Young Muslims Gather In D.C. for Leadership Summit

July 14, 2009

Author: Amanda Milkovits

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/muslim_conference_07-14-08_BUARKR5_v22.2f0fb1d.html

Dr. Naba Sharif, a former pediatric resident at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, in Providence, was one of 25 Muslim Americans selected to speak with national political leaders and public officials shaping national policy during last week’s Young Muslim American Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C.

For Sharif, 28, a new graduate of Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, the meetings were an opportunity to talk to national leaders about the concerns and hopes of Muslims, like herself, who worry about growing issues of civil liberties, homeland security, and surveillance. She and the others met with political representatives and government officials who were already sympathetic to their message. But the group also wanted to meet with those who weren’t, Sharif said yesterday.

“We wanted to tell them who we were and show them ... we are people who are just like you and interested in protecting civil liberties and interested in homeland security, and interested in protecting the environment,” Sharif said. “Hopefully, they will respect [Muslims] as much as they respect any other constituency.”

The Young Muslim Leaders Summit was sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, an American institution founded 20 years ago to inform and shape public policy.