The timing, it seemed, couldn't have been worse.
It was the summer of 2001, and the organizers of an exhibit about Islam were
weighing whether to turn it into a permanent museum. The temporary display had
drawn well enough to encourage museum boosters to think bigger.
Then came Sept. 11 -- and eruptions of bias
against Muslims nationwide. On the downtown Jackson street where the Islamic
exhibit was housed in a converted warehouse, the immediate response was just as
ugly: Days after the terrorist attacks, a brick smashed into the plate-glass
window. Then a crucial project fund-raiser looked doomed when two top political
figures suddenly got cold feet.
"We just thought we were in trouble -- that everybody's going to stop
coming," recalled Okolo Rashid, who was in charge of the museum planning
effort. It was "so bad for us, so negative."
But a surprising thing happened. The little storefront museum, with its
Moorish-style arches and colorfully tiled entrance, didn't wither. The
fund-raiser was a hit (the headliners showed up, after all). And the museum
drew a stream of visitors -- school and university groups, tourists and
residents -- who suddenly had a thousand questions about Islam, and about the
possible motivations of the Sept. 11 terrorists.
Now, more than a year later, the International Museum of Muslim Cultures is
believed to be the nation's only museum devoted to Islam. The museum remains
modest -- at 1,500 square feet, it's not much bigger than a clothing boutique
-- and boasts few historical artifacts, save for a prayer platform and an
oversize wooden door, both from 19th century Moroccan mosques.
But the warm reception has inspired organizers to plan an expansion of the
museum, which sits next to a closed tire store down the street from the
Mississippi Museum of Art. The Muslim museum has won praise and financial help
from city and tourism officials, who say it reflects a cultural diversity in
Mississippi that is often not recognized by outsiders.
Rashid, now the museum's director, said underscoring the historical
contributions by Muslims in areas ranging from medicine to commerce may help
explain why, with the exception of the brick, harmony generally prevailed in
this city of 200,000 after the terrorist attacks inflamed passions elsewhere.
"People are quite surprised. Mississippi? The South? People thought we
would have had what was going on elsewhere in the country. We've had nothing
like that here," said Rashid, a former consultant who grew up in Jackson.
"We think we've played a part in that."
The museum got its start in early 2001 as a display, hastily assembled by
members of Jackson's small Muslim community, to complement an exhibit of
Spanish treasures being shown at the nearby Mississippi Arts Pavilion. Members
of Rashid's mosque asked whether the exhibit would reflect the nearly 800 years
during which Spain was under Muslim rule and witnessed remarkable advances in
science and culture.
"The answer was no," said Emad Al-Turk, a transplanted Palestinian
who runs a Jackson engineering firm and is chairman of the Muslim museum.
"We felt obliged to try to have a companion exhibit."
The result was an exhibit highlighting Islamic Spain, from the 8th century to
the 15th. It also provided a broader introduction to Muslim religious beliefs,
music and cultural innovations. Today, one corner of the museum resembles a
miniature mosque; nearby is a mock souk, or marketplace, complete with baskets
of colorful cloth and carpets and sacks of spices. Another section is done up
as a Moroccan family room, with low sofas embracing an ornate wooden table
topped with a tea service.
The museum depicts a Muslim reign of striking progress in Spain: paved streets
and sophisticated irrigation systems, schools and libraries, bustling commerce,
medical advances and learning that predated the Renaissance.
Presented too is a spirit of general tolerance toward Christians and Jews
living in Muslim Spain -- a vision of multicultural coexistence that museum organizers
offer for contemporary America. A video features brief appearances by members
of Jackson's Muslim community, which numbers fewer than 1,000 but includes
professors, computer scientists, doctors and others from all over the globe.
"We as Muslim Americans listen to the news and hear the stereotypes. We
don't have the vehicle to portray the true image of Muslims, the positive
contributions of Muslims," said Al-Turk, who moved to Mississippi 20 years
ago. "We feel this is a positive way to do it."
Museum officials say 11,000 visitors have strolled past the tile fountain
inside the front door, although on a recent weekday morning there were none in
sight. Rashid said visitors often ask her to reconcile the tolerant image of
Islam presented in the museum with that of terrorists. Her answer: "These
are people that are extremists. We don't call them Muslim extremists. They're
extremists."
The museum effort has won support across religious lines.
"It's a great thing that that little museum is here. It's an educational
moment and it provides understanding," said Macy B. Hart, president of the
Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, also in Jackson.
The Roman Catholic bishop of Jackson, William Houck, calls the museum a
"contribution to the community."
That the museum has survived so far gives admirers hope that it will last.
Museum officials next plan an exhibit tracking the spread of Islam through
Africa to the Americas. Under discussion too is a traveling exhibit that can be
taken around the country.
Amid tense times, the museum's boosters are counting on curiosity to win out
over animosity. "It's the spirit of the American people to want to know
more -- to learn," Rashid said. "There's this spirit in America to
rise up to find more information. It's not the ignorant population that wants
to bury its head."