May Kamsheh 0:01
Today is December 7 2019, and my name is May Kamsheh. This is for the
Muslims in Minnesota project for Augsburg University. I'm talking to
one of the Muslim citizens in the state of Minnesota. Her name is
Manal Hashw.
Manal Hashw 0:19
Good evening, Manal. How are you today?... Show more
May Kamsheh 0:01
Today is December 7 2019, and my name is May Kamsheh. This is for the
Muslims in Minnesota project for Augsburg University. I'm talking to
one of the Muslim citizens in the state of Minnesota. Her name is
Manal Hashw.
Manal Hashw 0:19
Good evening, Manal. How are you today?
Good evening, May. I'm good. Thank you.
May Kamsheh 0:25
Would you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you.
Manal Hashw 0:30
My name is Manal Hashw. I am a..um..my background is an Egyptian
originally, and I have three kids. Married for 29 years. And I live in
Eden Prairie Minnesota.
May Kamsheh 0:53
Okay, when and where were you born in what town did you grow up in?
Manal Hashw 0:58
I was born in Egypt. And I grew up in Egypt, went to college. And I
came to United States like 1990.
May Kamsheh 1:10
You went to college in Egypt?
Manal Hashw
Yes.
1:12
May Kamsheh 1:14
What college was it?
Manal Hashw 1:16
I went to the engineering school. And I graduated 1989.
May Kamsheh 1:24
Oh, nice. So you came after you graduated college?
Manal Hashw 1:28
Yeah, I met my husband and we came together.
May Kamsheh 1:33
So you got married and then came?
Manal Hashw
Yeah.
1:36
May Kamsheh 1:36
Nice. Um, so before you came here, what was your childhood like in
Egypt?
Manal Hashw 1:43
Egypt it was good. We were like middle class family. My dad died when
I was like 11 and my mom raised me and my brother and sisters. I
finished my college degree and that was decent and good childhood.
May Kamsheh 2:10
That's good. Did you have any like early memories you remember from
it?
Manal Hashw 2:16
Yeah, I have memories about because I was from Alexandria, Egypt and
Alexandria is on the Mediterranean. And all my memories is about the
beach and walking in a beach and you know, and I go with my friends
swim and all these memories still was me.
May Kamsheh 2:41
That's fun. So, who are your parents? Or what were your parents like?
Manal Hashw 2:49
My, as I said, my dad died when I was 11. He was a major in the army
in Egypt and he died when I was 11. My mom was a school teacher and
then school principal and they were like working middle class.
May Kamsheh 3:16
Okay. So do you have any brothers or sisters?
Manal Hashw 3:20
I have one brother and two sisters.
May Kamsheh 3:26
What what were they like?
Manal Hashw 3:31
My two sisters still living back in Egypt now. My brother lives here
in Minnesota. They're very good. I'm the oldest..
May Kamsheh 3:41
Okay, so they're younger?
Manal Hashw 3:43
..they are younger than me and we are connecting, you know, I always
visit my brother here in Minnesota. I go to Egypt once in a while to
see my sisters, come back. So we're good.
May Kamsheh 4:00
That's good. So you said you graduated in Egypt and your career path
was engineering? So when you came here did you work in that field
still?
Manal Hashw 4:12
Yes. When I came here, I, I took some classes in computer science
besides my engineering degree, and I worked as a software engineer for
like three years. And then I my kids, you know, my third, my third
daughter came and it becomes very hard to work with three kids in this
field. So I decided to stay home and you know take care of the kids.
May Kamsheh 4:51
So that you go to like the University of Minnesota?
Manal Hashw
For what?
4:54
May Kamsheh 4:55
For the classes.
Manal Hashw 4:56
No, I went to a Technical College.
May Kamsheh
Oh okay.
4:58
Manal Hashw 4:58
For the for the software classes, I just needed to add some more
information to what I have and know about the system. So and, you
know, learn English very well as I can. And after this I was hired at
Gelco Information Network. It's a company in Eden Prairie, and I
worked there for like, three or maybe four years. Yeah.
May Kamsheh 5:32
Did you like it there?
Manal Hashw 5:34
Yeah, I did. I like it so much. But as a programmer, it's, you know,
you can't keep track of time. And when you have three kids, it's
impossible to you know, to manage both. So I just decided to stay home
andtake care of the kids.
May Kamsheh 5:56
Did you get have your kids here in Minnesota?
