Source: The Des Moines Register
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050911/LIFE05/509110339/1039/LIFE
On September 11, 2005 The Des Moines Register reported, "Muslims in Iowa say they're still feeling the brunt of unfair stereotypes four years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States placed an unwanted spotlight on their religion. A conference, titled 'Islam in America: Finding Common Ground,' held at Drake University on Friday and Saturday discussed the 'human face' of Islam and the diverse cultures of Muslims, Christians and Jews... Sioux City lawyer Mohummed Sadden told workshop participants that Muslims have unfairly become associated with words such as terrorism. 'We have to find another way so that when you have the word Muslim, you get positive connotations, not negative,' he said. At one workshop, a Lutheran bishop, an imam and a Jew talked about their religions' common roots in Abraham... Other workshops were held to discuss the basic facts of Islam, women's role in the religion, and advances in architecture, science and mathematics, such as the development of algebra, made during the so-called 'Islamic Period.'"