NEWSWEEK marked her as one of the 20 people to watch this year.
Certainly, Ingrid Mattson’s profile has leapt since she won an uncontested election late August last year to become the president of the Islamic Society of North America (Isna).
Her story has been well told. Mattson was raised a Catholic during her growing up years in Ontario, Canada. By the time she turned 15, God remained a huge question mark to her.
Her young life turned a new page when she met several Senegalese Muslims whom she found warm and dignified during a trip to Paris. She began reading the Quran and, to cut a long story short, Mattson converted to Islam at the age of 24.
During an interview at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, where she is an Islamic studies professor, Mattson was a voice of reason and whose photos did her no justice at all.
Her tiny office was crammed with books, mostly in Arabic.
“Yes, I can speak the language. I had to study Arabic for my PhD. I do most of my research in it,” said Mattson, 43.
To her own surprise, there was little opposition to her becoming the leader of Isna, the biggest umbrella body for Muslim groups in Canada and the United States.
“There are the more conservative ones who feel that a woman should have a lesser public role. Some have been silent, others supportive. I have received calls from those who expressed support despite their own personal opinions. There had been very few explicitly negative critique. I was surprised. I thought those who opposed it would be more public about it but they haven’t.”
These days, more Muslims are coming to the United States. In 2005, 96,000 became permanent residents, the highest ever in two decades.
“Our community is ready for the next stage of growth. The majority of us have been born in the United States or are second or third generation from immigrant parents. These are Muslims who feel that this is their home. We want to be engaged in the society which we live in.”
Why do they view America as the Promised Land?
“Most Muslims can distinguish between the political policies of any particular US administration and the country as a whole,” she said.
“They know there is a lot to offer here, even compared to Europe. The US is a country open to diversity; it accepts public expressions of religion. Here, it is very common for people to thank God in public and wear some religious dress that is different.”
More importantly, she said these people heard from their friends that “this is a good place to be a Muslim despite the fact that we had some difficulties in the last few years”.
How about starting anew in the rich Gulf states?
“There are Muslims going there, where there are many jobs. But the experience of some Muslims is that they don’t feel they have the freedom. They don’t have the hope of ever becoming a citizen in those countries because of their laws.”
“In the United States, if you are let in, you can make this a home for your children. They can be educated in the best schools. This is the beauty of the country for those who come legally. There are so many opportunities not just to make money but to be part of a society.”
Despite several post-Sept 11 “over reach” administrative measures which sent out wrong signals that Muslims were guilty until proven innocent, Mattson noted that the US government had also been very good in prosecuting hate crimes.
“I think we are starting to reach a better balance now,” she said.
Mattson believes that the biggest problem for Muslims is the enemy within.
“It is our own ignorance of our scholarly tradition; the failure to understand the broadness of Islam. Muslims have narrowed it; they have become judgmental, intolerant of others. They want to look at things in a uniform way; they want Muslims to look and act the same way.”
Mattson, who wears a headscarf, said the veil was just one out of 1,000 things that Muslims needed to do.
“I believe that women should wear the hijab but at the same time, they must also be kind and not gossip with others. I am not going to judge those who do not wear it. I have a friend who’s a hairdresser but she doesn’t wear one. She cuts men’s hair and some people think she’s a bad Muslim. But I swear that she is a better person than I am.”
Mattson and her Egyptian husband, an engineer, have a daughter, 17, and a son, 15.
Her daughter was 12 when she wanted to wear the headscarf.
“I told her to consider it as a practice and if she did not feel comfortable about it later, she could take if off without thinking that she had broken a promise to God. She has decided to keep it on,” said Mattson.
She also disputed views that Muslims did not laugh at themselves often enough.
“Anyone who says that hasn’t watched Arabic TV. Egypt, since the invention of the TV, has been famous for its comedians.”
Little Mosque on the Prairie, a new Canadian hit sitcom about Muslims, was also proof of that, she said.