Manal Hashw 5:59
Oh, yeah. They're all born here in Minnesota.
May Kamsheh 6:09
So how was that when you first came here? Did you first you came to
Minnesota was the only state you've lived in?
Manal Hashw 6:16
Yes, yes. However I visited everywhere in United States. But yeah,
when I came I came here. First I didn't know how much cold [laughs] my
husband didn't give me an idea about how much cold is it. So I came in
September. So September was okay and that's going to be cold as
September but October, November, snow start to come Decemeber and I
said, Oh my gosh, what I put myself into? [laughs] Because the weather
there in Alexandria, Egypt is like San Diego, California Yeah, it's
like, hot and you know, nice and, and we never wear jackets or boots
or hats or and I started to learn you know how to deal with the
weather, you know?
May Kamsheh 7:16
So you got used to it?
Manal Hashw 7:18
No [laughs] I'm still working on it! [laughs more]
May Kamsheh 7:24
Same! So when you came here did you know a lot of English or did you
learn more here?
Manal Hashw 7:33
I learned more here because in Egypt we didn't we didn't have a lot of
you know we know English but as like the British way.
May Kamsheh
Oh yeah..
7:44
Manal Hashw 7:45
So it was a problem in the beginning with the English and also we
didn't have enough so I was in the beginning like afraid to talk to
anybody like listening and understanding I don't want to speak because
I don't want people to make fun of me. But it came by the time in, you
know?
May Kamsheh 8:07
Yeah, that's good.
Manal Hashw 8:08
I am still learning. [laughs]
May Kamsheh 8:10
So your college was in English in you classes in Egypt?
Manal Hashw
Half half.
8:15
May Kamsheh
8:16
Oh okay.
Manal Hashw 8:16
So and also is still the scientific terms, you know, and it's totally
different than the conversation. And it's different than when you have
somebody say a joke, and you don't understand what's behind this joke
or what, what does that mean or so it took time because it's not just
the language it's the culture too. You know?
May Kamsheh 8:39
Okay, yeah. So into the next set of questions, how was being a Muslim
in Minnesota when you first came when you first came here like?
Manal Hashw 8:52
It didn't really matter at all because I didn't feel any different you
know? We came here people were nice we're good, you know? I asked
about if there is a mosque here in Minnesota and I knew that that
Islamic Center in Fridley so you we were going there and events and
see people and sometimes pray but actually we never have a problem you
know as Muslims here.
May Kamsheh 9:27
Was the community small when you came here at first?
Manal Hashw 9:32
Yeah actually it's it's yeah expanded now. It was small. We have like
some friends around I didn't know everybody but I was busy with the
kids and work and but I I think it was smaller then we're talking
about 29 years ago. It's a long time.
May Kamsheh 9:55
Yeah. Okay, so You said you had kids, how many kids you have again?
Manal Hashw 10:03
I have three kids. And I got my first in 1991, then my second 1993,
and my third is 1997.
May Kamsheh 10:19
Do your kids live here?
Manal Hashw 10:21
Yeah. My first son. Yeah. He's he's married now. And he lives in
Plymouth. And my second son, he graduated from the U of M engineering
school. Yeah. And my daughter she graduated from the engineering
school U of M too. And they both working. So, and my oldest graduate
from Carson, not Carson. St. Thomas University. Yeah, with a business
degree and he works at Medtronic.
May Kamsheh 11:01
So they are all engineers?
Manal Hashw 11:03
No, two engineers and one business.
May Kamsheh
Oh, okay.
11:05
Manal Hashw
Yeah.
11:05
May Kamsheh 11:08
That's nice.
Manal Hashw 11:09
Yeah. [laughs] I'm glad I was able to, you know, direct them
May Kamsheh
Yeah.
11:16
Manal Hashw 11:16
And lead them to, to achieve their goals.
May Kamsheh 11:20
Was your husband engineer too?
Manal Hashw 11:21
Yeah, he is. He's a manager at Medtronic. And he's a mechanical
engineer.
May Kamsheh 11:31
Okay, so how is handling a job and kids like? You said it was hard?
Manal Hashw 11:37
It was very hard for me because I, I wanted to because I have the
Egyptian culture. And I'm here in US and I wanted to get the two good
things from what I can say that I wanted to get the best from the two
cultures.
May Kamsheh
Yeah.
