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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010
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THE JUSTICE
On the
road
HILARY HEYISON/the Justice
SPEAKING TOUR: Aman Ali shared stories with students from his 30-day trip across the country.
again
Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq came to campus last week By DAFNA FINE JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
New York; Maine; Massachusetts; Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; North Carolina; Georgia; Florida; and Alabama. Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq have already visited nine mosques in nine days when a police car pulls them over for carelessly swerving into the right lane. They step out of the car and are individually questioned, just moments away from a ticket. Their saving grace? Showing the officer their “30 Mosques 30 States” CNN interview, a video more interesting than a minor misdemeanor. Ali and Tariq, co-creators of the 30 Mosques 30 States project, came to Brandeis Oct. 19 to speak about their 30-day journey across the country. The event was organized by Project Nur, a student-led initiative of the American Islamic Congress that is “striving for the American ideals of democracy, diversity, and pluralism,” according to Wajida Syed ’12, president of Project Nur. The event was co-sponsored by the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program, the Interfaith Chaplaincy and the Brandeis Muslim Students Association. “The American Muslim perspective is often not talked about,” Syed says. “People don’t realize there is an American Muslim narrative of both people who are accepted and who are not,” she says. The 30 Mosques project began last year when Ali and Tariq decided to get to know the Muslim community and visit 30 mosques in New York during the holy month of Ramadan. Ali, a writer and stand-up comedian of Indian descent, and Tariq, a filmmaker and advertising copywriter born in Pakistan, visited some of the most well-known mosques of New York City, including the Malcolm Shabazz Cultural Center, dedicated to Muslim pioneer Malcolm X, and the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, believed to be the largest mosque in the New York City area. Blogging their way through each mosque on their website with pictures, descriptions and stories, Ali and Tariq were surprised to reach thousands of readers as far as Vietnam and South Africa, both Muslim and nonMuslim. “The energy was amazing to us,” Ali told the audience in the Harlan Chapel last Tuesday night. With the enthusiasm and support they received, the two decided to broaden the project this year from the streets of New York City to a countrywide trip during the month of Ramadan. The goal: 30 mosques, 30 states, 30 days. “We’re not pushing an ideology, we just wanted to tell great stories. There is a genuine hunger for good, authentic stories of what Muslims are like around the country,” Ali said. “It wasn’t a response to the Ground Zero Mosque, and it wasn’t a PR campaign. We tell the positive and negative stories,” he said.
Beginning in New York City this summer on Aug. 11, Ali and Tariq made their way on a 13,000-mile journey, stopping each day to visit a different mosque to break their fast. To experience the diversity of Muslim communities firsthand, Ali and Tariq opted to stay at different homes each night along the way rather than in hotels. They researched the communities in each place online and found contacts they could call for a place to stay. “We were afraid of finding cookie-cutter communities, but we were pleasantly surprised by the diversity,” said Tariq in an interview with the Justice. He says he felt that no two cities were the same. One day was spent in Ross, N.D., a city with a population of 48 people as of the 2000 census. The small city is also home to the first mosque built in the United States in 1929. Though the mosque was demolished in the 1970s, a new one was built in its place in 2005. Nearby, in the cemetery, Ali and Tariq read the names of deceased Muslims from the community dating back as far as 1882. They saw the Muslim community of Bosnian refugees in Idaho and the Cambodian mosque in Santa Ana, Calif. In Iowa, they visited the longest-standing mosque in North America. “What they uncovered candidly is amazing,” Syed says. “People don’t even know there are Cambodian Muslims,” she says. The jam-packed trip left little time for hunger. “Fasting was one of the easiest things. My mind was focused on getting there on time. We had to schedule, cram everything in, and then start again the next day,” Ali said. “We would contact communities to try to find a great story. We wanted to get a lot of perspectives in,” he continued. The challenge for Tariq, the photographer on the trip, was to keep the photos interesting. “We wanted to give justice to each community so it looked different than the one the day before,” Tariq told the Justice. They posted photos with each blog entry to give readers a small glimpse of each community along the way, many of which he showed in a slideshow at the event. Traveling up to 10 hours each day, the trip was not always easy. They drove over a large rock in Montana, one of the only states without a mosque, which left their car broken and Tariq hiking into town to find help. Their car was eventually towed to Bozeman, a town about 40 miles north from where they stopped. In another instance, the two were almost kicked out of a mosque in Mobile, Ala. when they showed up with CNN. Day 30 was spent in Dearborn, Mich., home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the country. After 29 days of traveling, the two arrived late for mosque on the last day. Despite their disappointment, they made it in time to celebrate the Eid festivities with the Dearborn community, which concluded the holy month of Ramadan. The trip not only shed a new light on Muslim communities nationwide, but also on the
HILARY HEYISON/the Justice
MEMORABLE MOMENTS: Bassam Tariq told students his favorite memories from the road trip. country itself. “America is embracing. I’ve always believed it, but to experience it was amazing,” Ali said, referring to the welcoming people along the way who opened their homes and lives to the travelers. “It’s a great country and an incredible time,” Tariq said. Though the two do not know exactly what will be for the Muslim community in the next few years, Ali said he is on “optimistic pins and needles.” “We are at the threshold to bring change,” Tariq said. Though Ramadan is over, the two are still on the road. They just began their 30 Mosques 30 States speaking tour, visiting different places to share their photos, stories and videos and inspire others. “They portray diversity in general, and
specifically in America,” Nusrath Yusuf ’13 says, a member of Project Nur who found their story unique. “We don’t have a monopoly on the project,” Ali says in response to others who have expressed interest in trying something similar. “We’re just two people stepping out of our comfort zones, learning about something and being embraced. Our experience is ours; yours might be different. We want to hear more stories,” he said. What are they planning for next year’s Ramadan? “Thirty planets might be nuts, but we’re thinking about 30 countries in Europe,” Tariq said. “We’re just two dudes that like to hang out, listen to Alanis Morissette and drive.”