CAIRO — Muslim leaders in South Florida Metropolitan are meeting on Sunday, August 10, to discuss motivating Muslims for more involvement in civil life.

"We are encouraging people to get more involved in their communities," Altaf Ali, executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida chapter, the organizer, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel daily.

The meeting tackles Muslims' contributions to their communities and how to make their voices heard in the local civic life.

Participants, who represent mosques and Islamic centers in South Florida Metropolitan, will fill out a survey answering questions about their mosques, schools, interfaith activities and voter registration drives.

They will be asked to help make a census about Muslim population in the metropolitan and their political leanings ahead of the November White House elections.

Roland Foulkes, Chairman of the Broward County Commission's Diversity Advisory Council, will urge Muslims to volunteer for county and city boards, create community newspapers, oppose racial profiling, apply for grants and run for office.

"All the Muslims I have met are busy with their jobs, their businesses, their faith and raising their kids," Foulkes noted.

"As a result, they do not have a whole lot of time to be active in these volunteer positions."

Broward County alone is home to about 20,000 Muslims.

Miami-Dade County has about 40,000 Muslims while Palm Beach County's Muslim population is estimated at about 10,000 Muslims.

Last June, CAIR launched an ambitious campaign, called Muslim Care Promoting Voluntarism for Better America, to encourage Muslims to reach out to their neighbors and make a positive contribution to their society at large.

Pioneering 

Ali said active involvement in public life will help Muslims fight stereotypes about them and their faith.

"If our community was more engaged, if there was a commissioner who was a Muslim, there would have been fewer stereotypes there from lack of understanding."

According to a 2006 Washington Post-ABC News poll, about 46 percent of Americans hold negative feelings about Islam and one in four Americans admit to harboring prejudice to Muslims.

"It is a pioneering effort," CAIR spokesman Ahmed Rehab said.

"It will help us better gauge our civic engagement."

Haroon Sulaiman, president of the Muslim Community of Palm Beach County, a West Palm Beach mosque, praised the initiative.

"These are our homes now. We are part of the local community and part of the Muslim community," he said.

"Our children are growing up here. It is definitely a healthy move to get more involved."

Source: http://www.islamonline.net