Replies

The idea was to put a human face on Islam . To show local police officers that not all Muslims are like Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.

So organizers of a Houston Police Department cultural awareness program called in Hakeem Olajuwon.

In brief remarks to about 40 officers Wednesday, the former Houston Rockets star said most Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding people who need not be feared.

"This type of program is so important in today's world, where Islam has been so misunderstood by so many people," Olajuwon, a native of Nigeria, told the officers.

Olajuwon - who funded the conversion of a grand and capacious old downtown bank building into a mosque and Islamic education center - said he plans to continue using his money and fame to promote the virtues of Islam .

Muslim leaders welcome the support of the NBA star center, particularly in these times when, they say, nightly television shows images that equate Islam with terror and violence.

Aziz A. Siddiqi, representative of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, recalls a conversation he had with a police officer. When Siddiqi asked what the officer thought of when he thought of Muslims, he responded, "Bin Laden."

"I said: What about Hakeem? What about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? These are Muslims."

The Houston Police Department runs regular cultural awareness programs to educate officers about the city's diverse communities. Different programs have been set up for officers to meet with Latinos, Jews, Asians and gays, for example.

The programs strive to overcome stereotyping and open dialogue, said Lt. Bill Hoffman, who oversees HPD's in-service training.

"It's a chance for us to understand American Muslims better, and it's a chance for American Muslims to understand us better," Hoffman said.

Organizers from the Islamic Circle of North America told the history of Islam . They also sought to dispel some of the stereotypes about violence in Islam .

The officers did challenge some assertions. When the speakers told of how some of the early Muslims were slaves who became free, an officer pointedly asked if this emancipation included Muslim women. The speakers explained that Muslim women are much freer than what is sometimes portrayed, and they noted that some of the restrictions of women come from cultural traditions rather than from the Quran.

The meeting took place in the basement of the mosque Olajuwon created on Main Street, known as the Hakeem Islamic Dawah Center. Besides being a place of worship, the center serves to welcome and inform the public.

"Feel free to come anytime," Olajuwon told the officers.