I am an American: Shakila Ahmad pushes for understanding on national Muslim-Jewish council

• Who is Shakila Ahmad?
• A Q&A with Shakila Ahmad
• Nominate an American
• Read more stories, sign up for newsletter

As Americans, we are a diverse population. Historically, we have embraced that diversity as what brings us together and truly makes us one nation encouraging all to seek life,liberty and happiness. By sharing our individual differences and finding commonalities, we can work to unify the nation. One thing unites us: We are all Americans. Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who is making a difference to unite, rather than divide, our communities. Read more of their stories here.

Shakila Ahmad doesn’t really shake your hand, she embraces it.

Hers is the kind of greeting where she shakes with one hand, while placing her other hand on top of your hand as a kind of hand-hug.

It’s the kind of greeting that puts strangers immediately at ease. Perhaps even without them realizing it.

That’s who Ahmad is at her core: A Muslim-American woman who has spent much of her life drawing people in from various communities, religions and political persuasions to help educate others about Islam and its teachings that define her life.

And that is exactly why Bob Silverman, the U.S. director of Muslim-Jewish Relations for the American Jewish Committee (AJC) invited her to join the national Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council late last year.

The council, a first of its kind, was launched by the AJC and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in November to advocate on shared national issues and concerns, even though the two groups have not historically always been on the same side of debates.

Ahmad is one of 31 prominent Muslim and Jewish leaders who will serve on the bipartisan council designed to fight Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. The idea dates before the November election, Silverman said, but the need for such a council has escalated with the uptick in hate crimes against both groups.

Her local education and advocacy work at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati for more than 20 years made her a natural for inclusion to the council, which is in the throes of establishing its policy agenda. It will take on hate crime as its most urgent issue, he added.

“She’s a sparkling individual,’’ Silverman said. “She’s been a real force for good.”

Ahmad said she was both honored and a bit reluctant to take on the role given her local commitments,

In addition to her ongoing work as the president and board chair of the Islamic Center in West Chester, Ohio.

“If Jewish Americans are reaching out and I have the opportunity to make a positive impact, then I’m being selfish for saying I don’t have time,’’ she said. “I’m a just a little pea in the pod from middle America, but I feel like our region needs to be represented.”

Ahmad was the first woman and the youngest to serve on the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati’s board. She created its Tours and Talks program to educate law enforcement officers, business leaders, nonprofit groups, schools and communities about Islam and Muslims. She was also the founding member of the center’s Muslim Mothers Against Violence initiative and is often called on to educate groups on being a Muslim to battle against Islamophobia.

“I do this because it makes the region better and at the same time I feel like I must do this for my children, for your children and their children,’’ said Ahmad, sitting in the Islamic Center’s artifacts and library room.

She has always, she said, made an effort to answer questions about her faith and correct misunderstandings. Yes, she tells people, she’s an American. Yes, she tells people, she was educated in America. No, she corrects folks, being Islamic does not equate to terrorism. The occasional calls and letters filled with hate trouble her, but reinforce her commitment to her work.

Explaining Islam’s rich culture and long history can be exhausting work. Sometimes, too, it is met with resistance. But she’s learned through her work that most of us – regardless of fear or anger – want to learn about what binds us and not focus on the differences that divide us.

There are, she says, far more commonalities between Americans who are also Jewish, Muslim or Christian.

“I say what the YWCA says: ‘Lift as you climb,’ ’’ she added. “It’s part of my faith. I do it because it is part of my obligation.

“Whatever I can do to make a difference,’’ she said. “I try and do.”

Shakila T. Ahmad

Profession: President and chair of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati board. Director of business management at Allergy & Asthma Specialty Center in West Chester Township, Middletown and Georgetown.

Age: 56

Home: Evendale, Ohio

Mission: Bringing people together, educating and learning to build a strong community that relies on all of us.

Q and A with Shakila T. Ahmad

What does it mean to you to be an American?

Being an American is an incredible privilege. The freedoms this country affords are incredible: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, education. The opportunities are tremendous.

What moment touched and motivated you to become involved in this effort?

I have been committed to interfaith work for two decades. We did a women of interfaith program on Fountain Square (in Cincinnati) in 2016 and there were 300 women who came forward to stand together, to establish relationships. It was moving. And so when the national coalition asked me to be involved -- to stand up again discrimination, to speak up and to speak out for each other and to look at domestic policy issues -- I had to say yes. I believe in this work. The possibility of positive impact and positive change is the number one reason I said yes.

It’s not easy work. I have incredible respect for the people who are on the council. They do incredible work on behalf of this country.

What gives you hope and what concerns you?

What gives me hope is the Muslim-Jewish Advocacy Council and the work we will do to serve our country. What gives me hope is the women’s interfaith community and that people show up in the hundreds to get to know their neighbors. What gives me hope is that all fellow Americans are able to stand shoulder to shoulder regardless if we are Muslim-Americans or Jewish Americans or Christian Americans. We are all Americans.

What concerns me is when we don’t take time to understand our similarities and our differences. When we chastise each other, we are cut off from one another. That is deeply, deeply concerning to me and deeply un-American. In every era of our history, there have been different people, but the public square belongs to all of us.

What do you hope to accomplish through your efforts?

I hope to really empower one another with our diverse voice. As a nation and as a people, we have tremendous values and I hope to celebrate that and contribute to that work. I am hopeful we can build relationships with each other and our political leaders so the message is: We are your constituents, the voters, and we are the people you want to help make our government, listen to us. I also hope we will advocate in order to decrease these unfounded fears and the disenfranchisement and bigotry that we have seen across the country and in our own region. This is extremely dangerous to all of us. We need to make strong statements against these actions. The golden rule is in each of our faith communities.

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