An American Muslim Journal

2010 Chicago Muslim Turkey Drive is successful!

A whole lot of needy families in Chicago are going to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving turkey this Thursday and a group of local American Muslims made it possible.  It's a wonderful story of people helping people. The folks organizing this effort happen to be friends of mine and that's how I know about it.  I'm sure there are other, similar efforts being undertaken - some smaller and others bigger - throughout the country this holiday season.  Too bad we don't hear about them.  

This is a story the local media should cover.  This is what being a Muslim is about - charity and kindness to those in need borne out of the knowledge that what we have is but a trust from God with a command from Him to be charitable to those in need.  

On the other hand, maybe its better if the media doesn't cover it, because in the end this isn't a publicity stunt.  We know this to be true, because this effort has been going on for over a decade and it largely goes under the radar.  Of course, the families that participate in this effort - both the ones who give and the ones who receive - recognize and understand the blessings that come from such acts of small kindness.

Here's a summary of the event provided by the lead organizer of this effort - Dr. Jihad Shoshara: 

The 10th Annual Chicago Muslim Turkey Drive came to its end yesterday, and, Alhamdu Lillah (thanks to God) resulted in the delivery of 660 turkeys to families in need on Chicago’s South Side.  The day began at a little after 9am, with the arrival of a big white truck carrying 165 cases of frozen turkeys to Emmett Till Academy’s campus at 65th and Champlain. After a slight delay (during which we went through the seemingly yearly ritual of establishing that we weren’t going to pay for the thousands of pounds of frozen turkeys on the spot), we managed to set up a well-practiced delivery system: a human chain of men moving 55 pound boxes of frozen turkeys from the back of the delivery truck into the school’s auditorium entrance, where they were then wheeled by gurney to the auditorium stage and stacked, ready to be distributed.  

The unloading of the turkeys was fluid and greatly helped by two factors.  First, an unusually warm day spared us the biting wind of previous years.  Second, over 15 volunteers provided the braun without which the job could not have been done.  As in the years past, the volunteers came from the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (who, in addition to moving the turkeys, later distributed by hand 150 turkeys to needy families near their Marquette Park offices that day) as well as from the Union Lodge #155 of Free and Accepted Masons, who have adopted Emmett Till as their school for community efforts.  It was wonderful to work with these men once again. 

The distribution of the remaining 500 turkeys (yes, I’ll talk about the other 10 later) was placed under the control of the Ms. Constance Gabb, Emmett Till’s parent liaison.  Ms. Gabb, as she has in every year since I took over coordination of the drive 5 years ago, provided a well-rehearsed distribution system and on-the-spot management of distribution crises and flare-ups.  She has had a lot to manage this year – she spoke in detail about the efforts she and the school have taken up to bolster the students’ sense of security and safety since one of them was tragically killed by gunfire a couple of months ago.  The parents of children have now taken to patrol the school and its surrounding areas, wearing bright yellow vests; the vests themselves were provided not by the school district, but by Emmett Till’s principal, Charles Asiyanbi.  Mr. Asiyanbi is energetic and warm man in his first year as principal, and he personally expressed to me his gratitude to the Muslim community for their generosity as he did to every volunteer who sacrificed his or her time that day. 

Having learned from previous experience, the turkeys were not distributed on the spot but rather in a more orderly fashion.  Emmett Till parents were given times during which they were allowed to come and obtain their turkeys after having their hand stamped; in addition, other schools in Woodlawn (that are in the same local consortium) were given a small amount of tickets to give to select students of theirs in need.  The parents were also asked to come at 11:30 to begin picking up turkeys; however, parents began to arrive at 9:30, and as a result of the ensuing line, we began to hand out turkeys a half an hour early.  Ms. Gabb controlled when the line would move through, ensuring that early birds would not jump the line ahead of parents who came when they were told; even with those blocks, however, we moved through all 500 turkeys in two hours.  Every parent (this is not hyperbole – every parent) expressed their gratitude for this simple gift. 

A lot of people are owed thanks for the success of the drive this year.  At the outset, we discovered a major hurdle a few months back when we discovered that turkey prices had risen 20%, due largely to a 50% rise in the price of turkey feed.  This led to your coordinator having a few restless nights during the past few weeks, and is the reason that my first set of thanks (after thanking the Almighty) is to everyone who donated this year.  Even though we gave away eight fewer turkeys than last year, we actually raised more money, and the fact that you stepped up to cover this increase is a testament to your generosity.  In addition, we are proud that even though this is a grass-roots effort organized by Chicago’s Muslim community, by our estimates some 10% of the money raised is given by non-Muslims.  This speaks to the fact that what we consider an essential part of our faith – helping those in need – is shared by people of good will of all backgrounds, and that more of these efforts are wanted. 

In addition to our donors, we need to extend thanks to many individuals.  In addition to Ms. Gabb and Mr. Asiyanbi, we want to extend our thanks to the entire Emmett Till Academy family, in particular Miss Melendez and Miss Dudley.  From IMAN, we would like to thank Rafi Peterson and Ma’alam Abdullah for their help in the distribution of the turkeys in Marquette Park.  From Sabeel Food Pantry, we want to thank Farhat Quadri, who also came to the distribution (and accepted the final 10 turkeys, to be distributed at the Food Pantry’s location on Belmont).   Many thanks are in order to Chris Calhoun, Abdulrahman Ali, and the rest of the brothers of the Union Masonic Lodge who gave up a day of work to help in moving the turkeys along.  On our volunteer side, Faiz Kamal and Sofia Shakir were instrumental in coordinating, organizing, and soliciting for the drive, and it would not have been a success without them – Jazakum Allahu Khayr.  Thanks to Dr. Munir Chaudry of IFANCA and Sabeel Pantry for his essential help in obtaining our turkeys wholesale.  Finally, thanks to my family, for tolerating my discombobulation over the past month – I am indeed blessed. 

