Saudis Visit Utah, Extol 'True' Islam 'All Americans would become Muslims' Matt Canham Salt Lake Tribune Monday, September 02, 2002 A delegation of Saudi Arabian educators urged Utah Muslims on Sunday to capitalize on the growing interest in their faith generated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The 10-member delegation, in the middle of a three-week U.S. tour, asked Muslims to share the tenets of Islam and to inspire others by their strict adherence to the faith. "We want people to understand the true Islam and understand it not from the actions of the attackers but through the practices of real Muslims," Abdul-Aziz Al-Dahash, secretary general for the Ministry of Education, said through an interpreter. Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the educators spent one week in Washington, D.C., before flying to Salt Lake City late Saturday. They toured Temple Square early Sunday and spent the afternoon at the Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley City. The Saudis want to learn about religious education in the United States and how religious pluralism operates. The delegation will meet Tuesday with representatives of Northwest Middle School, teachers at West High School's LDS seminary and the superintendent of the Utah Office of Education before heading to Houston on Wednesday. Al-Dahash said he has already identified a component of the U.S. educational model he would like to implement back home. "Education here is decentralized. It gives more freedom to the school to meet the needs of the local community," he said. The Saudi central government controls all education, which has Islamic teachings at its core, he said. The delegation talked little about education with the 30 Utah Muslims they met with Sunday. Instead they asked about the role of Muslims in the community. Muntaser Aseeri, a supervisor in the Islamic Education Department, said the 8 million U.S. Muslims must act as representatives of the faith. "If each one of them tried to reach 40 people here, all Americans would become Muslims," he said. The Khadeeja Mosque has programs to reach non-Muslims but focuses its efforts on educating children "because they are the torchbearers of Islam in this society," said Shuaib-ud Din, the mosque's imam, or spiritual leader. Din welcomed the Saudis but expressed suspicion about the State Department's agenda. His mosque has been host to three Muslim delegations in the past four months, one from Pakistan, one representing 10 African nations and now one from Saudi Arabia. "We didn't get these people before 9-11," he said. "The State Department is paying for their tickets, paying for their hotel. There is definitely a reason why they are doing this." A representative of the State Department said the U.S. tours are planned to bolster the relationships between countries and to dispel misconceptions. Din said many in the delegation and his congregation are not fooled by the "two-faced" U.S. policy. "The visitors and local Muslims are able to differentiate U.S. foreign policy that affects Muslims negatively and U.S. domestic policy of freedom of religion and freedom of expression that benefits not just Muslims but all faiths," he said. Din and the Saudi educators expressed frustration with the U.S. media's portrayal of Islam. They said reports unfairly damage the perception of their religion and create unnecessary fears. Members of the delegation expected to find U.S. citizens more hostile to Saudi Arabia "What surprised me is the fair and kind attitude of the American people," said Al-Dahash. "What we heard from them is different from what is in the media. The people's position is a lot more advanced than the American media's."