My Response to Izzy Mo's "Society for Caucasian Muslims"

I've been meaning to respond to izzy mo's take on what a Caucasian Muslim Society might be like. She wrote: "I remembered an article about Caucasian Muslims printed in Islamic Horizons which stated that out of all the various ethnic groups in our umma, Caucasian Muslim never started a group specifically for Caucasian Muslims. There's Black groups, Latino groups, Indian groups, even Vietnamese and Native American groups, but no White, Anglo-Saxon or Caucasian groups."

I haven't read the article in question, but I would agree that there probably aren't any Caucasian Muslim groups in the US. (If there are any, they're probably very small in size.) Actually, I suspect that most American whites tend to think that we, as the current majority ethnic group/race in the US, don't need to create organizations specifically for Caucasians because it's assumed that we can join these groups anyway. (And, historically, those Caucasians who did create organizations specifically for whites have been criticized publicly over the past few decades due to discriminating against people from other races who wanted to join. So the general attitude by most whites now I think is, why bother?)

The funny thing is, here in Singapore, there is a "Caucasian Muslim" group, known as the Euro Club, which is affiliated with Darul Arqam - The Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore. Despite the name, the Euro Club is really for any Muslim (of any race) who comes from Western countries. Most of the members I know come from either Australia or New Zealand; I also know two Europeans, and then there's me, the only American in the group that I know of (although there may be more).

-----

A few months ago, a friend from Arizona asked me, "How do you feel being a minority?" Meaning, in a country where 77% of the population is Chinese, 14% is Malay, and 7% is Indian, the remaining 2% or so is mostly white (in three years here in S'pore, the number of blacks I've run across could probably be counted on both hands and feet). The irony is that I've felt like a minority since my reversion to Islam five years ago. Going to masjids, regardless of the country I've been to (US, Switzerland, Korea, Singapore), there is rarely any other white Muslim praying there with me. Years ago, I used to worry a little as to how I might be treated by the other Muslim brothers; after all, white Americans hadn't always treated black Americans that well (and likewise, Americans haven't treated the rest of the world that well either). But all of my worries have been for naught. In fact, instead of being treated poorly, I am treated very well. I am frequently the object of attention, the great curiosity: a white male American Muslim. Whodathunkit? And there are also times when I feel I'm a type of ambassador for American Muslims in these countries that I visit. People are curious as to how Islam is practiced in America, how big the Muslim population is, and so on. I try to be honest with them, telling them about both the good and bad. But the conversations tend to be interesting, and I hope we all will profit from the encounters.

One thing that I do enjoy about Islam, though, is the lack of emphasis on skin color, especially during salat. In the masjids I've been to around the world, there's very little segregation between different communities like you might find in American churches (white churches over here, black churches over there). I like the fact that in most places I've been to, there is a rainbow of skin colors, meeting Muslims from around the world (perhaps 20 nationalities so far). When the Qur'an talks about being a universal message for all mankind, I can believe it because I've seen so many diverse people who are Muslims. Alhamdulillah!

(Insha'allah, I hope to post a second comment to Izzy Mo's post later.)