Muslims on LI react to King's hearings

Marwah Ibrahem wears a hijab, says her prayers and believes in Islam. But when her father suggested several years ago that she visit Egypt to learn more about her ancestral country's culture, she corrected him.

"I said, 'This is my country,' " said Ibrahem, 21, a Dix Hills resident. "I'm an American."

The Stony Brook University student struggled Thursday to reconcile that patriotism with the picture of American Muslims that emerged from some of the testimony presented during Rep. Peter King's homegrown terrorism hearing.

Testimony targeting Muslims, she said, gave the wrong impression about a wide range of people who share her faith.

"I'm disheartened," Ibrahem said. "These hearings make me feel torn about the future of America and as if it didn't matter what we thought, because we are always going to be seen as a religious minority."

Ibrahem, who's studying biochemistry and psychology at Stony Brook, was among a handful of Muslims who gathered in a student lounge to watch the proceedings online.

They shook their heads at comments linking their faith to extremism, but cheered witnesses and panel members who challenged the stereotype of widespread Muslim radicalization.

Afterward, they said they felt the hearing put more heat than light on the estimated 2.5 million Muslims in the United States.

"It's a sad, historic moment for the country," said Sanaa Nadim, the university's Muslim chaplain. "If it's truly a hearing, all perspectives should be heard, including more voices from our community. . . . Where are the community leaders, the imams, the priests and rabbis that have been working together all these years?"

Sumaiya Iqbal, a junior at Stony Brook, didn't hear any hard evidence showing how radicalization is a growing problem. "I'm not sure the whole thing was entirely productive," said Iqbal, 18. "They are just telling anecdotes."

Many other Muslims on Long Island chose not to watch the hearing, sticking to their workday routines instead. That was the case with three information technology specialists eating Chicken Karahi and kebabs for lunch at Shaheen Restaurant in Hicksville -- part of King's district. They checked news accounts, but didn't feel compelled to tune in to the hearing itself.

"It's basically a political show," said Khurram Khan, 30. "We are being looked upon as if we were totally different persons, almost as a different species."