Though drywall scraps crumble underfoot and plaster dust coats the donated monitor screens, the old storefront on West 63rd Street already looks more like the computer training center it will be than the record store it once was.
"We did all this without a single grant," said Amina Peterson, treasurer of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, running her hand over the smooth paneling on the office walls while young men and boys from IMAN's youth programs hauled away garbage and stacked up discarded bricks outside. "It's all from private donations."
IMAN depends on such donors to run its programs, from outreach and gang intervention to job skills assistance, Peterson said. The word "Muslim" in IMAN's letterhead is enough to turn away most public and private organizations.
But in the coming months, another funding source for the group could open, and then the Islamic faith that forms the basis of its work may prove an advantage.
President George W. Bush wants Congress to fast-track his plan to provide religious institutions easier access to federal money for charitable services, saying "there is no more important initiative than the faith-based program."
Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives delayed an expected debate on the legislation after critics argued it could pre-empt state and local anti-discrimination laws.
While the blueprint has drawn fire from sources expected to embrace it, such as ultra-conservative Christian leaders, Muslim groups are among its strongest backers.
"We appreciate and support this initiative," said Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, one of the largest Muslim groups in the nation.
"Religious organizations should be recognized in the public sphere for providing social services and should be allowed to compete with secular organizations for funds."
Despite fears Islamic social service agencies might encounter discrimination, Muslim leaders see the president's plan as an opportunity to garner recognition for programs that have been assisting people for years in relative obscurity.
"The faith-based initiatives are a recognition of the fact that religious groups are key in community life," said Kareem Irfan, chairman of Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. "We must make sure that Muslims are involved and are given full recognition to ensure that minority faith groups are not ignored in this process."
Federal grant competition
Under the president's plan, religious institutions that offer social services to the needy will be permitted to compete for billions of dollars in federal grants.
The plan expands a 1996 program of President Bill Clinton's, which allows faith-based organizations to receive federal money for social service programs without giving up their religious identities.
When Bush announced in January he was establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement praising Bush's actions.
The Islamic Institute, another national Muslim group, "applauded" the president and encouraged Muslim faith-based organizations to work with the White House.
The enthusiastic reaction fell in line with the overwhelming support given Bush by the Muslim and Arab-American communities during the 2000 presidential election. Muslim and Arab-American leaders cited the Texas Republican's willingness to meet with them during his campaign as a primary reason he garnered their votes.
In the past six months, the excitement that greeted the faith-based scheme now has been joined by caution regarding the details, said Mahdi Bray, national political director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, also based in D.C.
Like other religious organizations that have raised objections, Bray said Muslim groups are concerned whether they will be subject to government control if they receive money.
He said the council wanted to see some type of technical assistance given to help groups manage their federal dollars, and opposed allowing discriminatory hiring practices within groups getting funded.
Fear that anti-Muslim prejudice might shut Islamic organizations out is a major concern, he said, especially when Christian charities already are larger and better-known.
"Catholic charities and Lutheran charities have been doing this for years, sometimes as (non-profit corporations)," Bray said. "They obviously have an in. We want to see if there will be parity for minority faith groups."
That parity is especially important when those minority faith groups serve immigrant populations, he said, who are often more at ease taking their worries to a religious leader than a government worker.
"From day one the mosque is the center of Muslim life, it is the hub," Bray said. "New Americans, Arabs or members of the African community may be more comfortable going to a church or a mosque to deal with their problems."
Because of that predilection, Irfan said, Islamic social service agencies will have a better idea what a community's needs are and how to meet them.
"Faith-based initiatives are run by people who are welcome and respected in the community," he said, echoing sentiments expressed by many faith-based initiative supporters. "They will know who needs attention and how to solve their problems because they are members of the same religious community."
Muslim need
Rami Nashashibi, director of IMAN, couldn't get through a sentence one recent afternoon without the phone ringing or someone knocking on his door.
The 6-year-old organization, one of a handful in the city and suburbs, sees about 250 people per week for reasons ranging from addiction counseling to job training. That caseload is balanced by three full-time workers, three part-timers and about 50 volunteers, he said.
So the upside to Bush's plan, to him, is obvious.
"It really would provide more opportunities for organizations like ours for funding," Nashashibi said. "We just hired a grant writer, and we are aware that by being dismissed as a religious organization our funding base will be limited."
The downside, he said, is that being identified as a Muslim religious organization might limit opportunities for money even under the faith-based plan.
"There have already been comments made among the Christian right, among those who see Muslims as a threat to them," Nashashibi said.
In a national survey conducted this spring by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, nearly half the people contacted — 46 percent — opposed giving federal dollars to Muslim mosques.
Significant numbers of Americans opposed government funding for religious groups such as Muslims, Buddhists and Mormons, according to the survey results. Overall, 75 percent of those reached for the survey favored government funding for religious groups as a whole.
"Though we may talk about plurality of religion in this country, when it comes to groups outside the Judeo-Christian tradition people still have suspicions," said Melissa Rogers, executive director of the forum. "No matter how much they support the faith-based initiatives, when you start asking how they feel about specific groups they react differently."
And a White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives staff that does not include any Muslims doesn't bode well for the future, Bray said.
"I think if you're going to talk about a big tent and you're going to talk about multiplurality in religion, the office should reflect that vision," he said. "I believe the people they have working there are good people, but they should look at qualified people who are non-Christians as well, and not necessarily just Muslims."
Muslim leaders also are concerned Christian charities which do get money might use their position to bash religious groups that are minorities in the United States.
Bray offered as example comments of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, in an interview published on the Web site Beliefnet.com. Falwell said "the Moslem faith teaches hate. ... I think when persons are clearly bigoted toward other people in the human family, they should be disqualified from funds."
Should the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives become a "bully pulpit" for anti-Muslim sentiment or refuse to fund Muslim organizations that meet the office's criteria, Bray said, Muslims would find a pulpit of their own.
"Muslims have a spiritual obligation to speak out against injustice and inequality and things of that kind," he said. "I've been in America long enough to understand that the squeaky wheel gets the oil."
As details of the plan are cast in Congress, Irfan said a committee formed by the council will monitor information coming from Washington and lobby for an Islamic voice in the decision-making process.
He said committee members continue to approach the idea with "a lot of cautious optimism," because Islamic social service agencies have much to gain. As do the people they serve.
"One of the fundamental precepts of Islam is looking after your fellow beings," Irfan said. "This plan dovetails very nicely with the driving force of our faith."
Allison Hantschel may be reached at ahantschel@dailysouthtown.com