Originally Published in The Middletown Press
Last month, there was uproar over a comment made by Indiana Congressman André Carson that U.S. public schools could learn from U.S. “madrassas,” an Arabic term for Islamic schools.
I, too, doubt whether you can get any useful information from a Taliban-style school system. But I do think there are Muslim-American groups we should take a closer look at. In mid-July, about 500 members of my Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Youth Organization USA, including members from our Meriden Mosque, met at a camp in Milwaukee. The title of the three-day syllabus was “For the sake of my faith, country, and nation.”
The theme was based on a saying of the Prophet Muhammad that love for country is a necessary part of a Muslim’s faith. The group recapped the successes of last September’s “Muslims for life” blood drive in which nationally the group raised over 10,000 bags of blood to honor the victims of 911. Members also planned out this coming September’s “Walk for humanity,” aimed at raising money to end hunger in America.
If a relatively small group can do so much good for our country, to me it really doesn’t matter whether they are Muslims or call their schools madrassas. I think Rep. Carson was right. As Americans, we can all learn from one another.
– Sohail Husain
North Haven
