9/11, Ten Years After / Muslim Americans
Ani Zonneveld, a co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, participates in a drum circle with Father Wilfredo Benitez at the St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. The event was an interfaith gathering to kick off gay pride events in Orange County. “As progressive Muslims, we feel that justice needs to prevail for everyone -- not just straight people,” she says. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Zonneveld, a singer and producer, has written a song about the need for her ummah, or “community,” to “wake up.” She says she wrote it in anger at extremists and those who claim to speak for all the Muslim faithful, and as a challenge to the American Muslim community “to rethink our belief system.” (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Omar Ahmed, left rear, and his wife, Dunia Ramadan, right rear, help fill food bags for the homeless in Rancho Cucamonga. It’s just one part of their mission to get outside what they call the “Muslim bubble” and become more deeply involved in the community around them. (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)
“We wanted to move away from being isolated in the Muslim community and get involved in our greater community,” says Ramadan, a 27-year-old statistician who grew up in Boston. “We really felt like it was a big bubble and that we needed to move past that.” She and her husband live in Upland, where they formed a book club on civic engagement. She also has joined interfaith groups and the Claremont Committee on Human Relations. (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)
Maria Khani, center, of Huntington Beach, takes part in an interfaith council meeting. Even before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, she was active in her community and encouraged fellow Muslims to follow suit. The best way to counter anti-Muslim stereotypes, she says, is get out and be a part of American society. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Holding a copy of the Koran in her home during the holy month of Ramadan, Khani stays true to her faith. But she’s also highly active in her neighborhood and greater community -- cooking appreciation lunches for the local middle school, speaking at churches and synagogues, volunteering at a social services clinic and serving on the Tustin police advirosy board. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
