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  THE FACE BEHIND THE VEIL

  THE FACE BEHIND THE VEIL

  The Extraordinary Lives of Muslim Women in America

  DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE

  CITADEL PRESS

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  Thanks Tim, Nick and Alex

  for being there

  Contents

  Preface

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction

  PART I: THE NEW TRADITIONALISTS

  1. Zarinah: An Islamic-Style High School Queen

  2. Why Sireen’s Scarf Means So Much

  3. Michaela’s Muslimah High-Fashion Designs

  4. Maria’s Nightmare of an Arranged Marriage

  5. Aysha: The Perils of Being A Muslimah

  6. Areej: Wearing a Hijab into the Working World

  7. Sakeena: Finding Her Way Home to America

  8. Haseena’s Lesson in Diversity

  9. Dr. Amena Haq: A Stethoscope and a Hijab

  10. The Enterprise of Edina

  PART II: THE BLENDERS

  11. Zainab: A Pioneering Muslimah Feminist

  12. Luby Teaches Americans About Islam

  13. Fay: A Good Heart Is More Important Than Religious Rules

  14. Cassy’s Crisis: Removing Her Scarf to Get Her Daughter Back

  15. Rahima: Far from Her Burqa—and Her Family

  16. Shahida: She Goes to Med School; Her Husband Becomes Mr. Mom

  17. Sabrina: A Muslim Mom on the Run

  PART III: THE CONVERTS

  18. Cathy’s Conversion: A Minivan Mom Turns to Islam

  19. Samirah: The High Costs of Becoming a Muslim

  20. Emma: A New Baby and a New Islamic Life

  21. The Lessons of Cancer-Fighting Leslie

  22. Fatima Reborn: From Partygoer to Muslim Matron

  23. Juwayriah’s Journey

  24. Patricia: An Extraordinary Teacher Changed by Islam

  25. Yuko Yearns For Family and Faith

  26. Zuly: A Latina Finds Islam

  27. Anisah: Living Veiled in Rural South Dakota

  PART IV: THE PERSECUTED

  28. When Voting Is a Joy

  29. Senada: The Refugee Who Now Helps Others

  30. Farida’s Journey Back to Freedom

  31. Tania, the Runaway

  32. Deman: Safe from Bombings—and Saddam

  33. Sakina’s Miracle: From Refugee Camp to American Suburb

  34. Shaima: Recovering from Her Husband’s Murder

  35. Salma’s Journey

  36. Hawa: The Queen Takes a Walk

  PART V: THE CHANGERS

  37. Sarah: Progressive and Proud of It

  38. Ingrid: The Leader of the Mosques

  39. Sarwat: Spreading the Word

  40. Laila’s Heavy Caseload: An M.D. with a Cause

  41. Afeefa’s Passions: Politics and Education

  42. Clareen at the Front

  43. W. L. Cati’s Mission: Saving Abused Muslim Women

  44. Aneesah: Scholar and Social Worker

  45. Master Zakia Mahasa: Court Is in Session!

  46. Azizah al-Hibri: Champion of Human Rights

  47. Deedra’s Duty

  48. Dalia: Struggling for Civil Rights

  49. Okolo’s Odyssey: Starting the First U.S. Muslim Museum

  50. Riffat: Life with a Purpose

  Glossary

  Resources

  CITADEL PRESS BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2006 Donna Gehrke-White

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  All Kensington titles, imprints, and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, educational, or institutional use. Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington sales manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018, attn: Sales Department; phone 1-800-221-2647.

  CITADEL PRESS and the Citadel logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-3878-5

  ISBN-10: 0-8065-3878-3

  First Citadel hardcover printing: March 2006

  First trade paperback printing: March 2007

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  Printed in the United States of America

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2005934014 (hardcover edition)

  Also available in an electronic edition:

  ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-2827-4

  ISBN-10: 0-8065-2827-3

  Preface

  Like so many other reporters who covered religion, I was asked to write about Muslims after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Mohammad Shakir, executive director of the Miami-Dade Asian-American Advisory Board, recommended that I examine a trend he had seen: More Muslim women were taking up wearing the traditional Islamic head covering known as a hijab—even though in America such apparel is still relatively rare. His own daughter, a law student in Michigan, was one of those “New Traditionalists”—even though her sister and mother didn’t wear a covering in public.

  I took Mohammad up on his suggestion and became fascinated with the women I met. They were devout Muslims, but also educated career women, including a doctor, medical lab director, social worker, and teacher. For one story in particular, I interviewed a Muslim student at the University of Miami who didn’t wear any covering, yet strongly identified with Islam. She and the others who didn’t wear a hijab had found a way to adapt to those aspects of Islamic tradition that suited them, managing to meld their “old” religion with the high-tech America we live in today.

