Muslim Americans in the Military by Edward E. IV Curtis

Author:Edward E. IV Curtis [Curtis, Edward E. IV]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, United States, Social Science, Islamic Studies, Race & Ethnic Relations
ISBN: 9780253027214
Google: QeFKDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2016-10-17T01:10:06+00:00

Lt. Col. Shareda Hosein served in the US Army and army reserves for more than thirty-five years. (Photo by Bob Croslin.)

In 2007, Hosein became a cultural engagement officer at the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Her mission was to educate her colleagues about Islam and Muslims. Since both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were in the Muslim-majority countries, it was important to her to explain the diversity of Muslims, especially the difference between al-Qaeda’s understanding of Islam and that of almost every other Muslim. Hosein would answer questions about the Qur’an and bring in outside speakers to deliver guest lectures at SOCOM.19

Hosein was also working toward a different job in the military during this time. She wanted to become the first female Muslim chaplain in the military. In 2001, this idea became a calling. She was posted in Kuwait and was hanging out in the base chapel. Another female soldier who had converted to Islam was having trouble performing ablutions—the ritual cleansing, generally with water, of the hands, mouth, face, forearms, head, ears, and feet—that one is supposed to do before making daily prayers. A male Muslim chaplain asked Hosein to help out. The two women went to the bathroom, and Hosein demonstrated how to do the ritual washing. This was the sign that confirmed her heart’s desire to become a chaplain. “I got so choked up,” she said in one interview, “because I had prayed to God, asking, ‘Is this the right thing for me to do?’ And I was like: ‘You can’t get a bigger sign than this. You just can’t.’ And so I helped her. The man led the prayer. And we prayed.”20

Hosein was already enrolled in Hartford Seminary’s Islamic chaplaincy program, which would grant her the master’s degree in divinity generally recognized as a necessary qualification for any chaplaincy, whether in the military or civilian life. In 2003, she submitted her application to the military to become a full-time chaplain. In 2004, while in Kuwait, she met the chief of staff for the army’s chief of chaplains. As Hosein later recalled, “He pretty much said, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you. We need you, but you can’t lead prayers with men and women. So, you can’t come on board.’” The official was referring to the fact that almost all Muslims understand Sharia, or Islamic law and ethics, as requiring males to lead the prayers when men and women are both in attendance. The army had decided that because Hosein could not perform all of the ritual functions of a male chaplain, she could not become a chaplain in any capacity. The military maintained the same policy for women who wanted to become Roman Catholic chaplains. Because the Roman Catholic Church reserves certain rituals only for male priests, the military figured that it too would hire only male Roman Catholic chaplains.

Hosein said that the military simply misunderstood the role of the imam in Islamic religion. Lt. Col. Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, the military’s first Muslim chaplain, supported her application and hoped that the army would change its mind.

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