Marya Husain '09 recently attended the annual conference of the Islamic Society of North America. Held in Chicago Sept. 1-4, the multi-day event attracted nearly 45,000 attendees who met to discuss and learn about a variety of issues affecting Muslims in the U.S.
"To experience their commitment to community, in general, was one of the most humbling, educative, and enlightening experiences for me," says Husain, who is from Pakistan. "The theme for the convention was Achieving Balance in Faith, Family and Community, and the workshops and lecture topics scheduled for the entire four-day period were all related to the theme."
The ISNA is an association of Muslim organizations based in Plainfield, Ind. While providing a setting to present and discuss Islamic views, the ISNA also develops outreach programs to foster good relations.
Featured convention speakers and attendees included British journalist Robert Fisk, Sherman Jackson, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), as well as the former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, who used the forum of the conference to deliver his first public address in the U.S.
Husain says she drew on her early CMC experience as a recently arrived student from another country to make the conference navigable.
"I was thrown in between thousands of people all of whom were unfamiliar yet did not appear like strangers," she says. "I was reminded of the time I came to CMC, when everyone was foreign to me. Having gotten through that experience successfully, I knew how to make myself comfortable around new people."
As impetus for attending the conference, Husain points to recent polls that show a disproportionate number of Americans to be fearful of Muslims. "The ISNA is determined to put people at ease and is actively working towards putting a halt to negative sentiments so that rebuilding can begin," she said.
On a more personal level, Husain said that Islamic ethos is a permanent part of her own life, and, up until last year when she left home, she found herself taking for granted the fact that she was a Muslim by birth who lived in a predominantly Muslim country for the first 19 years of her life.
"Living in Claremont means that I shoulder a responsibility of representing my community around a very diverse array of people," she said.
According to Husain, thousands of participants choose to attend ISNA annually because it builds and strengthens bonds within the community with a common goal: to educate attendees and others with an eye toward promoting peace, especially in today's unstable conditions. "As contradictory and ironic as it may sound, only after being detached from the support of my community and kinship do I feel more united with and connected to it," Husain said.
The ISNA convention is held jointly with the annual conferences of the Muslim Students' Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA) and Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA), attended by thousands of young adults Muslim as well as non-Muslim.
Financial support for the trip included the Office of the President, the Dean of Students, and The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies.