Southland Muslims Take a PR Approach

A new advertising campaign aimed at promoting good relations between Muslims and their neighbors will be unveiled today on billboards in Southern California.

Two billboards in Los Angeles County and one in Orange County will show a diverse group of smiling Muslims above the slogan, “‘Even a smile is Charity’--a message from your Muslim neighbor.” Two additional billboards are scheduled to be put up in San Bernardino County next week.

The $15,000-a-month campaign, funded by the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is designed to counteract the negative images of Islam and Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“We want to let others know we’re not different than one another,” executive director Hussam Ayloush said. “We have the same values.”

Ayloush said his organization is using Southern California to test the potential for a national billboard campaign.

“We need to gauge the reaction of people,” said Ayloush, who solicited donations for the campaign from the Southern California Islamic community.

“We can’t go on with this project without the financial support from the Muslim community or the moral support from the larger community.”

The campaign will change monthly or every other month, depending on donations. Other planned slogans include “Family is life, life is family,” “Kindness is a mark of faith” and “A nice thought is an act of worship.”

The themes are taken from the Koran, Islam’s holy book, or the words of the prophet Muhammad, although they remain uncredited on the billboards.

“Hopefully this can help, even in a small way, to bridge the gap between the Muslim community and the broader Southern California community,” said Bill Shane, executive director of the Orange County chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice, an organization that promotes interfaith understanding.

The billboards are located on the Santa Ana Freeway near Garfield Avenue in Commerce and on West Century Boulevard near Aviation Boulevard in Los Angeles and on the Costa Mesa Freeway near Edinger Avenue in Orange County.