11:59
Manal Hashw 12:00
So to do that you have to guide your kids and you have to be around
and watch them and talk to them and follow school and and to do that
with three kids it's it's hard when you work full time. So I you know,
I after like four years I quit and I decided to stay home for a few
years until they grow up and then I go back.
May Kamsheh 12:29
Did you go back to engineering?
Manal Hashw 12:32
No, it ends up i when i was raising the kid they were very young. I
wanted them to learn the language and religion. So I decided to and
the Islamic Center was in Fridley, we live in Eden Prairie, it's far
away. And I don't want to drive on every day there and so I am was
thinking why we don't have a small Sunday school or charter school or
anything here in Eden Prairie. So here when I started the Sunday
school
May Kamsheh 13:15
Okay, that follows me into my next question is; When did you start the
opening of the Sunday school, Al-Manar?
Manal Hashw 13:22
I am, it was very easy. [laughs] We weren't we weren't really looking
for a school. I was just wanted to have my kids learn language, the
Arabic language and the culture, the culture. And I was talking to my
friends, and they said just start the project and we'll support you.
So I went to the Eden Prairie district, and I talked to them about
what I want to do and if they can give me a space to rent, and have
the kids come every Sunday to learn language and culture um and they
agree to do that and I they given me the CMS school, Central Middle
School in Eden Prairie, to use for three hours every Sunday. And when
I got the permission, I started to recruit teachers and assistants and
you know, and then we build the school and we have, we had like around
200 students in this school, learning language culture. We had also
like 15 teachers. So I started I became busy with the school and I
forgot about engineering so [laughs] and I schools started in 2001 and
stayed for 12 years. I've been the principal of this school for 12
years. And it was a volunteer work. I was just working with teachers,
ordering books, helping kids, to create curriculum to help them learn.
And we worked for 12 years at the school.
May Kamsheh 15:34
So were there any challenges that you faced running the school? Like
not enough kids like signed up or you didn't have?
Manal Hashw 15:45
No, actually when we started we had a lot of people come to enroll
their kids in the school, because it was the only one in the South
West. And everybody Well, want to have, you know, the school close to
their house. So we have a lot of people come and sign up and the
challenge was sometimes, you know, to satisfy everybody and there is
different ideas and different agendas and but we I tried from the
beginning to use the school only for education and have the kids come
to learn. I didn't want to make it as a community center or a place
for people to come and sit and do activities, no, it just was just a
school and that's what I wanted and so the challenge is how to
convince parents you know, that this place only for school. And um but
I was able to do that from the beginning, and it's, it was a very
successful project.
May Kamsheh 17:06
Was it kids from all ages?
Manal Hashw 17:08
Yes. All Ages, and we had also adult classes too. And we had many
nationalities, Americans, Indians, Europeans, they all wanted to learn
the Arabic language, and the culture and some of about the religion
history so we will be doing that all ages.
May Kamsheh 17:37
Nice. So did you teach a class as well?
Manal Hashw 17:41
I did. Yeah. In the beginning, I was teaching because we were in a
process to try to find the right teachers took time to do that. So I
was teaching myself and then when we found enough teachers, I was only
doing the principal job and work mostly in managing, recruiting, doing
activities for the kids, plays on the stage, and music sometimes,
order the books you know? Principal work.
May Kamsheh 18:20
Did you like being a principal?
Manal Hashw 18:22
Yes, I, I think my engineering background helped me a lot to work on
this because having a project like this and interact with people, you
have to be organized, you have to put priorities, you have to have
your brain set a certain way to deal with everybody. And yeah, I it
was it was fun.
May Kamsheh 18:50
That's good. So why did it end up closing?
Manal Hashw 18:53
Because after 12 years, I'm tired. [laughs]. I got you know, I I, my
kids grown, you know, went to college, I was happy about how much they
know about Arabic language and culture and religion. And I wanted to
do something else, another project, you know? Which is I'm doing right
now trying, you know, tutoring kids math and science. I wanted to do
something different. So I asked people, if somebody want to take over
and do what I'm doing, but I guess we couldn't find somebody who put
all the time I was putting and energy. So we end up like we said,
we're gonna take a break. And it's been now three years. It's closed,
and nobody want to go and take the responsibility again.
May Kamsheh 19:53
I'm sure someone will hopefully.
Manal Hashw 19:55
Yeah hopefully. I think what happened now is because there is a lot of
schools right now in the Twin Cities. So people are divided in
different schools. And everybody went to school that close to their
house. So and settled, you know, so so I think we did a good job. And
we're proud of this school and what offered to the community, the
Egyptian and the Arab community, and just give a chance to other
people to shine and do other projects.
