Noteworthy: Mahnaz Shabbir

I am an American Muslim Woman

Mahnaz Shabbir

With that simple, honest declaration, Mahnaz Shabbir provided a unique voice in the chaotic aftermath of 9/11. She also launched herself into the world of syndicated news and national speaking engagements, and became a crusader for the cause of tolerance and cultural understanding.

Those six words, heartfelt and direct, formed the title of a creative writing workshop essay she wrote in October 2001. She had no idea her words would be the dawn of a new career for herself, and an expression of strength for thousands of  “silent” Americans who felt they, too, needed advocacy.

Shabbir, a UMKC alumna (B.A. ’82, M.B.A. ‘84) was horrified by the terrorist attacks of that September, and hoped the attackers were not Muslims. But as she sadly discovered that they had laid claim to her beloved Islamic religion, she also thought of her four sons (themselves second-generation Americans), who would soon be fending off prejudicial comments and bullying from some classmates.

After confronting her feelings and writing of her experience, she read the piece out loud to her writing class.  “Everybody was crying, including me,” she said. “It was so personal, and seemed in many ways to be a universal story. There have been other minorities in our country’s history that have faced similar discrimination.”

Urged by her teacher, Shabbir sent the essay to the Kansas City Star, which responded immediately. After it was published, it was circulated quickly throughout the country’s newspapers and printed many times over. She was called by dozens of interfaith and community organizations to speak on issues of tolerance and diversity, and realized that the new links she was forging could perhaps help to strengthen the fragile infrastructure of America’s pluralist cultural identity.

Having been a hospital administrator for more than 18 years, Shabbir oversaw big-picture projects, including long-term strategic planning and marketing for several area health facilities. However, after so many years in the business, she recognized that her executive-level duties were no longer “lighting the fire.”

 “So I had a little talk with myself,” she says with a smile. “And that’s when I knew I needed to do this work, so I started my own company.”

 Shabbir has been profiled recently in Entrepreneur magazine for her consulting business, Shabbir Advisors, which specializes in diversity training and strategic and marketing planning for corporate clients (www.shabbiradvisors.com).

 Her work with a dual Muslim/Jewish children’s choir was spotlighted in the CBS documentary, Open Hearts/Open Minds, and she is working on a book.

 Currently, she says that some of her most gratifying work is as a diversity facilitator for the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

 “When I speak to these students, who are among the very best the U.S. military has to offer, I’m speaking to the future,” Shabbir says. “I hope to give them a better, more compassionate understanding of the cultural complexities of Islam.  Maybe somewhere, while on their missions, this will make a difference.

“I am interested in creating an environment where people can learn from each other in a way that doesn’t make one person right and the other wrong. My hope is that we can create a place where fear and hatred will be replaced by friendship and peace,” she says.

Shabbir sometimes wears the hijab, or traditional headscarf, to class, and invites female students to do so. So far, none have turned her down, as they find wearing it widens their perception of cultural expectations. “And they are surprised to find that it is not too hot or uncomfortable,” Shabbir points out.

Born in Philadelphia to hard-working Indian immigrants, Shabbir remembers as a teenager trying to assimilate into so-called “American” culture by re-naming herself Mona. Her parents did not approve. After all, they named their daughter Mahnaz, which in Farsi means “beauty of the moon.”

It’s a fitting name for this American Muslim woman, who exudes a strong and peaceful magnetism, and whose vocation is to illuminate the darkness in order to gain understanding.

Click Here to read the original essay “I am an American Muslim Woman.”

 

– Donna Mennona Dilks