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Articles by University of Minnesota Faculty

World Refugee Day Event to Honor New Minnesotans’ Tenacity, Generosity

By Cawo Abdi, Sociology and Helga Leitner, Geography
In 2003, Abdurashid Ali was a part-time student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College with a full-time job when he first got the idea to build a library in his hometown of Garowe, Somalia. He felt that it was a way to remain connected to all that he was forced to leave behind when he fled his country in 1991. Though Minnesota became his adoptive home when he was granted asylum, his family and the life he knew remained in Somalia.

Educating Muslim Students in Minnesota: the skill and the will

By Martha Bigelow, Curriculum and Instruction
Multicultural education seeks to include a range of perspectives often suppressed by the majority culture as well as to include students from diverse backgrounds in the process of learning. What is sometimes lost in efforts to create inclusive educational experiences is serious thought to how to welcome students of minority religions.

Women bear the brunt of conflicts, but are too often ignored in constructing the “peace”

By Barbara Frey, Human Rights Program
Daring to educate girls continues to be dangerous business in the villages of Afghanistan. Ask Fahima Vorgetts, director of the Afghan Women's Fund, whose teacher friend was kidnapped at gunpoint last August.

The war on terror, Somali Minnesotans – and ill-informed investigators

By Cawo Abdi, Sociology
Barely a year has passed since the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) developed a set of so-called appropriate language to discuss and depict Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations. The basis for this language reform was to delegitimize extremist groups without alienating and offending Muslims around the globe. Winning the hearts and minds of the international Muslim community to combat extremism was thus a key driving force of these recommendations.

Related Articles from Minnpost.com

Financial Dilemma: For many Muslims, conventional loans can be a sin

By Katherine Glover
Seven years ago, staff at the Neighborhood Development Center made a realization. Plenty of Somalis and other Muslim immigrants had attended the St. Paul-based center's trainings for small-business entrepreneurs — but in more than a decade, not one Muslim had ever taken advantage of the center's small-business loans.

Arab Film Festival Highlights Stories of Resistance

By Lydia Howell
Mainstream media often portray Arab and Muslim people as "other" to Americans. Mizna's Fifth Annual Arab Film Festival presents a stunning array of revelations and surprising recognitions.

Despite Tensions, Jewish and Muslim students come together to talk

By Sharon Schmickle
With passions flaring red hot over the fighting in Gaza, organizers almost cancelled the dinner at Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and civic center last night. Young inner-city Somali Muslims had been scheduled to sit down with suburban Jewish teens and learn from one another about their lives, customs and beliefs. But Abdisalam Adam worried that tempers could burst out of control. He directs the Dar Al-Hijrah center in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

Bill in Legislature prompts dispute over Muslim women’s headscarves

By Sharon Schmickle
Muslim women dressed in flowing headscarves have become a familiar image in Minnesota's human landscape even while debate flared elsewhere over head garb worn for the sake of Islam.

KFAI’s Muslims in Minnesota Series

Minneapolis to Mogadishu: Somalis at a Crossroads

Somali immigrants to the U.S. are struggling to keep their community grounded as federal law enforcement officials investigate allegations a handful of young Somali men joined the ranks of a violent militia in Somalia. The immigrants' job is made tougher by internal conflicts stemming from long-standing divisions. In this half-hour documentary, reporter Art Hughes takes a look at how members of the Twin Cities Somali population are reacting to and fighting the negative images and accusations that have been stirred up.
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Grassroots Banking Among Muslims

Personal micro-lending is a tradition widely practiced in many countries. The practice has a place in Islam and among Muslims, who view this method of saving and borrowing as an alternative to the conditions set by banks, which can at times contradict the teachings of Islam. Muslim immigrants are finding many other reasons to revive this practice in Minnesota. It's not an operation run by a bank or financial institution. Instead, a group of individuals come together in a money saving and borrowing venture to finance large purchases or provide emergency relief.

Faith in Hip Hop

Minnesota Muslim rap artists connect with their religion and the original roots of Hip Hop as the voice of a population pushed to the fringe of mainstream culture. Reporter Ramla Bile goes behind the pounding rhythms to find rappers who see a higher purpose for their art.
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One Strike And You're Out - Facing the Criminal Justice System

Streetwise immigrants know that a felony conviction could put their immigration status in jeopardy. But under current immigration laws even a minor crime could get a non-citizen immigrant deported. That’s what some young Somali immigrants are learning – after it’s too late. Joel Grostephan finds immigrants struggling to make sense of the court system – with little help from their lawyers.
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Wearing Faith On Their Sleeves

Every sports team, radio station, band and cause has its own T-shirt. So why not create a series of T-shirts that celebrate Islam? One Minneapolis company is doing just that, designing fashionable T-shirts on a wide range of Muslim topics. The name of the company: Muslim Tees. Todd Melby takes listeners behind-the-scenes at a company photo shoot and design meeting.
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Empowered Muslim Women

What does it mean to be a feminist? What does it mean to be a Muslim woman in Minnesota? Reporter Emily Dussault introduces two local Muslim woman and gives an inside look at their challenges and experiences.
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In Search of the Minnesota Muslim

Muslims come from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds. Reporter Ahmed Naumaan asks a few people what their faith means to their daily lives and whether they are different from other Minnesotans. Their serious statements intermixed with spontaneous humorous remarks and an uncommon twist or two, paint a richly textured picture of Muslim life in Minnesota.
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Muslim Immigrants Learn English

Many Muslims are newly arrived immigrants, and acquiring English language skills is a major aspect in gaining acceptance from the broader community. Reporter Sarah Boden explores the frustrations and accomplishments of this timeless experience to get a better understanding of what immigrants are going through.
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Music and Sufi Islam in the Twin Cities

Sufism is an ancient religious philosophy which, despite criticism from some modern orthodox Muslims, maintains a strong tie to its Islamic origins. Stephen Manuszak explores the Sufi tradition, its expression in Minnesota, and one key feature of its practice: music.
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Muslim Burial Traditions

Minnesota’s Muslim population has expanded by roughly 20,000 people in the past three decades, which has forced the community to create a unique infrastructure in order to fulfill particular religious obligations related to death. Reporter Sarah Boden talks to individuals in the Twin Cities Muslim community about Islam, death, and what steps family and friends take when a loved one passes on.
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Schooled in Islam

Public schools have long been a testing ground for the Constitutional separation between government and religion. The strict requirements of Islam are creating some frictions in public educational institutions in Minnesota. Like Catholics, Mormons, Jews and other faithful Americans before them, Muslims are helping distinguish the constantly evolving boundaries between secular and sacred.
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