Islamic Scholar Selected for Major Post

The director of the Islamic Society of Orange County has been elected president of the massive Islamic Society of North America, Orange County Islamic leaders announced Wednesday.

Muzzamil H. Siddiqi, an internationally respected religious scholar who holds a doctorate in comparative religion from Harvard, has directed the Garden Grove Center for more than 15 years. The center, which represents more than 30,000 Muslims from 30 countries, is the largest mosque in California.

Siddiqi’s election as president of the North American organization was praised Wednesday by local Islamic leaders as important for Orange County and the West Coast.

“He is one of the most esteemed scholars on the Muslim community,” said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Council on Islamic Education, in Fountain Valley.

“This brings an additional prestige to [the Islamic Society of North America] and to Orange County. We love him. We respect him. Having our scholar become part of the largest community-based American organization is an honor.”

The Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella organization for an estimated 6 million to8 million Muslims in the United States and Canada, is based in Indiana. It oversees more than 300 community-based organizations and numerous professional societies and aims to build consensus among Muslims on issues ranging from social to religious and educational, Siddiqi said Wednesday.

“I’m very thankful to the members who have put their trust and confidence in me,” said Siddiqi, who plans to remain director of the Orange County center and continue teaching part time at Cal State Fullerton’s department of religion.

In addition to the president, two vice presidents--one from Canada and one from the United states--and a 10-member council serve the organization. Siddiqi said that in addition to his election, Hassan Hathout, also from the Orange County center, was elected to the council.

“There are many members now in the West Coast,” he said. “This will be a very good thing.”

Mansuri, who said that Siddiqi is the organization’s first West Coast leader in some time, agreed that the move will benefit local Muslims.

“His becoming president certainly will be very, very important to broadening community participation,” he said. “This may bring bigger exposure toward the West and more participation from Western Islamic Centers.”

The election results were announced by the group Sunday, according to officials with the Islamic Society of Orange County.

Siddiqi, 53, has been involved with the Islamic Society of North America since its inception in the 1960s, he said. Before coming to California, he was director of the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., and chairman of the Department of Islamic Affairs of the Muslim World League Office to the United Nations in New York. He is also a member of the Supreme Council of Mosques in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and the Supreme Islamic Council of Egypt.