  The spiritual journey these women took fascinated me. It might lead them to different practices but they still prayed to Allah. Many are helping transform the mosque into a place of worship that fully includes women. They are Americanizing it into a place where potluck dinners, Brownie troop meetings, and even self-help sessions can be held—the kinds of programs American churches and synagogues already offer.

  Even with anti-Muslim sentiment running higher in the United States than ever before, these women persist with their faith. They wear their veils despite catcalls; they attend mosque despite being segregated from men. Indeed, Islam is flourishing, with new mosques opening every year. While many American women are pushing for reforms within the mosque, they still don’t give up their faith. In Islam, they find solace.

  I set out to find out why this is so, and who these women are.

  Acknowledgments

  This book would never have been written had it not been for the many patient Muslim women who answered my questions. Thank you, ladies, for sharing with me your lives. Special thanks to Anisah David for telling not only her story but her daughter’s, but also for helping me find other fascinating Muslimah and offering invaluable suggestions as I wrote the book. Sakeena Mirza, Sireen Sawaf, Okolo Rashid, and Deedra Abboud also pitched in to recommend contacts for the book. Zainab Elberry, Ingrid Mattson, and Luby Ismail did that, as well as furnish invaluable background information about Islam and Muslims in America. I also need to thank Zuly Martinez, who shared with me her extraordinary photographs of Muslim women.

  Mukit Hossain both recommended likely subjects and helped set up interviews. He also helped me locate important research materials that helped me understand the anxieties of American Muslim women in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, especially those wo
men who had been detained or had their homes searched by federal agents. Mohammad Shakir, executive director of the Miami-Dade Asian-American Advisory Board was also extremely helpful with my research. Jawaad Abdul Rahman of Unity Productions Foundation, Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Helen Samhan, director of the Arab American Institute Foundation were invaluable in recommending fascinating women. Professor John G. Douglass at the University of Richmond School of Law was also helpful in his research on how Muslim charities and private homes became objects of scrutiny by government agents. A book like this could not have been written without these experts’ help.

  I am also especially indebted to Dr. Ihsan Bagby of the University of Kentucky for his important research on Muslims in America, which I quote throughout the book. Special thanks also to Mohiaddin Mesbahi, an associate professor of International Relations at Florida International University, and Stephen Sapp, chairman of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Miami. Early on, when I was writing my first article on Muslim women for the Miami Herald, they helped send me on the right path.

  Rosalind Rivera, the executive director of the Arizona Refugee Community Center, opened her doors—and heart—to me. She arranged for me to interview several women and provided excellent interpreters.

  It goes without saying a book like this needs a nurturer, and I thank Kensington’s editor in chief, Michaela Hamilton, for her excellent suggestions. I want to thank her for sharing my excitement about these fascinating Muslim women and for her patience in working with me as I sorted through my research and interviews.

  This book simply wouldn’t exist without my agent, Agnes Birnbaum. Everyone should have someone like her in their lives. Thanks, Agnes, for always inspiring me.

  Finally, thanks to Miami Herald editors Teresa Mears, Joan Chrissos, and Kathy Foster. They not only gave me encouragement but granted me a leave of absence to work on the book. Teresa also kept busy forwarding to me stories on Muslim women and Islamic trends—even giving me computer tips. Herald photographer Marsha Halper was a godsend as she helped gather pictures for the book.

  For numbers-crunching, the State Department’s Amanda D. Rogers-Harper was invaluable in providing data on the latest number of refugees arriving in the United States.

  Heartfelt thanks to a patient editor: my husband, Tim White. He helped expunge my foibles out of the book and made it better. Nick and Alex, you were great in overlooking your mom’s absentmindedness during the long months of writing.

  Finally, thanks to the many who kept encouraging me to hang in there and finish The Face Behind the Veil.

  THE FACE BEHIND THE VEIL

  INTRODUCTION

  A JAPANESE AMERICAN raised in a Louisiana fundamentalist church calls herself a Muslim. So do an award-winning teacher, a former drug-addicted prostitute turned counselor, a New York lawyer, a Nashville feminist, a Florida doctor, and a group of Afghan refugees in Phoenix who are learning to read for the first time.

  They are all Muslim women in America, or as they call themselves, the Muslimah. They hail from at least seventy-seven countries. Thousands of women in America, from every ethnic group, convert to Islam. Indeed, the United States has the most diverse Muslim population in the world.

