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Ms. Syeed: To be an American Muslim simply, to me,
means that you're practicing your faith through the lens of
an American identity.
(on the phone) Ok, good.
Well then, I'll come by some time and get it from you.
My name is Afeefa Syeed and I'm Senior Advisor for Culture and
Development with the Middle East and Asia Bureaus at USAID.
My family is from Kashmir.
I was born there and then my father and mother came to the
United States to study -- for graduate studies,
so I've been here all my life pretty much.
To me, there is no contradiction between being an American,
between being a Muslim.
In fact, I think, with all the travels that I've done and
worked in so many places, for me,
the comfort zone that I have is here in the --
in America because of the simple,
seamless connection between the two identities that forge
into one.
I don't think you can say, well, this person identifies or
represents American Muslims anymore, which is a celebration,
actually, to be able to say, we have such diversity that many
people can speak for the community.
Mr. Hussain: Well, the Muslim community in America is very diverse,
very vibrant and in many ways it looks like a cross-section of
the greater American community.
My name is Rashad Hussain.
I work in the White House Counsel's Office as one of the
Deputy Associate Counsels for the President.
That makes me a lawyer.
(laughs)
Like many other Americans and people of faith,
a lot of the core values are very similar.
There is a prophetic tradition in our faith that if you see
that -- something that's objectionable,
then you should change it with your hands.
And if you're unable to change it with your hands,
then you should speak out against it,
you should change it with your tongue.
And if you're unable to do that, then that means you should
dislike it in your heart.
I think that's a value that's shared by people of all faiths
and a form of my work.
Ms. Bashir: I've always done work that is satisfying to me personally --
work that I feel is rewarding and work that I feel benefits
others as opposed to, you know, something that's more impersonal
or where I don't feel like I'm doing something that's
helping somebody.
My name is Lema Bashir.
I am a trial attorney with the voting section of Civil Rights
Division here at the Department of Justice.
My family's Palestinian.
My mother is a Palestinian American who was born in Ohio.
My father is Palestinian from northern Palestine and his
family moved to Lebanon when he was a child and he
grew up there.
My family's always been involved with the Arab American community
in areas that we've lived in, and in Washington there's
certainly a very vibrant Arab American community here.
You've got them getting involved in the political process,
which is something that's -- it had always been happening on a
small scale, but now it's happening on a much larger scale
because people are understanding that there is a need to
recognize that you are American and this is your country.
You have a background; you come from somewhere,
your family comes from somewhere, we all do.
But we also need to understand -- and people are understanding
-- that living here means getting involved in the process,
and everybody benefits from that.
It's been educational for me and for others,
sort of discussing with them what it means to be a Muslim in
the United States.
Mr. Hussain: Muslim Americans have been active in all facets of
American life.
Ms. Syeed: The ideals that we hold as American Muslims are not that
different from what they - from what Muslims around the world also hold.
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