Imam Hassan Qazwini and Representatives of the Muslim Community Meet with Governor Howard Dean

Imam Hassan Qazwini, along with 24 religious leaders, community leaders, and representatives of various national Muslim organizations, met , Wednesday, May 17th, 2006, with Governor Howard Dean, chairman of the National Democratic Committee and former presidential candidate. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the National Democratic Committee in Washington, D.C. It involved an honest and warm discussion with the chairman of NDC, who has been trying to reach out to the Muslim community in the United States.  In attendance were a few other Imams and representatives from CAIR, ISNA, UMAA, and IANA.  Imam Qazwini urged Governor Dean to recognize the role that the Muslim community is playing and the contributions of the Muslim-American community at large. Imam Qazwini emphasized that the NDC must, in order to have better representation, embrace and endorse Muslim candidates, whether for the House of Representatives or for the Senate. A few other issues, such as donations to Islamic charitable organizations and violations of Muslims' civil liberties by law enforcement agencies, were discussed.  Governor Dean promised that he would work diligently to accommodate some of these requests and work towards narrowing the gap between America and Muslims, thus rebuilding bridges with the Muslim community, especially those burned after September 11, 2001.