When they arrived for a monthlong visit last month, some South Asian Muslim scholars brought with them these perceptions of the United States: It was a country ruled by the FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon. It was a place where Muslims are routinely persecuted. It was a society of free sex and families in collapse.
But their trip to several U.S. cities radically changed their perceptions, many of the visitors from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh said during a recent stop in the Los Angeles area.
Zeenat Shaukat Ali, an Islamic studies professor from Bombay, India, marveled at the freedom of American Muslims to practice their religion and the active role of women in mosque life. In her country, she told an interfaith crowd in Claremont, many mosques don't even allow women to enter.
"Muslims here are free to follow their own culture, dress the way they want, go to educational institutes and train themselves," she said. "American culture has not overcome the culture of Muslims but accepted it."
Quratulain Bakhteari, a Pakistani social activist, read the holy scriptures of Judaism and Christianity for the first time during visits to synagogues and churches here and said she was amazed to find deep similarities to Islamic teachings.
"Who has divided us?" she asked, perplexed. "The division has been extremely painful, but there is a lot of hope now."
Aminul Islam, a philosophy professor from Bangladesh, had been convinced that Americans were warmongers who viewed all Muslims as terrorists. No longer, he said.
"I dreaded America; now I love America," Islam said. "I came to realize the people of America do not want bombs, do not want to dominate others."
The visit was arranged under a U.S. State Department grant with the goal of exposing South Asian scholars and clerics to Islamic life in America. So far, $550,000 has been awarded to the University of Louisville, Ky., to bring groups of scholars to the United States to showcase how Islam is practiced and taught here, along with how it is integrated into the larger interfaith community. In addition, American counterparts have visited South Asia.
"The idea was to dispel the very widely held perception in most of the Muslim world that Muslims in the U.S. are discriminated against, that they live in fear and the shadow of suspicion," said Thomas Johnston, senior exchanges specialist in the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
