America do not have their full rights and freedoms, but at the same time there are rights that the Muslims are exercising, but only to a small degree, such as going to mosques and prayer.
Q: 1. Can Muslims participate in the vote in general elections?
2. Can Muslims run for election and if so will the American people support them?
3. Are there special schools for Muslims or are they shared between Muslims and Americans?
4. Do public services differ on the basis of religion, race or color?
5. What is the poverty rate among Muslims, is it high or low?
A [Farah Pandith]: 1. Yes. Every American citizen regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, creed, religion etc has the right by law to participate in our elections.
2. Yes. Any citizen can run for office. We have a Muslim congressman in office now, for example.
3. All Americans regardless of religion have the right to public state schools. There is no distinction in our country that prevents anyone from this fundamental right. There are private schools (schools that are separate from those included as part of the state education system) where parents do decide to pay separate fees for specialized schools. There are schools in the US that have Islamic-based curriculums.
4. Absolutely not. It is against our laws.
5. The demographic of Muslims in America is a very wealthy and highly educated one.
Q: Do the American laws or constitution differentiate between Muslims and American citizens?
A [Farah Pandith]: There are millions of Muslims who are Americans. Thus, the way the question is phrased is challenging.
It is important to note that the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of EVERY citizen regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, creed etc…
Our laws protect each and every American. For more information on our civil rights and civil liberties, please go to www.doj.gov/crt.
Q: What do you think about the cartoons that insulted the prophet? Are these cartoons an expression of freedom? What if the insults were directed to Jesus, what would be your reaction?
A [Farah Pandith]: I believe in the principle of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. It is a fundamental right.
That said, I think it is important to use respect and judgment in the way one chooses to express oneself. I think the press and the public should use that freedom responsibly and with respect for all faiths and cultures.
You ask about Jesus. Jesus is a prophet of Islam. He is mentioned more times in the Quran than in the Bible. As I said, using respect and judgment is important for human beings in each and every community around the world.
Moderator: We wish to thank our speaker for joining us today. The webchat is now closed. Unfortunately, there were so many great questions and comments that we could not get to all of them in the time we had. However, check for upcoming webchats in Arabic at http://webchat.state.gov/?tid=unsecure.login&language=arabic. The full transcript of today's webchat will be available at http://usinfo.state.gov/ar/, usually available within one business day.
These comments may not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Department of State.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
