May 28, 2010

MPAC President, Salam Al-Marayati

Last weekend, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy interview with MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati which touched on the current challenges facing Muslim Americans as well as the ways in which MPAC is working to tackle these challenges...

Read the entire article on the LA Times website.

Salam Al-Marayati began working at the Muslim Public Affairs Council more than 20 years ago, and his is a job that only seems to get more demanding.

Al-Marayati was 3 when his family moved to the United States from Iraq; as the president of the L.A.-based national group, he's become a cultural translator and a kind of human shield between misperceptions of the Muslim faith and several million believers living here. Invoking the Koran (he's holding one in the picture) and the Constitution, he plays offense and defense, making himself available for reporters, politicians and law enforcement, and blogging on matters like the Ft. Hood massacre.

It's a balancing act that engages local and international politics, religion and culture, internal and civic and public relations, all of it performed on a tightrope that quivers after every terrorist attack and attempted attack by Muslims.

What is Job 1 for you?

To educate people about what American Muslim identity is.

In the 1960 U.S. presidential campaign, some people asked whether John F. Kennedy was an American or a Catholic first. Islam is not structured like Catholicism, but you must get that question too.

Correct, and our answer is that it's a false choice. We are Americans and Muslims. Our citizenship is making us stronger Americans because Islam has a strong principle of social responsibility, and living in America makes us stronger Muslims because we can think on our own, which is what the Koran tells you.

Read the entire article on the LA Times website.