Meet Khalil
Interviewed by Johns Hopkins University students supervised by Dr. Homayra Ziad.
Interviewers: Maryam, Maddie, Aya, Ananda
About the Interview
This interview discusses Islamophobia its impact on different Muslim communities (especially discussed is the different experiences of Black vs Immigrant communities). It also brings up various responses to 9/11 to highlight which strategies may work well when trying to heal or educate others as well as to call out harmful community responses that were conducted right after the event. For example, music was a great medium for Khalil to connect with both those in his community and outside of it.
This discussion does entail references to difficult times for the Muslim community such as racial tension, interpersonal animosity and possible government infiltration in mosques, but it it predominately focuses on uplifting the continued effort on behalf of the Muslim community to still welcome in those who are in search of healing. Finally, this talk ends on a high-note with Khalil’s words on wisdom on where he hopes to see the Muslim community (and the American public at large) grow and prosper in the years to come. In those final words, he advises us to acknowledge the past, educate ourselves on where we have gone wrong and find out the best way to communicate with others in order to come together.
MAJOR THEMES:
This interview discusses the Impact of Islamophobia; Gendered Islamophobia; Race and the Manifestation of Islamophobia (how various Muslim communities experienced different forms of discrimination in the wake of 9/11), State violence (both police brutality and possible government informants in Mosques) and Visions for the Future for the Muslim community.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
“Spaces” to speak up against discrimination can be literal (such as in schools or workplaces) or figuratively (such as speaking with family or friends). What are some possible strategies for discussing ‘difficult’ conversations and how would those strategies change depending on what “space” you are in?
Intersectionality (coined by Kimberle Crenshaw) consists of the various identities (SES, race/ethnicity, language proficiency, gender identification/expression, education, disability status, etc.) a person possesses and how those identities can converge and impact how discrimination and privilege effects them. This discussion with Khalil talks a lot about intersectionality (e.g. being Black and Muslim). What are some ways that intersectionality can hinder and support efforts for countering Islamophobia through community organizing and activism?
“You know every time the word terrorist was brought up it was brought up in the context of a Muslim, right even before that type of thing, but it would kind of more be like in the movies and that type of thing or if you heard someone say “Allahu Akbar” it’s almost like they were saying it, in the context of a, of a fight. Right, of some violence, right?
Which we know, like in that way it’s like, it’s almost like laughable cause it’s like it’s opposite of, you know, of what that phrase is about right? Which is God is the greatest and, you know what I mean, making that pronouncement, you know brings you towards peace, peaceful state not a violent state, right?”
“I think that, you know, the other thing now that I think about it that’s a big deal is that in our communities as Muslims, Black Muslims, right, there has been multiple times when Black Muslim organizations, um, you know even people like you know, we know what happened to Malcolm X now finally you know just like in the last couple years they’re just revealing that the FBI had something to do with you know his death but we know you know if you were taught anything about Muslims, you know, and their tendency to kind of rebel against the system, you know beforehand. We know that they know they’ve always kind of been a threat in that way, so we were prepped a little bit more, you know, because we’ve seen this in different in different spaces, before 9/11, with Black people who claim to be Muslim.”
“I believe in, in the constant striving towards redemption versus the striving towards perfection, I don’t expect perfection, but we can strive, we can try to constantly redeem. The purpose is to constantly be better than we were yesterday. You know, we’re not going to be perfect but we can be better than we were yesterday.”