Recapturing the narrative

Long Island Muslim Society leaders said that interfaith services at the East Meadow mosque, like the one they hosted on June 22, bring community members of various faiths together.

David Weingrad/Herald

Dr. Bernard J. Firestone, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Hofstra University, far left; Ufuk Gokcen, ambassador and permanent representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations; the Rev. Tom Goodhue, executive director of the Long Island Council of Churches; Jean Kelly, executive director of the Interfaith Nutrition Network; and the Rev. Walter Kedjierski, director of the office of ecumenical and inter-religious affairs at the Diocese of Rockville Centre, spoke at the grand opening of the Islamic Center of Long Island’s interfaith institute in October.

Courtesy Faroque Ahmad Khan

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Mohammed Saleh, 67, has a multi-faceted identity. He is a Bangladeshi immigrant who arrived in the U.S. 44 years ago, eventually moving to Merrick in 1985. He is a successful pharmacist who became a business owner in New York City a few years after he received his master’s degree from Long Island University in 1977. He is a philanthropist who has received awards from Nassau County, the Town of Hempstead, universities and professional organizations. And he is a man of faith, chairing the board of trustees of the Long Island Muslim Society in East Meadow since 2009.

But because of his last name, Saleh has been singled out at airport security checkpoints in recent years. His religion is constantly mentioned in headlines, whether they accompany stories about terrorist groups like the Islamic State committing violent acts around the globe, or American politicians like Donald Trump calling for the U.S. to refuse entry to all foreigners who share Saleh’s faith.

Saleh has not felt marginalized on Long Island, however, and he says he is grateful to live in Nassau County. And in spite of the tone of some political discussions about his faith, he is not afraid.

“We’re trying to think about how to bring our real image forward,” he said of Muslims in his community. “Truth will always prevail — that’s my belief. This is a very diverse country — a country of immigrants — so why do we have to be fearful?”

While county religious leaders have criticized statements made by Trump and other politicians about Muslims, local Muslims themselves say they will continue to show that their faith is peaceful in spite of the stereotyping.

Fear and politics

Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, made international headlines — and generated a firestorm of criticism from around the world — with his proposal earlier this month. In November, he reportedly said he would consider requiring Muslim-Americans to register with a government database and/or carry special identification cards if he were elected.

Ben Carson, another Republican vying for the party’s nomination, has said that for a Muslim to become president, “you have to reject the tenets of Islam.”

The comments were made after ISIS claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, France, which left 130 people dead — and when “homegrown violent extremists” who were “inspired by foreign terrorist organizations,” according to the FBI, murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2.