  Today’s American Muslimah come from posh Los Angeles suburbs, African refugee camps, rural South Dakota, Beirut high rises, the Iraqi desert, and a city on the Adriatic Sea. Some are learning to use electricity and plumbing for the first time. Others are middle-class, car-pooling moms, or human rights leaders advising the White House.

  There are those who stand out. The African immigrants wearing their turban-like headdresses, the Asian Americans in their flowing scarves, the Middle Eastern–born women in their veils, the converts opting for their own styles, some going for the most dramatic—the head-to-toe burqas. Most American Muslimah, however, are not so easily spotted. They don’t wear any kind of head covering that would identify them as Muslims. They blend into the American fabric.

  Who are these women?

  Americans know more about the downtrodden Muslimah in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Europe than they do their own neighbors. Yet American Muslim women have forged their own identity.

  You are about to discover these American Muslimah. You will meet more than fifty women from this complex, diverse, and engaging group.

  They are far from the stereotype of the downtrodden Muslim woman forced to wear a detested veil—although some are struggling as refugees while others face domestic violence, polygamy, and child-custody battles. But even the Muslimah who face daunting challenges tend to adapt an American can-do, you-go-girl attitude, which in other parts of the world can provoke a stinging critique from those who accuse our Muslimah of being so American, so Westernized. Their pluck, though, is helping to create a vibrant Islam, and shows how an age-old faith can fit into a new high-tech age.

  You are about to meet:

  The New Traditionalists. Women who wear the veil or a hijab, in some cases taking it up after earlier generations did not. They include career women and full-time mothers.

  The Blenders. Women who don’t wear any veil or head covering. They don’t look “Muslim” but still consider themselves spiritual. They are mostly immigrants, second-generation Americans, and career women.

  The Converts. A surprising number of American women, of all races and ethnic groups, have converted to Islam. They’re among the most enthusiastic about wearing traditional women’s attire, some of them adding gloves and long gowns in addition to a veil.

  The Persecuted. Many Muslim women come to America to escape violence and oppression, from such countries as Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Bosnia, and India. Some are also fleeing from abuse and applying for asylum to avoid going back to a country where they may be killed by an enraged man.

  The Changers. These women are taking a public stand. Some are running for public office, or starting humanitarian groups and nonprofit social associations that help abused or needy Muslim women. Some are fighting within the mosque for equal rights for women.

  Thanks to a worldwide trend among many Muslimah who prefer some sort of covering, more veiled women are being seen on American streets these days. Most wear the hijab, as it is called in Arabic.

  Many Muslim women in the United States, whether covered or not, say they don’t like to draw attention to themselves. The reason: They are a religious minority in a country that promises religious freedom but has been at times hostile to those practicing new or “different” faiths.

  Yet Islam has been part of America’s overall return to the spiritual. The number of Muslims has doubled in a decade, making it one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States. Overall, the nation is more religious than even a couple of decades ago. Witness the phenomenal success of Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, the tens of thousands who flock to hear the Dalai Lama speak, and the growth in Orthodox Judaism. Even the 2004 presidential election was affected, with “family values” seen as a major issue in voters’ minds.

  Similarly, many American Muslims say they have become more spiritual in recent years. That’s but one of the reasons for a return to some sort of covering.

  In the past, though, many Muslim women appear to have not been included in various religious surveys, which skews estimates of how many Muslims live in America. Many U.S. studies base their membership numbers on how many attend weekly services at a house of worship. As many traditional or immigrant Muslim women do not go to mosque, they have been overlooked.

  There are now perhaps three million Muslim women in the United States. No one knows for sure. The U.S. census does not ask Americans their religion. The American Religious Identity Survey found the total number of Muslims—1.1 million—had more than doubled from 1990 to 2001. However, the Council of American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, believes there are actually six to seven million Muslims living in the United States, an estimate based on the number of mosques in the
country.

  In Canada, where the government does include religion in its national census, 2 percent are Muslims. If that same percentage would hold true for the United States, then about six million Muslims now call this country home. Indeed, Ihsan Bagby, an associate professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky, who has conducted surveys on mosques, believes the number of U.S. Muslims is five to six million. If those numbers are correct, there are now more Muslims in America than the two to three million members the Episcopal Church claims in the United States.

  Immigration, Dr. Bagby says, is fueling much of that growth. The New York Times wrote in February 2005 that for the first time, more Africans—many of whom are Muslim—are arriving on American shores now than during the slave trade. International turmoil is a key factor in immigration patterns. According to government statistics, more than 229,000 Muslim refugees from seventy-seven countries arrived in the United States from 1990 to September 30, 2004. They came from such turbulent countries as Sudan, Bosnia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan.