Below is a transcribed interview with Irtaza Haider (picture above), the President of the Islamic Center of Berkeley. Interviewers: Jennifer Kim, Thu Cao. On Friday, October 25, 2013 at 5:45 pm.
- When was your site founded? The group was founded in 2004 by Harun, Muneer, and Farshad. From 2004 – 2007 programs were held in Barrows and Dwinelle. However, people had a hard time finding the rooms and setting up programs every week was difficult so the group decided to get a place of their own. The Islamic Center of Berkeley had a physical space of its own since 2007.
- Who was/were the founder(s)? Farshad, Harun, and Muneer.
- Any people of importance? Farshad runs the center, and Irtaza, the president, runs the programs and makes sure that the Center is in order.
- How did the mosque derive its name? This place is not a mosque. It is a space for students to come and pray and host programs. It is an Islamic Center and it’s in Berkeley so that’s why it’s called the Islamic Center of Berkeley.
- What demographic do they serve? (a mix of different backgrounds, primarily ethnic such as Arab/Pakistani/Fijian, African-American, convert, youth?) The demographics are diverse. There are a lot of Iranians, African Americans, and converts who are Asian or Caucasian. There are also some Pakistanis and a couple of Sri Lankans. A lot of people in the surrounding area come to the Center as well. Some people come for certain programs and not for others.
- What size is the community, how active is it? What is unique about the community? (Is it immigrant, new, established, refugee, alternative?) There are 30 regular Berkeley undergraduate students. There are a couple regular graduate students. Not all 30 undergraduate students come every week for the programs. Different people come in and out of the center. What is unique about this community is the diversity. In most Islamic centers you see one kind of demographic. Here, especially since it’s next to a university, there is an influx of people coming in, people from all kinds of different backgrounds. Most come for 4 years, then cycle out, and a whole new group comes in. Most mosques have a constant community around them. It’s the same people coming over the years. The Center is not as active as it was last year, but it still hosts a discussion group and a Quranic exegesis every week.
- Is your site affiliated or partners with any other mosques? No
- Are there any articles or press from outside sources regarding your mosque, hyperlink out to those articles as you speak about them. You can ask your mosque directly, but you should also search online as the mosque may not be aware. Maybe an event was covered in the news, a grand opening with the mayor, maybe and incident of hate etc. In an article explaining the basics of Ramadan, The Daily Cal wrote one line about the Islamic Center of Berkeley. They mentioned that it hosts speeches and different programs during the month of Ramadan.
- What kind of structure is your mosque (a storefront, converted house or building, corporate space, strip mall, former church, built from the ground up)? Is their any information they can offer about the location and prior occupants? Is their historical information you can research on the address? What is the area like (residential, commercial. etc?) The Center is in a suite in an office building. The manager rents out different suites to different people. We were not able to gather more information about this location or the prior occupants. The area is commercial with stores around the office building.
- Did the center involve in any projects? (feeding the homeless, literacy, women's shelter, voting poll site etc) Last year, there was a group who helped feed the homeless, but presently, the Center is not involved in community service projects.
- What events do they have or have participated in? The Center hosts a discussion group every Tuesday night. People bring in questions about topics such as Islamic theology or the existence of God, questions they were too afraid to ask, didn’t know who to ask, or couldn’t find the answer to. They ask anonymously through note cards and the Center answers them. Farshad is the main expert present during these Tuesday discussions. These discussions are a way to dispel people’s doubts about the religion and make their faith stronger. On Friday nights a lot of Iranian graduate students get together and hold a class where they have discussions about the Quran. Most of them are foreigners and these weekly discussions are a way for them to meet with one another. The center recently started a Quranic exegesis class. This class meets on Mondays and studies the Quran and Islamic theology. Sometimes the community goes on picnics or trips together. The Center makes an effort to invite other people in the surrounding area to these picnics and trips. Last year the Center held a program every Thursday where the supplication of Kumayl was recited. Usually, a Reciter was present to read it in Arabic. They used a projector to put up the English translation so that people would be able to follow.
- What services do they offer? (is their an onsite Islamic school, do they offer health, legal, marriage, death, services, counseling, Boy Scouts, youth programs etc?) The Center does not offer such services because it does not have an imam who can give religious consultation or help for other such problems. Mostly undergraduate students run the Center, and one of the purposes of the center is to simply be a place where students of the Islamic faith can gather.
- Have their been any significant milestones (purchase of a bigger building, zoning permit anything else?) A significant milestone was getting a suite in this building. Before getting a physical space, people in the community generally had no place to hang out. They would meet up at different restaurants or during our programs on campus. There wasn’t a place where people could just sit for twenty minutes and talk. Now, when people do want to go to a certain place together, they can arrange to meet at the Center first. Not only is the Center a venue for regular events, but it is also a place where people can come to hang out and study and they feel safe. This was the best location because the building has a gate that anyone can access, and it is easy to walk to since it is so close to campus and where people live. Unlike an apartment building that some communities in UCLA use, both girls and guys feel comfortable coming to this location.
- Have they published any materials? Yes, they have published “Du’a Kumayl,” a supplication book.
- Do you have any documents to share? Any proposed building plans, or architectural works, photos of construction from beginning to end, any historical items? They do not have such documents.
- Have they been involved in any important legal cases? No
- Have they as a mosque/community experience discrimination? Hate crimes? Yes. The FBI knocks on the door of a lot of active immigrants and ask them whether they are involved in certain things. There is the fear that a lot of people are Al-Qaeda sleeper agents. Since the Iranian revolution, a lot of people who are associated with the Iranian government are targets of questioning. One speaker that the Center hosted was Lebanese. He was accused of being a Haz Balah agent, an organization in Lebanon that is deemed as a terrorist group, and he was harassed and put in jail.
- What kind of community engagement do they have? (Interfaith, community outreach, open house?) The Center does not have an interfaith program, but all of their programs are pretty open so that someone who has little to no Islamic knowledge can come and understand what is going on. Last year speakers usually came after supplication on Thursdays to speak about different issues. Most of them were sociopolitical issues such as racism, discrimination, and the conflict in Israel. During these gatherings, people who didn’t know much about Islam could become acquainted with things going on around the world.
- Does the center has any official Website? http://www.IslamicAwareness.com/
- Seek interviews additional people on their experience with the mosque (how long they have been a member, where they are from, what they like best about the mosque, what is their involvement in the mosque? Hopes for the future of the mosque?
- Irtaza has been going to the Islamic Center of Berkeley for more than two years now.
- He is Pakistani by ethnicity and was born in Pakistan, but grew up in the Midwest. He is currently an undergraduate student at the University of California Berkeley.
- Irtaza likes the diversity, strength, and knowledge of the community, as well as the accessibility of the center. He likes how the Center doesn’t cater to just one ethnic group, but has people from different backgrounds. People here, such as Farshad, are very knowledgeable about issues that Muslims in America would face. Hearing explanations about such issues and how to deal with them has benefited Irtaza a lot. The Tuesday discussions about the Islamic faith has also really benefited him. He enjoys being able to come to the Center between classes and pray since it is so close by. He is able to see familiar faces and catch up with them if he has free time.
- He has been president for a year and a half. He came to regular programs and really liked what the people here were doing. He wanted to see it grow so he decided to dedicate his time to it.
- As president, Irtaza’s job is to make sure that everything in the Center is going alright, that the books are in order, that the Center is clean, and that events are not scheduled at conflicting times. He also leads prayer whenever they have a congregation, which is usually during the night.
- Irtaza’s want the Center to be a place where people who are unfamiliar with Islam can come, feel uncomfortable, and learn about their beliefs. One goal of the Center is to dispel Islamophobia. They want to get the word out about who they are and what they believe. The second goal is to build a strong community. A lot of people here, especially during their college years, are struggling figure out who they are. The Center gives these people a place to come together and and help each other get through the hard times.
- Farshad hopes that the Center will leave a positive influence on the greater Berkeley community. He wants the Center to do more outreach since Berkeley is an international community with all sorts of religions, backgrounds, and ideologies. He wants the Center to be more involved with the greater non-Muslim population in Berkeley, not necessarily to bring them to Islam, but to have them experience a different type of program they might not have experienced in their own bubbles.
Below is a transcribed interview with a man who has frequented the place for many years (who refused to give his name and photograph). Interviewers: Lientra Lu, Huy Nguyen. On Thursday, October 31st, 2013 at the 1pm prayer.
- What is the donation box for? To pay for the rent of the place, for maintenance, food, when they have program
- Who are the people responsible for this place? They are connected to this business building, which is run by the people who own this building. I just know them for many years so I just take advantage of this place.
- How do the new students on campus know about this place? I am not sure how they know because I’m directly in touch with the students. I think they send out emails, or publish it on the Facebook page. This place is organized by Shia Muslim, so maybe not everybody but the majority of people who visit this place follow Shia Islam.
- Is it ok for the other people to come? Yes. Everybody can come to this place. The people who work here at the business center they are both Shia and Sunni followers. This place is very laid back, informal so people can come in, pray, and just leave.
- I heard that men and women are separated when praying… Not here, not at this place. Most of it is based on customs. I heard that Pakistanis may have a curtain [to separate men and women]. Again, a lot of it is cultural; there is nothing in Islam that dictates that women and men can’t pray in the same space. I mean, when the women come in here, they will cover their hair with their hijabs. This is technically not a mosque, but it behaves like a mosque and there are certain rules that govern the place, which is less strict because this is just an Islamic center. By not giving it a designation, you can sleep here, you can hang out here, wrestle on the ground [laughing], and whatever the students feel like doing.
- So this is like a place where everyone can come? Yeah. I mean usually for people who are not Muslims it takes some time, some friends to invite them, to ask them to come and hang out or attend a program if you are interested. The funny thing is the door is usually locked, so most often if you come and knock on the door, nobody will be here; I just happen to be here today.
- We were told to come here on Fridays, around 1 o’clock… Maybe on Friday, somebody will be here by themselves praying but it won’t be like a Friday congregational prayer.
