Instructor’s Manual Mary Ann Watson Christine Sheikh Being Muslim in America Instructor’s Manual to accompany the films: Being Muslim in America: Acts of Courage and Healing And An Afghan American Family Story Mary Ann Watson Christine Sheikh Table of Contents Preface.............................…………………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iii The Professional Team ................................................................................................................................. iv A Demography of the American Religious Landscape ................................................................................. 1 A Brief History of the Spread of Islam ......................................................................................................... 3 Islamophobia: Its Origins and Contemporary Status .................................................................................... 5 A Brief History of Hijab ............................................................................................................................... 8 Common Styles of Islamic Clothing From Around the World ..................................................................... 9 Map of the Middle East and Surrounding Nations ...................................................................................... 14 Six Primary Interviewees ......................................................................................................................... 15 Ahmad Ghais .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Christine Sheikh .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Hamideh Etemadnia .................................................................................................................................... 24 Ahmed Salih ................................................................................................................................................ 28 Ismail Akbulut ............................................................................................................................................ 32 Imam Ali ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 Aisha Mohamed .......................................................................................................................................... 40 Obeid Kaifo ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Human and Jamshid Ebadi .......................................................................................................................... 48 Meet the Organizations ............................................................................................................................ 53 Northeast Denver Islamic Center/Masjid Taqwa ........................................................................................ 53 Multicultural Mosaic Foundation ................................................................................................................ 55 Muslim Students Association--Auraria Campus ......................................................................................... 57 Abrahamic Initiative ................................................................................................................................... 59 WorldDenver ............................................................................................................................................... 61 United in Our Diversity ............................................................................................................................... 62 Coalition for an Inclusive Colorado ............................................................................................................ 64 Metropolitan Denver North Islamic Center/Masjid Ikhlas ......................................................................... 65 Instructional Resources ............................................................................................................................ 67 The Video Voiceovers ................................................................................................................................ 67 Vocabulary .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Interviewee and Classroom Discussion Questions ..................................................................................... 71 Book Excerpt: The American Ummah ........................................................................................................ 73 Resource List for Islam and Muslims ......................................................................................................... 77 References and Further Reading ................................................................................................................. 78 i Preface This Instructor’s Manual is designed to assist you in using the videos Being Muslim in America: Acts of Courage and Healing and An Afghan American Family Story as teaching and learning tools. These films are comprised of a series of nine videotaped interviews with Muslim men, women and families. Eight additional segments featuring small groups of Muslim men and women from Muslim-based organizations are included to give a broader perspective on personal and organizational attempts to combat Islamophobia. Healing processes and education are the central foci of these films. The original videotaped interviews were 45 minutes to two hours in length and were spontaneous, unrehearsed interactions with persons and small groups as they share their personal stories. We attempted to capture dynamic, rather than pre-rehearsed, staged interviews. We have added brief family biographical information on each of the persons interviewed, historical and demographic information on the participants’ various ethnic backgrounds, as well as maps, discussion questions for classroom use, a listing of resources, and a brief reference list. We have added photos of each of the interviewees so that students may identify more easily the participants with their ancestral home countries. The nine interviewees and their stories become the educators in this series. We deeply appreciate their willingness to invite us into their homes as they teach us about their beliefs, experiences with Islamophobia and their successful attempts to heal from these micro-aggressions. Mary Ann Watson began conceptualizing Being Muslim in America: Acts of Courage and Healing and An Afghan American Family Story as a second and third in a previously produced series on Muslim women and their decision-making concerning issues of import in their religious beliefs and practices. Mary Ann Watson’s Wearing Hijab: Uncovering the Myths of Islam in the United States, the first of these films (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2003), has been widely distributed to college and university classrooms. The need for its message has been noted again and again and requests for additional materials have been forthcoming. The ongoing principle guiding this project is to provide U.S. students with dynamic slices of real human experience, particularly with persons coming from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Our goal is for students to understand and appreciate the differences in religions and cultures as well as to experience more directly the similarities of the human experience worldwide. One of the most powerful ways of changing existing prejudices is to meet real people through the medium of video. We can best understand the ways of other humans not by making assumptions, but by observing and listening and resisting the temptation to reach conclusions before gathering information. We invite you on this video journey into the lives of these individuals, families and groups – as they teach us about the “tapestry” of the American experience. --Mary Ann Watson, Ph.D. and Christine Sheikh, Ph.D., June 8, 2017, Denver, CO ii Acknowledgments The essential ingredient in these films and accompanying manual is the spirited involvement of the nine Muslim interviewees and the persons representing the organizations included in the film material. Many were initially hesitant but, as the filming progressed, they were excited about the project and their individual parts in making the endeavor a success. Their excitement is palpable; their thoughts concerning these very significant issues and concerns for Muslim-Americans are insightful and intelligent. The filming experience was heartwarming for all of us involved in the process. We wish to thank those who were the central supporters of this project: our project editor, Ms. Kathy Tan, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, NY, NY, and Mr. Scott Houck of the MSU Denver Educational Technology Media Center, for his expert videography, art direction and editing. Mary Ann Watson Christine Sheikh Scott Houck iii The Professional Team Mary Ann Watson, Ph.D., Producer, Narrator, Essayist – Mary Ann Watson is Professor Emeritus in Psychology