January 9, 2002 Discussions on Islam in America Open to Public

The African and Middle Eastern Division and the Office of Scholarly Programs of the Library of Congress will host a symposium on "Islam in America" on Tuesday, January 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 119 of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. The symposium is free and open to the public.

The symposium is part of a series on Islam, covering Muslim societies in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Europe, that have been held at the Library for the past two years. The upcoming program examines the emergence of Islam in America from the early 19th century to the present.

A private collector, Derrick J. Beard, has offered to display and talk about a unique manuscript in Arabic by Omar ibn Said from Senegal, who was captured and brought to America almost 200 years ago. Experts such as Professor Sulayman Nyang from Howard University; Sylviane A. Diouf, an award winning author; and John O. Hunwick, professor of Islamic History at Northwestern University, will discuss the history of the African-American Muslim experience in the United States. Others, including Professor Yvonne Haddad of the Center for Muslim- Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, and Professor Akbar S. Ahmed, the new chair of Islamic Studies at American University, will discuss the Arab American and Asian American Muslim immigration to the United States in the 20th century. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Raja Sidawi Fund.