May Kamsheh 20:35
So it was overall successful you think?
Manal Hashw 20:38
Yes, it was. You know, I, you know, it's enough for me that this was
the first Sunday school in Minnesota that I created to help the Arab
community you know, with language and so I'm so proud of this project
and from this school, a lot of schools, you know, came and start. So,
yeah, I'm satisfied about working on this school.
May Kamsheh 21:11
Yeah, you should be really proud. That's really cool. You did that.
Manal Hashw
Thank you.
21:15
May Kamsheh 21:16
So you mentioned your other project you're working on?
Manal Hashw 21:20
It wasn't a project, it was because I love teaching. So I was I went
to the district, Eden Prairie school district, and I worked as a
paraprofessional there at the high school. And I was also a study
skills class teacher, because I was hired to teach students how to
study. I believe that if the kids know how to study and how to
organize themselves and how to beat the test they it's it's really
important to give them the this technical, you know, tools to use.
They will be great, you know in math and science. So I worked two
years at Eden Prairie high schools and then program canceled for money
or whatever. So I went back home again and I decided to do private
tutoring.
Okay, what age was that?
The high school school. That was high school. That was, yeah. 18 and
19.
May Kamsheh 22:37
So now you do private tutoring?
Manal Hashw 22:39
I do. It's not like a business but like, my friends if their kids need
help. One of my neighbors need help. So it's just like.
May Kamsheh 22:51
Oh okay, that's nice. So you mentioned the do you go to one specific
mosque here around here is there a mosque close to you?
Manal Hashw 23:07
There is the mosque on Shady Oak Road Masjid..I forgot the name. Um
just we go you know in Eid and I don't go like often. I don't go like
every Friday and no but I go to events when we have our holidays. I go
there. If the community having an event, so yeah, a good one in Eden
Prairie.
May Kamsheh 23:46
Okay. Have you ever faced any difficulties being a Muslim here?
Manal Hashw 23:55
After see after 9/11, we had we were confused and everybody was
confused and we didn't know what happened. So it's it's the we had
some difficulty for people to understand that what happened is has
nothing to do with Islam. And I tried my best to explain to my
neighbors, my friends, my because I have a lot of American friends and
I have my neighbors and I can meet you know, I volunteer in schools. I
work with kids in schools and everything so I have we had to explain
that this people are have you know, they're not they have nothing to
do with Islam. And that was all political all all. whatever they're
doing, violence for, for for an agenda in their head but this is has
nothing to do with the religion itself. And I think by the time people
understand now that you know, a lot of Muslim people here in US are
successful and part of the community that gets born there here, they
become their country. So, but that was the time that we had difficulty
but after this and before, everything is good.
May Kamsheh 25:29
That's good. Have you ever given speeches about Islam to a large crowd
or group of people?
Manal Hashw 25:40
Um no, I didn't speak to a large crowd. However, I spoke to my
neighbors like group of three or four, to explain what Islam is, and
what's Muslim do, what's the difference between the religion of Islam,
Christianity, and Judaism, and so it was usually a group of 2, 3, 4 to
talk to them about Islam, but I never like talk to a big crowd before.
May Kamsheh 26:14
Okay, and these people you talk to were they supportive?
Manal Hashw
26:18
Yeah, because people the problem is some people listen to the media
only or they never read about the history of Islam. They listen to the
media or some they see some videos on YouTube or you know, and create
an idea in their head about Muslims. And some people not, some people
know, you know, they read, they ask questions, they figured out. But I
always you know, have to talk to those people who are confused and
they don't know, you know, who's Muslims? What they're doing here,
especially with having some violence and trouble, sometimes related or
associated with the Muslims or the Islam. So I had to explain to them
that we have like 1 billion Muslims in the world. So if some group of
Muslims are did something bad or have a certain thinking or that
doesn't mean that all Muslims are the same and give them examples and
talk to them but the history it's good for people to know. You know,
so they don't judge you. They don't judge you based on media or bad
information.
May Kamsheh 28:01
Yes, that's good. I agree. So how is being a Muslim in Minnesota now
different than it was when you first got here?
Manal Hashw 28:11
I think the new generation now are more knowledgeable about Islam and
about other religions and about accepting the others. And I think that
the gap that the big difference between when I come there was no
internet, no tools to find information about religions. So people were
confused about it. But now, I think the new generation everybody knows
about Muslims and Muslim history and so I think it's better now.
