Geneive Abdo - Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America after 9/11

I am grateful to my agent, Laura Langlie, who lowered my stress level and helped beyond the call of duty. The novelist Christina Baker-Kline improved my narratives and storytelling.

This book was funded in part through a grant from the Earhart Foundation. I owe the foundation many thanks for its continuous support.

There were a few moments of silence. Then the man blurted out, as if Maad were nowhere in sight, With this name, I would say this guy doesnt have a chance. M-a-a-ad Abu Ghazalah. Not a chance.

While I tried to keep my jaw from dropping, Maad did not flinch. He was apparently used to this kind of reaction. I was born in Palestine. I live in San Francisco and graduated from Notre Dame. I am running for Congress because Im concerned about our foreign policy, he replied, deadpan.

The woman tried to take the edge off her husbands remark. We need to know where you stand, she told Maad, because many people will just see your name and think, I dont want to go down that road.

Where Maad stood was beside the point. He was against the Iraq war. He favored bringing the troops homeviews the couple said they shared. But that was obviously not enough for them.

As we continued walking along the street, I wondered why Maad put himself through such unnecessary humiliation. I couldnt understand it. Here was a successful lawyer who certainly did not need to subject himself to bigotry and ignorance. We walked a bit more, but had little success persuading voters that Maad was their man for Congress. Only one person reacted favorably.

The cool breeze and the human chill from the San Franciscans, whom I thought would be free thinkers, made me want to end the campaigning. Maad agreed, somewhat reluctantly, after we had visited nearly every house along the street. I was curious to know how he felt, but we had just met that morning and I didnt feel comfortable asking him personal questions. I posed my question delicately: So Maad, do you think you will continue campaigning? Do you think you are doing the right thing?

He grinned a bit. I have one vote and one hundred thousand to go, he said, referring to the one positive response. I am not running to win. I am running so the next generation of Muslims might have a chance.

Later that day, on the plane out of San Francisco, I realized that the contemporary Muslim American experience should be documented. Life had changed dramatically for the countrys six million Muslims. But because America was focused on Muslims living nearly everywhere else but at homein Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Pakistanthe story of their changing lives had been left untold.

For more than a century Muslims had lived in America in peace, blending into the ethnically diverse landscape. But suddenly, they were no longer in the shadows as an all but invisible minority. From now on, their every word would be noted, their every action seized upon by a nation gripped with fear and inflamed by political manipulation. The event that launched Americas War on Terrorisma war that many Muslims at home and abroad understand as directed at Islam itselfcreated for them a new American reality. Like the couple who greeted Maad Abu Ghazalah, much of America had embraced a black-and-white view: Muslims are terrorists; Islam is a religion of violence; Muslims are backward; Muslims are vengeful toward the West.

Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America after 9/11 details the search by a diverse group of Muslims to find a way to live with dignity in this country. While many Muslims shared a growing desire to become more involved and educated about their faith long before September 11, in the wake of the attacks on Washington and New York, they felt an urgent need to embrace their beliefs and establish an Islamic identity as a unified community. A glance at the American horizon confirms this. A decade ago, it was unusual to spot a minaret. But now they can be seen in most major cities and many smaller ones, as well. Women in headscarves are an increasingly common sight in the nations shopping malls, offices, schools and even health clubs. Employers are now asked to allow Muslim workers to take time off for daily prayers.