- So you said that you have classes? So a buddy of mine, we got a PhD at Berkeley about 2 years ago on Islamic study. His class is about commentary on the Qu’ran, he gives a historical overview and he goes into discussions about interpretations and methodologies to understand [the Qur’an]. You can’t open it and just make sense of it, I mean you can read it, it is accessible in that sense but this is more of an advance class that helps people understand the historical interpretations of the Qur’an. He teaches that class every Monday night at 7pm. And he is a convert of Islam, I am also a convert. I learn about Islam when I was at Berkeley. My family is from a Christian background. We have a lot of people from the bay area who are Islam converts. People study it, I mean we learn it in classes at the university and they either accept Islam or they don’t. When they do, it changes their life.
- So you said that you have been here for a long time? I have been at Berkeley for over 20 years.
- At the center, has there ever been any incident like hate crimes or ''accidents''? None as far as I know. People don’t even know this place exists, it is only known to some students. They don’t know because it’s hidden.
- Is it hidden on purpose? No. It is just the way it is. People that own the business center just put it here.
- But when we came in, there wasn’t any sign… No, there wasn’t any sign, any label. I wouldn’t say it’s hidden; it’s just very casual, very informal. It’s not meant to be publicized. It’s just for the use of the students. It’s connected to the business here so it is also for these people. As you can see, it is pretty small; it’s not meant for huge number of people. I know that students also have a place on campus to pray and then we also have Berkeley mosque on Derby Street that is more formal.
- The carpets, what is the meaning of them? The carpets are just to make it more comfortable, there is no meaning. I mean these carpets are not Iranian, they are machine-made. There is a story behind the carpets, but it is kind of irrelevant, I think we just borrowed it from somebody else.
- What about this? This one right here is more of an actual prayer rug, it is very typical. The prayer rug is pointed in the direction of Mecca. The Muslims pray 5 times a day in the direction of Mecca. You will find all the Muslims in this area praying in the same direction, which is slightly North-Northeast. When I was in Professor Bazian’s lecture in Grenada, in the summer program, their direction of praying is South-Southeast. So it depends on where you are.
- So what kind of books do you have on the shelves? Are they mostly religious? They are mostly religious. Most of the books deal with Islam, Islamic history, or theology. Most of the bottom shelf is in English. Some of them are prayers or supplications. The Qur’ans are on the top shelf. Most of the middle shelf deal with the political and historical concepts, some are in Arabic.
- So who bought all these books? Most of them are donated by graduate students, professors and others. Some of them here are not meant to leave the place. People can come here and read but we prefer that they do not take it out. And to some people, it’s their personal collection that they make available for others to use so they don’t want them to be taken.
- Is the perfume typical of this place? The perfume is most likely what I just put on because before you pray, you want to clean yourself. I just did the afternoon prayer so I put on some perfume. It’s all a process, you clean yourself before you pray, but it’s optional. But we don’t burn any incense or anything like that. I think in some places or some cultures they do. Islam lays the foundation but there are a lot of cultural things and variations and interpretations. Sometimes there will be a speaker who comes in that is well known that the place will be packed but usually it is pretty small.
- Going back to how you support it. Is there any formal donation? It is just donation from students and other residents.
- Were you able to make it all these years? Yeah, it is mainly based on people’s generosity. People who attend just make a little donation every time.
- Were you one of the founders of the place? No, I’m not. Just because I’m a little bit older and I use it regularly. At a certain point, I’ve been involved in helping to get it going but I’m not very helpful. I don’t like to attend meeting and I’m also busy teaching so I only use it to pray.
- What do you teach? I teach religion and history, sociology.
- Can we take your name and picture? Just say I’m one of the people that come here often. I prefer to stay off the grid.
- Do you have an Imam here? No we don’t. In fact, most of the time, people refuse to lead the prayer.
- Do you need any extra qualification in order to lead the prayer? You should be just. People usually consider themselves to have a lot of shortcomings so no one wants to be responsible for the leading. If you are leading the Friday prayers, which are congregations at an established place; then you should have some training and knowledge of the religion. You should be well versed in being able to pronounce the Arabic properly. You should be known as a jus person and be recognized as someone who has some sort of religious training. And so we don’t have anyone in that function here so we don’t even hold Friday prayers here.
- So we learn that the Imam is the leader of the prayer but is he the equivalent of a priest? It depends. There are different ways of understanding the word “Imam” so you can have someone who is an Imam who decide to lead the prayer that day; but then there is another meaning which means the religious leader of the community that has a function of a fatherly figure who counsels the community. Then we also have a higher meaning of Imam as someone who is spiritually appointed. Especially in the Shia tradition, we have the Imam as someone who is the successor to the priest and that is the highest understanding of the word and position of an Imam.
- Do you like to live at Berkeley? I like a culture and the diversity. You can meet people from very different backgrounds, there are a lot of books, and it’s for people who think. It’s very intellectually stimulating, fast-moving.
- Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the place? The drape on the wall is for people who lead the prayer to put on as a tradition, it is not required so it is considered good to see them. Over there we have a Qur’an stand so we can set the book open and read when we are praying, usually they are decorated. So people would kneel on the prayer rug with the Qur’an in front of them and start praying.