May Kamsheh 28:56
Okay, so how do you see the future of Islam Minnesota as in will it
keep growing you think?
Manal Hashw 29:04
Yeah, I think the community is getting together, they are more
connected they support each other. If in in their bad time or if
somebody needs help or for kids you know if things happen to the
parents or for any problem in the community, I think Muslims community
now help each other. Yeah, I can see and I noticed that there is a big
community now, it's more than before.
May Kamsheh 29:51
So you see the Muslim community future being expanded?
Manal Hashw 29:56
Yeah, it's expanding now. Because the third generation now is more
open and more connected with the with each other and with the
Americans, and so it's you can't miss it. I mean, it's there and it's
getting bigger.
May Kamsheh
30:22
Okay. Are you happy that you came here to the United States?
Manal Hashw 30:27
Yes, I am. Of course I am happy this is a land of opportunity. And we
came here in and we decided to be part of the country and become
Muslim Americans. And I think we, we did great, we are successful. We
have our kids are successful, they have good jobs. We are part of the
community. We volunteer, we help, we lived here, I think I lived here
more than I lived in my native country. So I'm so happy. I love people
here, I love the culture, I love being part of, of this country.
May Kamsheh 31:19
So it was a good decision overall?
Manal Hashw 31:21
Of course, I am Egyptian American, and I'm American citizen. And I
value my country here and I value Egypt too. And I think it's a good
decision. I'm, I'm happy to take this decision.
May Kamsheh 31:38
Is there anything else you'd like to say as your final words?
Manal Hashw 31:43
No, I'm so happy that there is about this project. I mean, people will
maybe get some idea about Muslim in, in America, and I think you
covered all the points. You did a great job.
May Kamsheh 32:00
Okay, thank you for your time and I really appreciate it.
Manal Hashw 32:04
You're welcome and good luck with your project. And thank you very
much.
May Kamsheh 32:09
Thank you. Hope to see you again soon.
Manal Hashw 32:11
Yep. Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Show less
May Kamsheh 0:01
Today is November 10 2019, and my name is May Kamsheh. This is for the
Muslims and Minnesota project for Oxford University. I'm talking to
one of the Muslim senior citizens in the Muslim community in the state
of Minnesota. His name is Dr. Mohammed Fathi Ibrahim Kamsheh.
Go... Show more
May Kamsheh 0:01
Today is November 10 2019, and my name is May Kamsheh. This is for the
Muslims and Minnesota project for Oxford University. I'm talking to
one of the Muslim senior citizens in the Muslim community in the state
of Minnesota. His name is Dr. Mohammed Fathi Ibrahim Kamsheh.
Good afternoon, Doctor, how are you today?
Mohammed 0:24
Good afternoon and fine. Thank you.
May Kamsheh 0:28
Would you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you?
Mohammed 0:33
Yes, of course. My name is Mohammed Fathi Ibrahim Kamsheh. I was born
in the city of Damascus in Syria in 1943. Grew up in Damascus and the
suburb of Damascus. I went to Elementary School in the city of
Damascus, and then to the middle school and then graduated from high
school in 1962. And then attended medical school at the University of
Damascus graduated in the year 1969. After graduation, I attended an
exam at the embassy at the American Embassy in Beirut because our
embassy was closed at that time we were in a state of war with one of
our neighbor country, namely Israel. So because of that, and because
of the The problem with the war the embassy was closed in Damascus.
That was in 1970, the spring of 1970. And then I apply to Postgraduate
School at the state of Minnesota University and came for specialty
training in July of 1970.
May Kamsheh 2:36
So are you the first person in your family to be a doctor?
Mohammed 2:41
Yes, I was the first physician before me was my older brother who
graduated four years before me from dental school. So he was ahead of
me in healthcare and he was practicing dentistry in the suburbs of
Damascus, then I working for a short period of time in the same
suburbs as a physician before coming to United States.
May Kamsheh 3:22
Did your brother come to the United States?
Mohammed 3:25
My brother came as a visitor close to retirement after he finished his
career. Before he retire, he came to visit me on a few different
occasions with my parents.
May Kamsheh 3:43
What were your parents like?
