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Journalism of Courage
Two American Muslims go on a cross-country road trip and return with stories of the community that are less polarising,more complex.
Bassam Tariq,an advertising copywriter and film-maker,moved with his family from Pakistan to America at the age of one. Aman Ali,a writer and a stand-up comedian whose parents hail from Hyderabad,was born and brought up in America. Together,these friends of many years embarked on a Ramzan Road Trip last month,a journey that took them from New York Island to California. Along the way,they broke their fast in 30 mosques in 30 states,one on each day of the holy month and blogged about their journey.
Their posts on 30mosques.com were a record of the immediate needs and daily choices of ordinary people,removed from the politics of tolerance or terrorism. Tariq and Ali wrote with warmth about the strangers they met,like Amanullah,who has been overseeing the slot machines at a casino in Las Vegas for over 29 years. Islam prohibits gambling,but he works there to earn a livelihood. The bloggers didnt take a moral stand: People often do jobs they might not enjoy for the sake of their children.
Ali says,The Muslims that we were talking to,they have the same concerns as everyone else,they are worried about mortgage,worried about getting
laid off from work,worried about how to send their children to good schools. Driving seven to eight hours every day limited their interaction with people,he admits,but explains,This is not an all-encompassing narrative. What we did was focus on the little things.
If the blog is about demystifying the Muslim community,it is also about spot-lighting their diversity in the United States. It is a community of varied professions,multiple ethnicities and various temperaments. Weve seen that it is possible to have a broad definition of America. The America that we are fighting for accepts everyone, Tariq says. To their surprise,they found that the Muslims in the United States are not just affluent doctors and lawyers of Indian or Pakistani origin,but also Bosnian labourers and daily wagers who,for instance,built a mosque in Idaho themselves,brick by brick.
The community embraces a burly youth like Saleh,a Cambodian Muslim from Santa Ana,California,who boasts of multiple bullet wounds from skirmishes with rival Latin gangs. The Cambodians first came to the US in the late 70s,fleeing the Khmer Rouge,hoping to practice their religion in the new land.
The bloggers big discovery was finding the site of a mosque built in 1929 in Ross,a town of 48 people in North Dakota. It was demolished in the 70s but rebuilt in 2005. Tombstones,in a cemetery adjacent to the mosque,bear a star nestling in a crescent,with birth dates arching back to 1882. For Ali,this cemetery proves the long and irrefutable association of Muslims with the United States.
Over a thousand people followed their blog and approximately $3,500 was raised online for their 13,000-mile trip . The American media Time,CNN and National Public Radio have reported on them. They hope to preserve the blog,even after having driven off the ribbon highway,as an honest exploration of the Muslim community in America. While Ali admits that injustices have been committed against Muslims,he says,The United States is a tolerant country.
