AlonzoMourning23
08-29-2006, 03:46 PM
The first woman president of the largest Muslim group in North America, a Kitchener native, says she's proud of her community for electing her.
Ingrid Mattson, a convert to Islam and an Islamic law scholar at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, was chosen to lead the Islamic Society of North America just ahead of its annual convention, which starts Friday in Rosemont, Ill.
"This is a community that can choose to be whatever it wishes to be, unlike many other Muslims throughout the world who don't live in democratic societies,'' Mattson said yesterday in a phone interview from Chicago.
"I think it shows what Muslims can do and would like to do.''
Mattson grew up in Kitchener, the second-youngest in a family of seven kids. She went to St. Mary's High School and was once a devout Catholic. But during high school, she began to question her faith.
After high school, she went briefly to Queen's University in Kingston, where she studied engineering before returning home to study philosophy and fine arts at the University of Waterloo.
That was where Mohamed Elmasry, a UW professor and now the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, met her two decades ago.
"She was a student who used to come to me to ask some questions about Islam," he remembered.
Mattson hadn't yet converted to Islam at that time, but Elmasry was impressed by the serious, smart young woman.
"I did direct her to some books and I tried to answer her questions as much as I can."
Since those days, Elmasry has come to know Mattson well by her work, her reputation and occasional personal meetings.
"I think she is more than qualified to hold this position," he said last night. "She's a capable and sincere person and I think it will be an asset to the organization, especially in multi-faith work."
Mattson was a logical choice because she has been involved in the Islamic Society of North America for many years, Elmasry said, adding he doesn't think her gender will be a barrier.
"She's well-respected, she's known to American Muslims (because) she's been a speaker at so many events in the last 10 years."
Mattson converted to Islam during or sometime around her last year at the University of Waterloo, said her older brother Hal Mattson, a Kitchener lawyer.
She wasn't the only one of her siblings to switch religions -- her older sister Peggy Smith, now a lawyer in Kingston, converted to Judaism, said Hal, who remains a Catholic.
A "liberal upbringing" encouraged the Mattson kids to ask questions, he said.
There was some shock in the family when Ingrid converted, but nobody was too upset, and it isn't an issue now, her brother said.
Ingrid is married to a fellow Muslim and has two children, a boy and a girl in their teens, Hal said. She periodically makes it back to Kitchener and goes to the family cottage near Kingston a few times a year.
As president of the Islamic society, she'll be moderate and articulate, her brother said.
"Whatever position she takes she'll be able to articulate in a meaningful way. . . . Not a feminist radical, not a Muslim radical. She's very reasonable."
Formed in 1963, the Islamic Society is an umbrella group that represents Muslim associations for youth, college students, engineers and others, and also provides support to Muslim chaplains and North American mosques. Its annual meeting regularly draws more than 30,000 people.
The president serves a two-year term, leading the society's committees and executive boards that set policy through consultation with its members. Mattson's election was announced late Friday. The organization, based in Plainfield, Ind., has received a few e-mails objecting to her election, "but it's a very small minority,'' Mattson said.
"It was our membership who elected me,'' she said. "I wasn't foisted upon their community. Really, this is their choice.''
American Muslims hold varied cultural views on the proper role for women in the faith and disagree on how to interpret Qur'anic verses about the subject.
Most recently, the community has been debating how far mosques should go in separating men and women during worship and whether women should lead mixed-gender prayer. There is no tradition of women imams, or clerics, at mosques. Still, women have had prominent roles outside of ritual services, founding and leading some Islamic groups throughout North America.
The Islamic Society president is only rarely called upon to lead mixed-gender congregational prayer, and Mattson will not do so, said Sayyid Syeed, who directs national interfaith and community relations for the group.
"That does not in any way limit her role as president,'' Syeed said.
Mattson, who wears a hijab in public that hides her hair and neck, said she does not object to the limitation and will only lead public ritual worship for women.
"My position is that women can do virtually everything else that Muslim men can do, but leading the prayer is always relational,'' she said. "It should be about who's in the room.''
Asra Nomani, author of Standing Alone in Mecca, who is lobbying to end strict gender separation during worship, called the society's leaders "courageous'' for choosing Mattson and said her election was "a real victory for women in the Muslim world.''
"She may not deliver the Friday sermon,'' said Nomani, referring to the Muslim day of worship, "but she will be key in defining the message of the largest Muslim organization in North America.''
Omid Safi, professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Mattson's election was significant for another reason. He noted that North American Muslim organizations are generally led by members of the ethnic immigrant groups that founded them. Choosing a North American convert and Islamic scholar shows a new openness, Safi said.
"Let's hope that it marks an important shift,'' Safi said.
In additional to her bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo, Mattson has a doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago.
She has previously served as the Islamic Society vice-president and succeeds Sheik Muhammad Nur Abdullah, director for the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, as president.
