Coast Muslims stay away from politics, but worry about Trump

At the Islamic Center of Gulfport, just a few blocks from the beach, politics doesn’t come up that often.

Most attendees at a recent Friday afternoon prayer and lunch were more eager to share insights about Islam than thoughts on the Trump administration.

“All we do is pray, praise God and go about our business,” said Meaza Medlock.

Still, the current political climate is hard to ignore. President Donald Trump said Thursday he would issue a new executive order on immigration, rather than continue a court battle defending his original travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, which included a pause in accepting refugees. And last week a federal court blocked enforcement of the ban, while a lawsuit by Washington state and Minnesota wound through the courts.

At the Islamic Center of Gulfport, many expressed a mixed view.

Everyone the Sun Herald spoke to first said they appreciated a president’s need to protect national security. We are Americans too, they said, and we want our country to be safe. But allegations that the ban specifically targeted Muslims — the federal judges specifically asked the government’s lawyer about statements by Trump and his surrogates promising a Muslim ban — troubled them.

“The biggest concern is it seems like the Trump administration is starting to use their authority and national security as a means of justifying almost every piece of legislation that is going to come out of their administration, which is very concerning,” said Arslan Arshad, a 22-year-old student who lives in Gulfport. “And the bigger concern in respect to this are the allegations that it has arisen out of a perspective of exclusion of Muslims from society and travel specifically.”

Arshad was born in Pakistan but he has lived on the Coast for seven years, and he is a citizen. He graduated from the Mississippi School of Mathematics and Science, then the University of South Alabama, and he’s now applying to medical school.

He also expressed concerns about the Trump administration’s argument that courts have no authority to rule on the ban because it is a national security issue.

“I think that’s really detrimental because the reason you have three branches of government is this very fact that we balance the government,” he said. “I really would be cautious of our country falling into some similar situations we’ve seen in other countries, which is not good.”

Arshad was at the Islamic Center on Friday, Feb. 10, with about 50 other men and women. Though they pray five times each day, the majority of the center’s members gather just on Friday afternoons to pray together, talk and eat lunch.

It’s a small community, said Shamim Sardar, 46, a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi who teaches engineering and logistics. He leads prayers at the center.

“We don’t have enough financial support to hire a real, professional imam who has the knowledge,” he said. “I don’t think I have the knowledge to lead anyone, but someone has to lead and that’s why I’m helping.”

Sardar came to the U.S. in 1999 from Bangladesh, and to Mississippi 10 years ago. He is a citizen and his children were born in the U.S.

“We would like to see this country secure, no doubt. I’m sure all the Muslims in this community believe the same thing. If that’s the case, that we need to prevent these people for security, I’m with that,” he said. “But if that’s not the case, if that’s a made-up case, then my concern is the injustice to some people. And as a citizen of this country, I think we need to say that’s not right.”

Latrice Jackson-Artis, who owns a consulting business on the Coast, was also at the center on Feb. 10.

When she first converted to Islam, people’s attitudes toward the religion bothered her. But she’s since learned how to deal with it.

“Our faith is being judged — misjudged — but you can’t change others’ opinions,” she said. “Do I like what’s going on? No, because it’s targeting a faith.”

She added, “As I’ve grown in Islam I learned that I don’t have to argue because Allah will do that.”

Most of the people at the Islamic Center said they hadn’t experienced any overt prejudice on the Coast. But many said they would occasionally catch the looks people threw their way. And they understood what those looks meant.

But despite all those concerns, those at the center had a sort of faith in America and Americans.

“I’m confident in the American people and confident in our society and in our Constitution — that ultimately the Constitution will win over and the American people will do what’s best, just as they have in the past,” Arshad said.

They invited people to the center to learn more about Islam.

“We are loving people, we respect anyone’s faith,” Jackson-Artis said. “If you want to learn, come here and ask questions.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Coast Muslims stay away from politics, but worry about Trump."