Happy Thanksgiving!  See you all at Turkey Drive 2011!

Wassalaam/In Peace, 

Jihad

Jihad - thank you for giving us a chance to do something meaningful during the Thanksgiving holiday!

 

President Obama greetings for Eid al Adha; Hamid Dabashi says Muslim revolutionary Malcolm X critical to America's civil rights movement, who we are as a nation today

American Muslims seem to be reflecting a lot about what it means to be an American and a Muslim this thanksgiving.  Thanks to the confluence of the American Thanksgiving holiday and the Muslim Eid al Adha, many American Muslims are thinking out loud about their place in American society.

President Barack H. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sent Muslims in the U.S. and across the globe an Eid al Adha greeting.  This is what our President and First Lady said in their message:

Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha.  The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions.

During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand in prayer on Mount Arafat.  The following day, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha and distribute food to the less fortunate to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God.

This year, I am pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Saudi Health Ministry to prevent and limit the spread of H1N1 during Hajj.  Cooperating on combating H1N1 is one of the ways we are implementing my administration's commitment to partnership in areas of mutual interest.

On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season – Eid Mubarak.

That's great.  I've said this over and over again but it is worth repeating: this is the sort of small but meaningful messaging that will empower my children to be even more committed to America and to Islam than is my generation.

I know that other presidents have issued formal greetings in the past as well.  I am grateful to them all.  This year, with everything going on around us at home in the U.S. this message comes at a very critical time.  Thank you Mr. President.

THANKFUL FOR MALCOLM X AND THE MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT?

The civil rights movement was critically important to getting us closer to a world where bigotry and racism are nonexistent.  We are not there yet but without the struggles of African Americans in the mid-20th century our society would still be suffering a lot more from the hatred espoused by American racists.

Hamid Dabashi, the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, argues in an opinion piece at CNN.com that we are long overdue in appreciating Malcolm X's contributions to the civil rights successes most often attributed solely to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Professor Dabashi brings up Malcolm X the American Muslim and his pivotal role in the civil rights movement as a means of piercing the American psyche's apparent resistance to accepting Islam as a contributing force for good in contemporary American society.  In his CNN.com essay he writes:

To avoid singling out Islam as diabolical, it is imperative for Americans to come to terms with the collectively repressed fact that by far the most important social uprising of their 20th century -- namely the civil rights movement of the 1960s -- is not as exclusively a Christian phenomenon as it is made out to be: The towering figure of a Muslim revolutionary named Malcolm X is of great importance in the history of that movement.

Professor Dabashi compared the roles of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as follows:

The way the history of the civil rights movement is mostly remembered now, an overwhelming role is assigned to the Southern Baptist genealogy of Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X is delegated to a radical fringe -- portrayed as more of a menace and a hindrance than a positive force in the civil rights movement.

But without the simultaneous presence of Malcolm X as a Muslim revolutionary, the Southern Baptist pacifism of Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been as formidable a force.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were the yin and yang of the civil rights movement -- ennobling anger and vision coming together in hopes of realizing the dream of equality.

Privately this is something I've thought about as well.  The problem or the challenge has always been that most Americans have a demonized picture of Malcolm X in their minds.  He stirs images of anti-semitism and black nationalism.

Perhaps, if scholars like Professor Dabashi lead the way in bringing this perpsective into the mainstream this very poignant example will help to re-frame Islam and Muslims in a positive domestic perspective.

Giving thanks, asking for forgiveness, fasting and feasting: The Day of Arafat, Eid al Adha & Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009 is Thanksgiving in the United States.  Today is extra special for American Muslims.  In addition to being a day of added reflection and thanks, particular with our friends and neighbors from the broader community, today is also the Day of Arafat, the ritual in the annual Hajj (pilgrimmage to Mecca) when Muslims worldwide fast and reflect and ask for forgiveness and thank God for all his bounties.  And tomorrow, day two of a 4 day Thanksgiving holiday, Muslims in America, in Mecca and all over the world will begin the second of Islam's two religious holidays - Eid al Adha.

Eid Mubarak, Hajj Mubarak and Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Hesham Hassaballa very eloquently reflected on the juxtapositioning of these important days this year.  His essay at AltMuslim.com relates his own memory of performing the Hajj, his time on the plains of Arafat begging for God's mercy and the emotions of gratitude to God.

Dr. Hassaballa's AltMuslim.com essay also suggests a twist to the tradition feasting that takes place on Thanksgiving.  He suggests:

Moreover, many Muslims will this day be fasting the daylight hours in solidarity with those blessed to be on the Hajj. Although Thanksgiving is most thought of as a feast: it is more fitting for it to be a fast. Even though, thankfully, the day is short and the sun will set early, as Muslims deprive themselves of food and drink, they are reminded of the countless people across the globe who forgo food and drink not out of choice, but out of dire deprivation. And that includes people who reside in this very country, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported. Therefore, we should be doubly motivated to help those who are less fortunate. If one is to be truly thankful for the bounties bestowed, then she should do all she can to help those in need.

Perhaps this can be tradition that American Muslims bring to Thanksgiving heretofore.  Just as Islam has adapted to the multitude of cultures across the globe over the past 1400 years it is doing the same in the United States as well.  Perhaps fasting in the daylight hours according to the Islamic rules of fasting with a traditional thanksgiving meal (with its welcomed fusion with some ethnic elements from time to time) after sunset?  I think its a good idea!