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156801814476&call_pageid=1024322085509&col=1024322199564
Ingrid Mattson, a convert to Islam and an Islamic law scholar at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, was chosen to lead the Islamic Society of North America just ahead of its annual convention, which starts Friday in Rosemont, Ill.
"This is a community that can choose to be whatever it wishes to be, unlike many other Muslims throughout the world who don't live in democratic societies,'' Mattson said yesterday in a phone interview from Chicago.
"I think it shows what Muslims can do and would like to do.''
Mattson grew up in Kitchener, the second-youngest in a family of seven kids. She went to St. Mary's High School and was once a devout Catholic. But during high school, she began to question her faith.
After high school, she went briefly to Queen's University in Kingston, where she studied engineering before returning home to study philosophy and fine arts at the University of Waterloo.
That was where Mohamed Elmasry, a UW professor and now the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, met her two decades ago.
"She was a student who used to come to me to ask some questions about Islam," he remembered.
Mattson hadn't yet converted to Islam at that time, but Elmasry was impressed by the serious, smart young woman.
"I did direct her to some books and I tried to answer her questions as much as I can."
Since those days, Elmasry has come to know Mattson well by her work, her reputation and occasional personal meetings.
"I think she is more than qualified to hold this position," he said last night. "She's a capable and sincere person and I think it will be an asset to the organization, especially in multi-faith work."
Mattson was a logical choice because she has been involved in the Islamic Society of North America for many years, Elmasry said, adding he doesn't think her gender will be a barrier.
"She's well-respected, she's known to American Muslims (because) she's been a speaker at so many events in the last 10 years."
Mattson converted to Islam during or sometime around her last year at the University of Waterloo, said her older brother Hal Mattson, a Kitchener lawyer.
She wasn't the only one of her siblings to switch religions -- her older sister Peggy Smith, now a lawyer in Kingston, converted to Judaism, said Hal, who remains a Catholic.
A "liberal upbringing" encouraged the Mattson kids to ask questions, he said.
There was some shock in the family when Ingrid converted, but nobody was too upset, and it isn't an issue now, her brother said.
Ingrid is married to a fellow Muslim and has two children, a boy and a girl in their teens, Hal said. She periodically makes it back to Kitchener and goes to the family cottage near Kingston a few times a year.
As president of the Islamic society, she'll be moderate and articulate, her brother said.
"Whatever position she takes she'll be able to articulate in a meaningful way. . . . Not a feminist radical, not a Muslim radical. She's very reasonable."
Formed in 1963, the Islamic Society is an umbrella group that represents Muslim associations for youth, college students, engineers and others, and also provides support to Muslim chaplains and North American mosques. Its annual meeting regularly draws more than 30,000 people.
The president serves a two-year term, leading the society's committees and executive boards that set policy through consultation with its members. Mattson's election was announced late Friday. The organization, based in Plainfield, Ind., has received a few e-mails objecting to her election, "but it's a very small minority,'' Mattson said.
"It was our membership who elected me,'' she said. "I wasn't foisted upon their community. Really, this is their choice.''
American Muslims hold varied cultural views on the proper role for women in the faith and disagree on how to interpret Qur'anic verses about the subject.
Most recently, the community has been debating how far mosques should go in separating men and women during worship and whether women should lead mixed-gender prayer. There is no tradition of women imams, or clerics, at mosques. Still, women have had prominent roles outside of ritual services, founding and leading some Islamic groups throughout North America.
The Islamic Society president is only rarely called upon to lead mixed-gender congregational prayer, and Mattson will not do so, said Sayyid Syeed, who directs national interfaith and community relations for the group.
"That does not in any way limit her role as president,'' Syeed said.
Mattson, who wears a hijab in public that hides her hair and neck, said she does not object to the limitation and will only lead public ritual worship for women.
"My position is that women can do virtually everything else that Muslim men can do, but leading the prayer is always relational,'' she said. "It should be about who's in the room.''
Asra Nomani, author of Standing Alone in Mecca, who is lobbying to end strict gender separation during worship, called the society's leaders "courageous'' for choosing Mattson and said her election was "a real victory for women in the Muslim world.''
"She may not deliver the Friday sermon,'' said Nomani, referring to the Muslim day of worship, "but she will be key in defining the message of the largest Muslim organization in North America.''
Omid Safi, professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Mattson's election was significant for another reason. He noted that North American Muslim organizations are generally led by members of the ethnic immigrant groups that founded them. Choosing a North American convert and Islamic scholar shows a new openness, Safi said.
"Let's hope that it marks an important shift,'' Safi said.
In additional to her bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo, Mattson has a doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago.
She has previously served as the Islamic Society vice-president and succeeds Sheik Muhammad Nur Abdullah, director for the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, as president.
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156801814476&call_pageid=1024322085509&col=1024322199564