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NPR Special Report: Muslims in America
Part Two: North Carolina Muslims Step Up Public Relations
 Listen to John Biewen's report on the Raleigh, N.C. Muslim community and their outreach efforts.
Oct. 29, 2001 -- For the estimated 6 million Muslims in America, the new spotlight on Islam presents both hazards and opportunities. In one growing Muslim congregation in Raleigh, N.C., the spiritual leader has taken Sept. 11 as wake-up call -- an unprecedented chance to reach out to the wider community.
In the second of three parts of an NPR series on Muslims in America, John Biewen of American RadioWorks reports that the North Carolina congregation has weathered intimidation and even bomb threats. And they have decided to fight back with a personal appeal to their community, an entreaty to come and meet congregation members and learn more about them.
The Islamic Association of Raleigh draws about 1,700 people for Friday prayers every week In the weeks following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the mosque's imam, Muhammad Baiononie, issued a challenge to his congregation:
The Koran, he says, unmistakably condemns the killing of innocents. But because the prime suspects in the terror attacks are Muslim, many Americans are suspicious of all Muslims. That, the imam told his congregation, shows American Muslims have done a poor job with public relations.
Twenty years ago, Raleigh had just a few hundred Muslim residents, most of them university students. Now, an estimated 10,000 Muslims live in Raleigh.
The Raleigh mosque has a committee devoted to "dawa," or outreach. Volunteer Lebeed Alkadi, who heads the committee, says the demand for information about Islam is enormous. He gives classes to local high school students, most of whom have never visited a mosque before. Other initiatives include get-togethers between mosque members and church congregations.
Muslim leaders in Raleigh say there are bound to be tensions and bumps in the road, as Muslims and non-Muslims get to know each other. Imam Baiononie says he hopes that eventually, Muslims will start to exert a real presence not only in neighborhoods and PTA meetings, but by bringing their values to America's public square -- just as other religious groups have done.
"As we know from our study of Islam, we find solutions for many American society problems -- in the spiritual level, and in moral and behavior and in crime level," Baiononie says. "And really, we call our American society to look toward Islam -- take from it what you feel really is beneficial to your society."
American RadioWorks is the documentary project of Minnesota Public Radio and NPR News.
Other Resources
• Islam.com, a Los Angeles-based Web site with comprehensive information and links to Muslim culture worldwide.
• Islam in the United States: a report from the U.S. Department of State.
• President Bush's directive on racial profiling dated Feb. 28, 2001, with links to Web sites about racial profiling.
• Search the Koran by key words or phrases.
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