His mission is to make the Muslim vote matter
Sometimes the 51-year-old Skyway resident was ignored. Other times he was pulled into debates with Muslims who fear or mistrust the federal government, don't believe their vote would make a difference, or feel it's wrong to back a candidate who might do something that runs contrary to Islamic principles.
Yet Jama persisted. "I tell them: 'If you want them to listen to your concerns, you have to vote.' "
Jama is heading a voter-registration drive on behalf of Hate Free Zone Campaign of Washington, a civil-rights advocacy group, and the Seattle branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Seattle). The groups are hoping to reach as many as 10,000 Muslims statewide — either new voters or those who've registered but are not on the mailing list of either group.
Yesterday, imams and leaders at a dozen local mosques spoke about the importance of political participation, part of a nationwide effort among Islamic groups to get Muslims to the polls this presidential election year.
"This is a critical moment for the Muslim community in North America," said Ibrahim Mohamed, a CAIR-Seattle board adviser who spoke at Lynnwood's Dar Al Arqam Mosque.
Muslims in America are being targeted, he said — detained for months at a time, their homes searched by federal agents. "This is a critical time to make sure we are counted, that we matter."
Hadi Saadi, 47, has been a citizen since 1995. Yesterday, he registered to vote in order to "try to make some changes. Hopefully for the better." The war in Iraq must stop and there should be justice for Muslims in the U.S., he says.
And he's hoping to vote for someone who will make the economy better — he's unemployed.
Muslims don't make up a sizable voting bloc — estimates of their numbers nationwide range from 2 million to more than 6 million, and in Washington state, the number frequently cited is around 50,000. But their numbers may be enough to make a difference in swing states such as Washington, Michigan and Ohio.
Among their chief concerns are civil rights and foreign policy.
In 2000, several prominent Muslim organizations endorsed George W. Bush, liking, among other things, his campaign denouncement of using secret evidence to detain Muslims, what they thought would be a tougher stance on Israel, and his conservative values on abortion and freedom of religion.
But now, many American Muslims are incensed by what they say is the Bush administration's unfair targeting of Muslims since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Locally, many are outraged by the government's 76-day imprisonment of Muslim Army chaplain James Yee on spying allegations before all charges against him eventually were dropped; by a Treasury Department raid of three local Somali-owned businesses; and by an Agriculture Department decision to disqualify three Somali-owned grocery stores from accepting food stamps.
Jama, whose efforts are officially nonpartisan, says he doesn't care whom Muslims vote for, so long as they vote.
Some days are easier. At some community festivals and mosques, people who have merely procrastinated on registering to vote sign up readily.
But there are challenges.
He often talks to Muslims who think their votes won't change American foreign policy no matter which candidate or party they vote for. He tries to assuage fears that registering could give the government personal information that could lead to their interrogation or get their businesses seized.
"The government can get your information from the IRS, from the driver's licenses" if it really wanted to, Jama tells them.
He tries to instill the importance of political participation in those who come from countries where such activities, even voting, may have been dangerous.
And he calmly counters those who question whether Muslims should even be participating in a political system that's not based on Islamic law.
Many Muslims oppose abortion rights, for example, which Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry supports. At the same time, most Muslims abhor what Michaela Corning of CAIR-Seattle calls President Bush's disregard for violations of Palestinians' rights.
At a prayer center in the Central Area recently, Jama exchanged words with a Muslim who said they would have blood on their hands if they helped elect a president who started a war in which innocent Muslims were killed.
Jama and Corning emphasize the example of the prophet Mohammed, who participated in the political systems of his day — systems that were not necessarily Islamic.
"He understood that in Islam, there's this concept of the lesser of two evils," Corning said. "Do you compromise a lesser point for a greater good? Yes, you do. He had to make compromises to get Muslims the rights they deserved and required."
Jama also carries several fatwas — rulings by learned scholars on Islamic law — on questions such as whether Muslims have a religious obligation to participate in American political life.
Jama, ironically, cannot vote here. Although he is a permanent U.S. resident, he is a Canadian citizen. He immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s, fleeing Somalia before the civil war erupted. He moved to Seattle in 1997, a couple of years after meeting a Seattle woman who became his wife. They have five children.
Jama has always been passionate about human rights. In Somalia, he taught international humanitarian law at the nation's top university. In Canada, he worked as a director of a halfway house and educated immigrants on the Canadian legal system.
In Seattle, Jama has worked as an interpreter for local courts and as an advocate for the Somali community.
He was a bit disappointed by the results of his afternoon at the Central Area mosque: Only six people signed up. Then he remembered an upcoming community festival, where people would probably be in good moods, and perhaps more willing to listen.
"I'll get more people registered there," he said.
Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com
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