Most of the Americans have incomplete knowledge about Islam and Muslims, which is one of the main hurdles that creates a gap between the Muslim world and the USA, but in spite of negative propaganda an estimated 30,000 Americans convert to Islam every year.
These views were expressed by Marriam Ahmed who converted to Islam and is working as assistant director programmes and operations in the Berkley Centre for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, USA. She was the guest speaker of a lecture titled “Islam and America Today: From 9/11 to Boston Bombings” organised by International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) at the female campus on Wednesday. The lecture was attended by the Director of female campus Dr Zaitoon Begum, Chair Person Department of Politics and International Relations Dr Noor Fatima, large number of the students and by the husband of Marriam, Omar Ahmed, a human rights lawyer in the US.
Marriam Ahmed was of the view that Pakistan and America share constitutional and democratic values and stressed upon the need for bridging the gap, by introducing the common values of both countries which are not widely known on both sides and through disseminating the actual message of Islam. “It is urgent for the USA to comprehend Islam, not only for the sake of its ideals like compassion, knowledge, peace, and interfaith harmony, but in order to achieve peace and understanding with the approximately 7 million American Muslims, 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, and 57 Muslim states,” Marriam said. She stressed that people in both the US and Pakistan, including in the government, media, academia, and public, must work to understand each other through inter-religious and intercultural initiatives.