Mohammed 3:46
My dad was a very hard working man. He was a business man. And we come
from middle income families and my mother was a homemaker. Because of
the my unfortunate father's education was not completed because he
needed to work and earned the living. He was very concerned about our
future and he always encouraging us to achieve and advance in school.
May Kamsheh 4:29
Did you have any how many other siblings did you have?
Mohammed 4:32
I have four other brothers, two older than me and two younger than me.
I have two other sisters.
May Kamsheh 4:42
Are your sisters also younger?
Mohammed 4:45
I have two older sisters and one older one younger.
May Kamsheh 4:50
Okay. Are they still in Syria?
Mohammed 4:54
No, my older sister has passed on in Egypt after the war erupted in
Syria and Damascus, specifically in the suburbs, they were forced to
go to Egypt as a refugee. So she passed on two years ago. In Egypt, my
younger sister still live in Damascus with her husband and children
and grandchildren.
May Kamsheh 5:31
And your brothers?
Mohammed 5:33
My older brothers died seven years ago [short pause] to heart attack.
The other older brother died also [short pause], two years later. My
younger brother died with intracranial bleed. I'm sorry to say that as
a sad story, but we left with only one brother who lives now in Egypt.
So all other brothers and older sister have gone. [interupts May] Same
as my parents. Yeah.
May Kamsheh 6:16
I'm sorry to hear that. So when you came to Minnesota, were you
married?
Mohammed 6:25
Yeah. I got married just a year before graduation and we have our son,
who was born in December of 1969. When we came here, he was little bit
over seven months old, and we arrived in July of 1970. To attend. The
first hospital I attended was St. Luke's Hospital which is United
Hospital now and a year later, I started my specialty and postgraduate
training at Region Hospital used to be St. Paul Ramsey Hospital four
years and training after one year of internship. And then after I
passed my board, I worked as a obstetrician and gynecologist in the
Twin Cities with Group Health and then Health Partner for 35 years and
I have been retired now for almost 10 years.
May Kamsheh 7:42
And you enjoyed your job?
Mohammed 7:44
Very much so. I have a thank god very productive life. And I have four
children. The oldest, the one who came with us who, almost 50 years
old now he has four children. And he worked in pharmaceutical [short
pause] company [cough]. Ah the other ah children, I have a teacher who
is married and have two children. And then another very nice girl who
got married. And she lived in the suburbs of Chicago. And the younger
daughter, she decided to go into medicine and she has a degree in
neurology and subspecialty and sleep disorder. So she is neurologist
and sleep disorder specialist.
May Kamsheh 8:52
That's cool. So when you came to Minnesota, where did you did you live
in the city or in the suburbs?
Mohammed 9:01
Initially, I lived cross the street from St. Luke's Hospital, which is
United now in St. Paul. And then I lived in St. Paul for four more
years. After that, after I finished training, we move to the suburbs
of Minneapolis to Edine mainly because of the school system. And all
my children graduated from Edina High School.
May Kamsheh 9:33
Okay, so now going into how how was being a Muslim in Minnesota like
when you first came here?
Mohammed 9:43
Initially when we came here, the number of Muslims were very small,
basically some students who form Muslim Student Association. We used
to meet them at the Coffman Union at a University and there are a few
professors teaching at the University. So we used to use to gather in
the Coffman Union for Juma prayer between 1972-1973-74 and then we
were fortunate enough to have a small house on campus who converted to
a prayer place for Juma. After that 1979 we grew out of this place to
a town of Columbia height, where we're able to purchase a church
converted into a mosque in Columbia Heights and that place still now
functioning as a Muslim Muslim Worship place or Masjid. And then after
that we were able to purchase a school in Fridley. And we were able to
establish the first Islamic center of Minnesota and that school, and
we used to have a Sunday school and few years later, we were able to
establish a full time school teacher regular curriculum in addition to
Islamic history and Islamic study. And from there on, the population
grew up very much after the migration, and the refugee of the Somali
brothers and sisters. And we were fortunate to see them coming with
the knowledge of the Quran. Initially, they were 40 of them "hafez alQuran" (arabic), they were memorizing the Quran by heart and they were
able to establish many Masajid (mosques) to teach Quran and Islam and
Islam study. And later on shortly before I retired, two of our leaders
in the state of Minnesota were able to establish a small Islamic
school and it was called Islamic school [stutters] lslamic University
of Minnesota. They were teaching the Islamic Studies and they were
able to to graduate few students initially, and then the number grew
up to the point that they were very well attended. And many
organization came to the Twin Cities including MASS and and their
leaders were very active in promoting Islam and going on to present
slam to high school and to churches and they were very much active in
introduce Islam, the true Islam, to the communities in the Twin Cities
and Minnesota at large. And thank God To have some organization like
this, to let the people know that Islam is not what the media
sometimes project and not what the some people who claim that they are
Muslim with their bad behavior calling themselves Muslim, but they are
not projecting any of the Islamic manners and behavior.
