HAMTRAMCK, MICHIGAN

America had been good to Kaseem Najjar, very good. His string of Muslim grocery stores and his mail-order food business were flourishing, his three children attended some of the United States ’ most prestigious universities, and the man was seen as a pillar of his largely Muslim community just outside Detroit. In America, anything was possible, and Kaseem had proven it.

A refugee from war-torn Sudan, he had the almost stereotypical rags-to-riches immigrant story. He had come to America with nothing but the clothes on his back, and over the course of twenty-five years he had built a dynasty catering to the tastes of those who longed for the foods of their homeland. When it came to the products Kaseem featured on his store shelves, in his mail-order catalog, or on his new web site, he discriminated against no one. His fortune had been built catering to all Muslims. Chili peppers from Indonesia, pistachios from Iran, dates from Libya, special bread flour from Iraq -Kaseem Najjar did not care how hard they were to import. He was a man who never took no for an answer, and that dogged determination was half of what had made him such a success.

The other half of Kaseem’s success came from the balance he struck in his life. Though he had never asked for such status, he was proud to be a role model for the Muslims of his community. On an almost weekly basis, a customer, a colleague, or a member of his mosque would ask him the predominant question that seemed to occupy the mind of every Muslim living in the United States -Where should my allegiance lie? With Islam or with America? Am I a Muslim first or an American?

Even though he’d been asked the same question thousands of times, he still treated each inquiry as if it were the first time he’d ever been asked. His response, though, was always the same. Instead of an answer, he would pose his own question. “If you had two children, “He would say, “who were both equally gifted, beautiful, and possessed of unlimited promise, to which would you devote all of your love?”

It was, of course a rhetorical question. In Kaseem Najjar’s mind, there was no reason to have to choose. This was America, and he could love both his adopted country and his Islamic faith equally. The two were not mutually exclusive as so many perverters of the Muslim religion would like the faithful to believe. His sage response often brought smiles and simple knowing nods from those who asked the question. It also did much to enhance the reputation of Kaseem Najjar as one of the wisest men in Hamtramck.

That reputation, though, was called into question when, as one of the founders of Hamtramck’s Al-Islah Islamic Center, Kaseem suggested the center seek approval from the city council for broadcasting the Muslim call to worship over loudspeakers affixed to the center’s exterior. The debate this sparked made international news.

Many of the Muslims in Hamtramck considered Kaseem a fool for asking permission for a right that was already theirs. Under the city’s noise ordinances, as well as its charter, which specifically protected such religious freedoms, the center already had the right to broadcast the call to worship. The calls lasted only one to two minutes, and in their opinion, they were no different from the ringing of Christian church bells.

Kaseem, on the other hand, had been smart enough to see it as a potentially divisive issue in the multiethnic, multireligious community and had decided to tackle it head-on. By rallying his fellow authorities and approaching the Hamtramck city council to ask that the calls be regulated, before a single objection was ever raised, the center had shown itself to be benevolent, sensitive to the rights of others, and above all else, an exceptionally good neighbor. It was an extremely positive PR move for the Muslim community, not only in Michigan but also in post-9/11 America as a whole.

Occasionally, someone would ask Kaseem if he thought the whole incident had been worth it. In his knowing way, he would always smile and then reach for his worn leather wallet. From it, he would remove an article from the Detroit News, which he was sure had done more for their cause than anything else. To most nonbelievers, the call to worship was nothing but noise. The Detroit News had changed that perception, and the article was picked up by wire services and reprinted in newspapers around the world. With pride, Kaseem would read the translation of the call, which had been read by millions around the world: “Before any prayer session, a man called the muezzin climbs to the top of the mosque’s minaret and sings God is great four times, followed by I testify there is no other God but God twice. Then the muezzin calls I testify Muhammad is the messenger of God two times, followed by Come and pray sung twice. Both Come and flourish and God is great are then twice called, followed by the final There is no God but God.”

Of course, the people with whom Kaseem shared the article did not need a translation of the call to worship. They already understood its meaning, but nevertheless there was no arguing with the pride the man obviously felt in having made the religion and practices of Islam a little more accessible to the rest of the world.

Now Kaseem looked at his watch and saw that it was nearing five o’clock in the morning. He had spent all night in his warehouse unpacking the multitudes of pallets that had arrived the day before. They were the first in an exclusive series of shipments that were the crowning achievement of his career, thanks in no small part to the international notoriety he had received from the call to worship undertaking.

Much as British royalty had done in recognizing specific merchants as official purveyors to the crown, a certain rather radical Saudi prince, named Hamal, from the vast, extended Saudi Royal Family had recognized an outstanding, select few merchants who catered not to the Saudi Royal Family but to the greater worldwide Muslim community as a whole. The first and only merchant in the United States to be awarded the honorable distinction had been Kaseem Najjar.

Along with this recognition, Kaseem was awarded exclusive North American distribution rights to the first product ever officially endorsed by the Saudi Royal Family-bottled water from a secret spring discovered beneath the holy city of Mecca, said to have quenched the thirst of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Proceeds from the sale of the holy water went to Islamic charities around the world. As outlined by Mecca’s Muslim hierarchy in a communiqué disseminated to mosques around the globe, it was the holy duty of each Muslim-man, woman, or child-to buy and consume at least one bottle of water from the secret Mecca spring before the upcoming Ramadan holiday that fall.

Kaseem had indeed done well in securing the exclusive contract to distribute the holy water in the U.S. Any of the faithful who wanted to purchase some would have to do so at their local mosque, which in turn had to purchase it from him. The arrangement was going to make him even richer than he already was. What he didn’t like about it, though, was the Saudis’ insistence that he only sell the water to their list of approved mosques in the United States, all of which catered solely to the majority Sunni faith. No provision had been made to sell the water to any of the Shia mosques.

In addition, his counterparts in Saudi Arabia had also insisted Kaseem’s company take delivery of several tons of a spice known as mahleb. It was made from the pits of black cherries and was readily available throughout the United States, but apparently his Saudi contacts saw a need for a pure Muslim version. Branding was not a concept solely restricted to American companies. The Muslim world was catching on as well. Today it was spring water and cherry pit spice, tomorrow tennis shoes and watches. If the truth be told, Kaseem was very pleased to see the Muslim world begin to keep pace with modern times. He had no doubt that given the choice, his customers would rather buy a Muslim version of mahleb than a non-Muslim one.