The Chicago area is home to an estimated 400,000 Muslims, and in Evanston, Mohammed Saiduzzaman is the president of the Dar-us-Sunnah Masjid (Mosque) and Community Center, located about one mile west of the Northwestern campus.
Established in 2007, the mosque is a gathering place for north Chicago’s Muslim population and serves the broader Evanston community by offering food drives, classes and health services to people of all faiths.
The Daily sat down with Saiduzzaman to talk about his center’s mission, the controversial Manhattan mosque proposal garnering national attention and the state of Islamic relations in America.
Excerpts:
The Daily: How did this mosque come to be, and why did you pick Evanston?
Saiduzzaman: Most of us live in the vicinity of the North Shore, but support obviously came from greater Chicagoland Muslims. We were looking for a place where we could get together in a communal environment to learn our faith. This didn’t happen overnight. We had to meet in living rooms, and as our size grew, our need grew. We would meet in donated communal spaces, banquet halls and stuff like that. Where do you find a living room big enough for 100 people? We had a Chicago-area mosque give us their space; they gave us one Saturday a month to hold our programs, and we lived with that for 15 years. In the meantime, we were raising funds, hoping we would one day have a place of our own.
Evanston is a city known as a city of churches. It also has synagogues; it has a Baha’i temple. But looking at this community, it was missing something. It was almost as though one of the colors of the rainbow was missing. We are here as representatives of a faith that has global reach.
The Daily: Did you feel welcomed by the community at that time?
Saiduzzaman: Any time you move into unknown territory, there’s a little bit of – I wouldn’t say it’s a fear; unknown is unknown. How many mosques did Evanston have that we can go and ask, ‘How are you treated?’ It was equally exciting and unknown for us. In Evanston we’ve been welcomed, contrary to the national picture in many cases. The neighbors, the civic community have been nothing but welcoming toward us. If they wanted to keep a mosque out, they probably could have. We see in many places around the country – in Manhattan, for example – and the world, people make an attempt to keep people out, but it is not the case here.
The Daily: In addition to what this mosque offers Muslims, what do you hope to accomplish through interfaith outreach?
Saiduzzaman: In sales, your customer makes a judgment about you within 30 seconds by looking at the color of your tie. What that basically means (is that) perception – because I don’t know you – is everything. The more I know you, the easier it is to make a fair judgment. We fall in love on first sight; we also hate people on first sight. Does anybody talk about that? No, but it does exist. In this society where all faiths are available, the need to know is that much more important. Interfaith outreach is simply a dialogue of learning, of respecting others the way they are. It is not my drive to make you look like me.
The Daily: What do you make of the national uptick in anti-Islamic sentiment?
Saiduzzaman: Hate toward certain faiths is like a yo-yo. There are times it goes up and down based on what’s going on – what people hear, what they see. The way I see the increase, I quite frankly think the world demographic is too vast to make that generalization. Personally, I’ve seen so many good people. The gentleman who wanted to burn Korans in Florida – an irrational reaction on behalf of one person, who supposedly has a congregation of 10 to 15 people, got national attention. But I know a person of another faith has been dedicating their life to furthering other people, practicing tolerance and spiritual guidance. They’re not in the national media. So should I consider that an increase or decrease?
The Daily: Are you optimistic about the future of Islamic relations in America?
Saiduzzaman: Absolutely. The truth is on trial here, and the truth always prevails. Maybe not in my lifetime, maybe not in yours, but the truth as a phenomenon cannot be kept undercover forever. We, human beings, are the best of creation. In some cases, I know we disappoint ourselves, but optimism is a part of my faith.
