Islamic Society of Milwaukee Forums are back with a new twist

Islamic Society of Milwaukee brings back its monthly forums,  where community members are invited to ask questions of a professional panel. ISM Main, 4047 S. 13th St., Milwaukee, hosts forums on the third Friday of each month.  

If you have any questions you’d like to ask police officers, university professors, doctors, lawyers, accountants, people working in practically any field, keep an eye out for announcements about Islamic Society of Milwaukee Forums.

ISM hosted monthly forums for almost a decade. At each, a panel of speakers discussed current events and societal trends from an Islamic perspective. The COVID pandemic (March 2020-May 2023), shut them down.

ISM Forums returned in November with a new twist—local Muslims of the same profession answer questions from the audience. In the first ISM forum since early 2020, a panel of Muslim police officers fielded wide-ranging questions in November. December’s panel featured university professors.

ISM Forums will take place at 8 p.m. on the third Friday of every month in the Center Hall at ISM Main, 4047 S. 13th St., Milwaukee. Refreshments and babysitting are provided. 

We don’t want lectures. This new model aims to create an interactive discussion led by an audience free to ask their own questions, ISM imam Ziad Hamdan explained. The lively discussion at December’s forum lasted two hours until Imam Hamdan called time at 10 p.m.

Featuring professions helps community members know more about each other, an audience member observed. “I didn’t know all of them are professors.” It makes the community closer, provides an opportunity to learn something new and also helps everyone know experts they can contact for help with specific issues.

Although only a few teens and young adults were in the audience Dec. 20, Hamdan said he hopes more youth will attend future forums. They can help them get information for important decisions.

A conversation with Muslim professors

December’s ISM Forum: A Conversation with Muslim Professors featured Hana’a Alqam, who teaches mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Iftekharuddin Khan, who teaches industrial and manufacturing engineering at UW-Milwaukee; Laila Azam who teaches at the Medical College of Wisconsin; Kamil Samara, who teaches computer science at UW-Parkside; Fahed Masalkhi, who teaches courses on Islam, the Middle East and Arabic at UW-Milwaukee; Yasser Khaled, who teaches in the Marquette University Dental School; and Randa Sulieman, who teaches education at Alverno College. Imam Ziad Hamdan served as the emcee of the evening.

About 70 community members attended. Free to ask anything, some audience members sought personal advice on how to choose a major or to get into certain university undergraduate or graduate programs. Others wanted to know how artificial intelligence is impacting education and whether professors wearing the hijab experienced discrimination. Still, others were curious about work in higher education, and its pros and cons.

Here are the highlights, paraphrased:

What are your thoughts on the future of your profession?

Sulieman: It’s not a secret that higher education is shrinking. There is a huge decline in enrollment in all higher education institutions, whether public or private. A lot of programs are closing. That’s nationwide. 

We have trends in higher education. For a few years, everyone wants to be a nurse, then everyone wants to be a doctor or an engineer. It is coming from how much money you can make. High school students want to pursue the field that gives them the highest income and the most comfortable life. These trends come and go. 

Right now, there is a shortage of teachers so there is a high opportunity for employment in education. I remember when I got my teaching license, there would be 700 applicants for each position. Right now, every day, I receive multiple emails from schools saying, “Please send us anybody.” 

Academia is still an honorable profession but finding employment might be a challenge. You might achieve your Ph.D. but not find a position. But would I say, “Go for it?” 100%! Things change all the time. What Allah intends for you to happen will happen, despite any other factors. 

ISM’s December panel featured university educators (left to right)  Laila Azam, Hana’a Alqam, Fahed Masalkhi, Fahed Masalkhi, Iftekharuddin Khan and Yasser Khaled (not shown Randa Sulieman). Imam Ziad Hamdan served as emcee.

Azam: One of the main reasons I wanted to get my Ph.D. and get into teaching, especially for the four years I taught at Carroll University, I was the only Muslim faculty there, the only hijabi. Many told me they had never met a Muslim. The ideas I get to share, the ways I get to influence the curriculum, the system, the institution, the policies, I had a voice. For the success of (Muslim) students, when they see faculty who look like them and share experiences with them, this impacts the retention rates of those students. It’s really important that we have our foot in the door as Muslims. 