May Kamsheh 14:30
So were you part of the organization that started the school and other
mosques around here?
Mohammed 14:37
I was fortunate to be able to teach on Sunday school, some of the
students in Columbia Hights and then at the school in Fridley. And I
was fortunate to continue teaching Islam and Quran and Islamic studies
for almost 30 years. During my career, mainly Saturday and Sunday, and
I was trying to do my best in addition to my practice in medicine, to
be helpful to other organization that they just trying to establish
themself in different Islamic centers and Masajids it in the Twin
Cities.
May Kamsheh 15:26
So how was it working, being a teacher and handling your life all here
all like?
Mohammed 15:34
Was very exciting. I was very happy to be able to practice my
profession efficiently and able to introduce my kids to Islam and take
them to Quranic studies every Friday night and to Sunday school, every
weekend, Saturday and Sunday. So it was it was very exciting and
productive life. I was fortunate.
May Kamsheh 16:01
That's good. So how old were the kids that you taught?
Mohammed 16:07
We taught kids from grade school to middle school to high school. Some
of the children who were in grade school, they are very productive
citizens now, in the Twin Cities and in the nation, some of them are
doctors and lawyers and engineers, and they were very good member of
the society.
May Kamsheh 16:38
Okay, so back to your childhood, have you so you memorize the Quran?
Mohammed 16:46
Well I memorize some of the small Suras in the Quran as growing up as
part of our teaching, but I wasn't able to memorize the whole course
until I retired, after I retired, I attended the Islamic University of
Minnesota and I was able to complete my study in Islamic Studies and
able to earn a master's degree. And after that I attended the faculty
at the Islamic University and thought some of the students there for a
few years.
May Kamsheh 17:29
Okay, so what was that like?
Mohammed 17:34
[Laughs] It was a very a very interesting, very challenging and thank
God for our leaders and their children. They were very helpful to help
us accomplish our mission. We were able to communicate well with other
leaders. leadership of other religions in the Twin Cities. I was
invited a few years ago to St. Thomas University to attend dialogue.
And between the Christian, the Jewish community, and the Muslims, and
this can discuss different aspect of subjects and was very interesting
and very enlightened by other communities leaders. And in addition to
that, you know, we presented Islam and throughout the years because
every time there is a conflict in the Middle East, we were invited to
different churches and different community to give a little bit
information about what's happening. Why The fighting is going on
between the Sunni and Shia, why the problem and the Middle East been
not stable for a number of years. We like to go back to basics go back
to the true Islam that our Muslim communities should present the true
spirit of the Quran and the true spirit of the tradition of life of
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam which was based basically
on peace and justice and tranquility, not a war and terror and
terrorism has been projected by some people who know or know very
little levels of Islam or know nothing about Islam because of their
background.
May Kamsheh 20:04
Yeah, I agree. So after you did that, when did you become Imam?
Mohammed
20:13
[Laughs] It is interesting. I don't call myself Imam. I call myself a
student of Islam, a student of Quran. And I am shy to call myself a
man because I don't really feel that I have the quality and the
qualification to be Imam. Imam should be behaving and acting just like
what the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam did. So up until
now I consider myself the student of Quran and Islam and I still
attend sessions in studying the Quran and studying the tradition of
Mohammed sallallahu alaihi wasallam and studying the history of Islam
occasionally I'd been filling as Imam in some of the Masajids that we
don't have Imam in it yet and I deliver sometimes Juma prayer in
different Masajids in the Twin Cities.
May Kamsheh 21:29
Okay what's what's that like? You do that every Friday?
Mohammed 21:34
Yeah, we do that you know on the Friday congregational prayers, at
Duhr time which is noon time and it is very refreshing to see people
coming to the Masajid and every once in a while we see some of the new
Muslims come to declare Islam after a number of years of searching
about the true God and true religion, and they come from all facts of
life, to declare Islam and we hope that we will continue to help them
reach their goal, and then their new venture of life.
