On Saturday, about 400 people of many faiths toured a traveling exhibit cataloging American Muslim history curated by America’s Islamic Heritage Museum, at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS), the largest mosque in the Northwest, located in Redmond.
“The museum’s curator, Mr. Amir Muhammad, gave three full tours of the exhibition during the day. People really connected with his energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject,” said MAPS board Director Riad Chummun, who organized the event. “Many of the attendees also purchased books by Mr. Muhammad that were on sale.”
He added that people from various religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds attended the exhibition.
“Most people spent quite some time studying the panels,” Chummun said. “Many stayed for more than an hour and it was a delight to host them.”
He said an elderly woman who recorded one of the tours, told him that Muhammad was telling her story. She told Chummun that she was born in the United States and has been Muslim her whole life. However, every time she tells others that she is a Muslim, they would ask her where did she migrate from, he said.
“She was happy that by having this exhibit, we were correcting the misperception that American Muslims are new to America and were educating the public of the centuries-old legacy of Muslims in America,” Chummun said.
In addition, he said he met a middle-school aged girl who attended the exhibit with her family and was excited about learning the origin of their last name and “could not wait to go home and tell her grandpa.”
America’s Islamic Heritage Museum has curated a range of documents and photographs cataloging the Muslim legacy in the Americas, from slavery to the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement to today. These exhibits focus on Muslims in early America, Muslims of the African Diaspora and Muslims in early 20th Century. The exhibits have toured the country and the world and have been displayed at, among other places, the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Museum, DuSable Museum, Martin L. King Public Library Washington, Harvard University, Stanford and many more venues.
For more information, visit www.muslimsinamerica.org.
MAPS has held a series of events throughout January and February in celebration of Black History Month. These events aim to educate the local Muslim community and its neighbors about the history and contribution to our nation of African Americans, including African American Muslims.
