How best to deal with Islamophobia in the US today?
I glimpsed the answer on February 7, 2018, when I accompanied Ambassador
Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, to
Knoxville, Tennessee, where he became the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Ashe Lecture at the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee. The center is named after Howard Baker, who served as a US Senator from Tennessee, President Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff, and US Ambassador to Japan. The talk was arranged by my good friend Harrison Akins, a doctoral student and researcher at the Baker Center who previously worked with Ahmed. Understanding the current negative climate concerning Muslims, the widespread common misperceptions of Islam and Muslims, and the fear evident in the Muslim community with rising incidents of violence and intimidation, I was curious how an East Tennessee audience would react to a Muslim scholar.
To continue reading, please click the following link: PL – Pakistan Link – February 16, 2018 – PAGE 19
Journey into Europe 