Convention Aims To Offer 'Window' On Muslim Life

June 19, 2007

Author: David A. Brensilver

Source: Islamic Circle of North America

[icna.org/icna/icna-press-clippings/convention-aims-to-offer-window-on-muslim-life.html]

Hartford — Muslim leaders hope next month to inform members of other faiths about theirs, and to dispel myths and stereotypes perpetuated by what the Islamic Circle of North America's secretary general called the “irresponsible media.”

“Islam remains the most misunderstood religion in America,” Naeem Baig said.

At a press conference at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford Monday, Baig announced that the New York-based nonprofit Islamic Circle, with support from the Muslim American Society and the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, will hold its 32nd annual convention at the Convention Center July 6-8.

This will be the third consecutive year Hartford has hosted the convention, which is expected to draw 10,000 of the Islamic Circle's membership, most of whom are located in the Northeast, Baig said.

The three-day convention includes a daylong, town hall-style symposium, “Window to Islam,” which Baig said would address the issue of “Islamophobia.” In calling certain outlets “irresponsible,” Baig said, “The media is not being just and balanced” in its coverage of events abroad that can affect perceptions of Muslim-Americans in the United States.