Alqam: When I told my family and friends I would like to study engineering, a lot of people tried to discourage me. “You’re a female. What are you going to do with an engineering degree?” they asked. But I believe everything is in Allah’s hands. I went into it because it was a hot profession and I wanted to work and support my family. I didn’t sit a year without a job. 

Samara: We in computer science and AI are the trend nowadays. So, if you want money, you know where to come. (University) teaching is challenging today. There are all these courses online by Stanford and Harvard professors. You’re competing against these guys. Teaching today is not about lecturing. It is mostly to create an environment of learning—a place where students enjoy learning and interact. This will never go. This is the thing that will continue.

Masalkhi: I have to speak up for the humanities. One of the things happening in universities is they are becoming job preparation. We have a pipeline to industry. That changes the whole concept of what learning is for. You know what happened in 2008, the crash of the mortgage market. Stockbrokers were bundling toxic investments and selling them to people. Many of them went to Ivy League schools and were very well-educated people. None of them ever asked, “Should we be doing this?” That’s where the humanities come in. 

Khan: No matter what field you are in, you have to be unique to be successful, have something that makes companies think, “I need this person.” You don’t have to be the best but work with your heart and soul and you will be successful. Earning certificates, especially your Professional Engineer license, is important for engineers who are going to work in the industry.

Khaled: I want to add a very important lesson from my life. When I arrived in the United States, the taxi driver who took me from the airport to the hotel was an Egyptian dentist. And the first thing he told me was, “Don’t even try (to become a dentist in America). You will never succeed.”

What he said made me more determined. Our Islam is clear about this. You have to do everything you can and then leave it to Allah. I decided to do this. There are 52 dental schools in America. I applied to every single one. There were professors I had to reach out to. I sent hundreds of emails every single day. I never gave up. I had my goal in mind that I would be a professor of dentistry. 

What made you go on after your master’s degree to get a Ph.D.?

Alqam: As a woman in engineering, I wanted to have a life with a balance between work and family. This led me to pursue academia. Academia is very flexible. And I also enjoy teaching.

Samara: In academia, they really appreciate industry experience. It is good to take your master’s degree and then work in industry for a while. That experience will help you. 

Azam: If you are interested in discovering different ideas and have writing skills, you can become a researcher. What you need to know is that it is a big commitment to do a Ph.D. 

Masalkhi: Statistically, 33% of people who enter Ph.D. programs don’t finish. For technical disciplines, go to Proquest and take a look at the doctorate degrees done in the past couple of years. You’ll see they are super-specialized. You really have to want to know more about this very specialized subject.

Do you ever experience discrimination as a Muslim in your field?

Sulieman: I get those emails from students sometimes, “Hey you … .” Sometimes it could be prejudice but many times it is because students do not know how to behave professionally. I try to model professional responses, professional behavior and professional attitudes. Students will pick it up and realize this is how they need to be. Sometimes they don’t mean to behave disrespectfully but that is all they know. 

Sisters with hijabs, do you face any prejudice from students or colleagues because of your hijabs?

Alqam: No. I’m teaching at UWM, where the diversity is high. Students see professors and other students from different countries every day. As a Muslim, I never had an issue inside the campus, which is one of the benefits of working in academia. 

My hijab is part of my mission as a Muslim. Maybe I don’t lecture my students about Islam, but standing in front of about 100 students in my class as a mechanical engineering professor, a female coming from the Middle East, gives the good message that Muslim women are not oppressed and are well educated. 

Azam: At the Medical College of Wisconsin, diversity is a strength. They want me on a lot of committees and a lot of students ask to meet up with me. Muslim medical students seek me out because they want to find out about the Muslim community in Milwaukee, to go to Friday prayer and be part of the community.

Sulieman: Currently, no. But when I reflect back, and I have been here for 30 years, early in my career, as a practicing Muslim and hijabi, I was asked multiple times, “You look weird but we don’t know which group you belong to. Are you a nun?” Now people know the hijab and Muslims. Everyone knows about Islam and the Middle East. For me, it has always been a dawah (a testimony of faith). I always felt very proud when I’m at a conference and I’m the only hijabi. 

I’m a freshman and sometimes I feel like I just want to learn a skill and start earning money instead of finishing my degree. What should I do?

Sulieman: The bachelor’s degree is a first step. It is a door opener. I tell my own kids that getting a bachelor’s degree is not negotiable. You have to have it. Without it, doors will close and stay locked.