May Kamsheh 22:29
So have you been like a witness or helped someone convert in the
mosque to Islam?
Mohammed 22:36
I like to think so. I attended some of these ceremonies and I
participate in some of them. And I hope that God will help me to
continue to do that.
May Kamsheh 22:50
Okay. Have you have you ever written a book?
Mohammed 22:57
Yeah, I..As a part of my postgraduate study in the Islamic University,
my thesis was the practice of medicine in the light of Islamic
religion. So I was able to write my thesis and then I made it as a
bookwith the title, The Practice of Islam in the Light of ahh "The
Practice of Medicine in the Light of Islam", and it is about 200 pages
booklet and unfortunately, was in Arabic all in Arabic and I wasn't
able to translate it yet but hopefully time will come to translated
into English.
May Kamsheh 23:58
Okay, do you still do like sell that, sell the books to anyone or?
Mohammed
24:02
No, the book is is basically given to the Masajid to be distributed to
the people who are interested in knowing a little bit about medicine
and Islam and the books the book is free and was given to the Masajid
as a free some of the Masajid presented the book as for donation so
they can have the book with for little nominal donation to the Masjid.
May Kamsheh 24:40
Okay, nice. So how do you see the future of Islam in Minnesota?
Mohammed 24:55
I like to see the future of Islam in Minnesota to grow by doing more
of interfaith meeting with our Christians brothers and our cousins in
the Jewish community. I like to see us living in harmony and living in
peace, because all these sections of faith, believe in the same God
and like to live in peace and the raised children in peace and raise
their children as a Muslim as Christian as a Jewish with the value of
Christianity and Jewish and Islamic tradition. In addition to the
interfaith dialogue, I like to see more of our Muslim involved in the
Muslim community itself to branch out and reach out to the Christian
and Jewish population so they know Islam better and build the bridges
of communication so they will be able to achieve their goals in life.
May Kamsheh 26:33
How do you think that will be accomplished?
Mohammed 26:37
By basically knowing each other more the the more ignorance get into
our communities and not able to communicate well the worse it will get
and the more we communicate with each other and know each others will
be able to reach very productive, peaceful solution because we are all
in it together, we are all want to raise our family and live in peace
and harmony and be able to worship comfortably and freely. And we hope
that God Almighty will be with us all.
May Kamsheh 27:31
So looking back at when you first came to the United States, how how
is it different now? The Muslim community and your life in general.
Mohammed 27:42
It is obviously much better because we are in a bigger number. However
the big number is not doesn't really amount too much. I like with the
numbers increasing to have the awareness increase and the value
increase and the high moral conduct to be the one that we are after.
So, in the Twin Cities, we grew up from small numbers that you can
count them between 50 to 100 to almost 250,000 of member of the Muslim
communities in the state of Minnesota. And from one small house as
prayer place now to a 40 place to worship 40 Masjid in the Twin
Cities. The number has to be associated with production of moral and
production of good behavior and production of A good citizen of the
state and the United States.
May Kamsheh 29:05
So how do you see the Muslim community future in Minnesota?
Mohammed 29:11
I'm hoping that the Muslim community as they raise their children have
been holding tight on their principles and not to melt in the in the
general society without identity. I like the Muslim to hold on their
identity as the Muslims behave as a Muslim, to study the Quran and
study the tradition and the life of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam. I like the children growing up in a Muslim community
to be close to their religion because what I know from the Quran and
Islam and the the life of the Prophet Mohammed much more than my
children and they know more than their children. So I like to have
this awareness and this knowledge to be transmitted from us to the
children and from their to their children and to generation to come,
because we have a very rich religion in faith, in moral, and in good
behavior.
May Kamsheh 30:37
So do you expect it to keep growing over the years?
Mohammed 30:41
Why I sure hope so. I like to see Muslim communities get together,
unify their heart and mind and I like them to continue to communicate
with other part of the communities in this state and the United
States.
May Kamsheh 31:07
Dr. Mohammed, is there anything else you'd like to say as your final
words?
Mohammed 31:14
I like to thank you very much for the opportunity that you have given
me to speak about myself, and my community and my religion. And I hope
that God will help me to be a better person and to help my children to
learn and know Islam and Quran, and they do their job to teach their
children to know more about Islam and the men and the life of the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
May Kamsheh 31:54
Thank you for your time, Dr. Mohammed. I really appreciate it.
Mohammed 31:58
Thank you very much. Hope to see you again.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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