Parley Offers a Benign View of Islam

Fearing a threat to their civil liberties amid the nation’s effort to combat terrorism, Islamic political and religious leaders urged Muslims gathered in Long Beach on Saturday to battle religious fanatics in their own faith and political extremists who view peaceful Muslims as terror suspects.

Quoting verses from the Koran, speakers at the city’s convention center denounced terrorism and the oppression of women in Muslim countries, exhorting hundreds of listeners to show in their everyday lives that Islam is a religion of peace.

“Extremism is cancerous,” Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, director of the Detroit-based Islamic Center of America, told about 300 people. “So we Muslims must learn to promote the culture of tolerance and acceptance of others.”

The gathering, the fourth annual convention organized by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, came a day after Cornell University released a national poll that showed 44% of people surveyed said they supported some restrictions on the civil liberties of American Muslims.

Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the council, said the findings show how poorly understood American Muslims are in their own country. Muslims, he said, need to educate the public about their religion but also need a greater voice in the nation’s capital on racial profiling, immigrant rights and other issues.

“We continue to deal with misrepresentation of our faith and our political leadership,” he said.

Those attending had to file past about half a dozen demonstrators waving placards that read, “Is Islam a peaceful religion?” The protesters, led by Buena Park Baptist minister Wiley Drake, said they did not believe Muslim leaders had adequately condemned terrorism.

Bibi Haaleem, 71, wearing a dark-gray Muslim head scarf, stopped by the small group as she walked into the convention center with one of her four grandchildren.

“We believe in Jesus,” she told them.

“So does the devil,” Drake shot back.

“We’re not devils,” Haaleem said, looking shocked before hurrying on.

Inside, Haaleem, who arrived from Pakistan in 1980, said she hoped that the convention would foster a better understanding of her religion. “Islam means peace, submission to God,” she said. “That’s what I wanted to tell him.”

Nearby, her nephew, Jawahar Khwaja, stood behind a table selling vases engraved with Arabic verses of the Koran, including one that read, “There is no compulsion in religion.”

By 1 p.m., convention organizers estimated that 1,000 people had attended the event and 500 more were expected by evening.

Among the crowd was Irvine Police Det. Ron Carr, who runs his department’s intelligence unit. Carr said he knew little about mainstream Muslim views and had come to learn more about Islam.

“The majority are not extremists, so I want to get a different perspective,” he said.