{"id":1110,"date":"2016-11-23T18:50:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T00:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2016-11-24T10:48:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-24T16:48:31","slug":"chicago-muslims-turkeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/","title":{"rendered":"The True Face of American Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5,000 Turkeys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With the election of Donald Trump and the fear that comes with his picks to essential law enforcement and Homeland Security posts, it is important to highlight the truth about American Islam and Muslims. While there are some in our country who seek to incite fear of Muslims in order to marginalize them, ordinary American Muslims are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-muslim-turkey-drive-met-20161122-story.html\">hard at work making their country a better place:<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For 16 years, the Chicago Muslim community has distributed free <a id=\"EVFES000169\" title=\"Thanksgiving\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/topic\/arts-culture\/thanksgiving-EVFES000169-topic.html\">Thanksgiving<\/a> turkeys to underprivileged families on the South Side. But this holiday season, the group more than tripled the number of free birds from last year to 5,000 and expanded the project to eight elementary schools in three neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Sofia Shakir, an organizer of the annual turkey drive, said while plans to expand the effort had been underway for almost a year, it was serendipitous that it all came together after what she considered a discouraging presidential campaign \u2014 and now amid fears of being viewed as un-American by the administration of President-elect <a id=\"PEBSL000163\" title=\"Donald Trump\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/topic\/politics-government\/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html\">Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The organizers of this annual drive &#8211; to which I have been honored and blessed to contribute for several years &#8211; are my good friends, and their work on behalf of the community is truly awe-inspiring. It truly puts me to shame.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Shakir and her husband, Dr. Jihad Shoshara, called the turkey drive a homecoming of sorts. As a student at the University of Chicago, Shakir tutored children after school in Woodlawn. Shoshara attended Chicago public schools. &#8220;The turkey drive is a small way in which I feel that I can give back,&#8221; he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<aside class=\"trb_embed\">\n<div class=\"trb_embed_modalBox\">\n<div class=\"trb_embed_media\">\n<figure class=\"trb_embed_imageContainer_figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"trb_embed_imageContainer_img\" title=\"Zahid Safdar, Shaad Khalil\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422\" alt=\"Zahid Safdar, Shaad Khalil\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"trb_embed_related\">\n<div class=\"trb_embed_related_credit_and_caption\">\n<p><i>(Nancy Stone \/ Chicago Tribune<\/i>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We are all part of the same,&#8221; Shakir said. &#8220;We&#8217;re not helping others. We&#8217;re helping our own.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>Shoshara said the project puts into practice Muslim teachings and fulfills one of the five pillars of Islam called zakat, or charity. For guidance, he looks to the Prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have said: &#8220;He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while the neighbor to his side goes hungry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But it&#8217;s about more than feeding the hungry, Shoshara said. It&#8217;s about giving families a way to make a meal and do something for their children.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you can have the turkey in your own home and celebrate like everyone else in America, that gives them a sense of dignity,&#8221; Shoshara said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is the truth of Islam and Muslims. Yes, there are some who are savage murderers. But, they are a tiny minority and are rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims all across the words.<\/p>\n<p>The overwhelming majority of Muslims &#8211; inspired by their faith &#8211; are quietly working to make this world, their world, a better place for all, this annual Chicago Muslim Turkey Drive being only one example. This kind of story does not garner headline coverage &#8211; it does not bleed or explode. But it reflects the truth about American Islam and Muslims, and more people need to know this truth.<\/p>\n<p>Join me on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/godfaithpen\">Twitter (@GodFaithPen)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring With the election of Donald Trump and the fear that comes with his picks to essential law enforcement and Homeland Security posts, it is important to highlight the truth about American Islam and Muslims. While there are some in our country who seek&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[338,11,12,244,797],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-chicago","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-thanksgiving","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>True Face of Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5000 Turkeys<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are some who want you to think Muslims are only terrorists. The truth, however, shows them to be quiet at work helping make the world a better place.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"True Face of Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5000 Turkeys\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are some who want you to think Muslims are only terrorists. The truth, however, shows them to be quiet at work helping make the world a better place.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-24T00:50:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-24T16:48:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. Hassaballa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GodFaithPen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"True Face of Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5000 Turkeys","description":"There are some who want you to think Muslims are only terrorists. The truth, however, shows them to be quiet at work helping make the world a better place.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"True Face of Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5000 Turkeys","og_description":"There are some who want you to think Muslims are only terrorists. The truth, however, shows them to be quiet at work helping make the world a better place.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/","og_site_name":"Common Word, Common Lord","article_published_time":"2016-11-24T00:50:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-11-24T16:48:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422"}],"author":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GodFaithPen","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/","name":"True Face of Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5000 Turkeys","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422","datePublished":"2016-11-24T00:50:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-24T16:48:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21"},"description":"There are some who want you to think Muslims are only terrorists. The truth, however, shows them to be quiet at work helping make the world a better place.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5834e17b\/turbine\/ct-ct-muslim-turkey-muslim3-jpg-20161122\/750\/750x422"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/chicago-muslims-turkeys\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The True Face of American Islam: Chicago Muslims Distribute 5,000 Turkeys"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/","name":"Common Word, Common Lord","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Hesham Hassaballa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/#\/schema\/person\/c2d50a46198edad19abb055001c4cd21","name":"Hesham A. Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. Hassaballa Charitable Foundation and now serves as its Treasurer.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/GodFaithPen"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/author\/hhassaballa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1115,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions\/1115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}