Skip to comments.

Posted on 12/16/2001 4:48:32 AM PST by sarcasm

DEARBORN, Mich. -- The speaker was nearing the end of his lunch-hour talk on the basics of Islam. His audience -- about 60 Ford Motor Co. employees -- was beginning to fidget. Then he uttered what amounted to verbal caffeine: "On Sept. 11 . . . "

Mohamed E.M. El-Sayed, a Kettering University professor who is an imam, a Muslim spiritual leader, was trying to help the gathering of white, black, Hindu, Hispanic and Muslim employees understand how the terrorists who carried out the attacks may have used Islam as a rationale.

"There is a clear verse in the Koran: Fight those who fight you," said El-Sayed. He said the terrorists may have confused the Koran's definition of "fight" with "kill." The Koran forbids killing anything, even a tree, he said.

Not everyone accepted this explanation, but they were listening closely.

While efforts to raise employee awareness of ethnic and minority issues isn't new at Ford, or at competing automakers' plants, a greater focus on Islam has developed since the attacks.

Dearborn is in an area that is home to one of the country's largest communities of Arab-Americans and Middle Eastern immigrants, many of whom are Muslim.

After Sept. 11, the need for a series of "Islam 101" sessions became acute at Ford, said Mona Abdelall, a 17-year employee who heads the Ford Interfaith Network, an umbrella group representing seven religious groups within the company.

"We found we had so many questions to answer, we formed a task force to come up with Islam 101 to understand what Islam is all about," Abdelall said.

The first session in October attracted more than 500. Smaller meetings then were arranged to encourage discussion and questions.

Jeanne Morgan, a cost manager, said she wanted to know more about Islam to be a more effective boss. But she wasn't entirely convinced by El-Sayed's explanation of how the religion may have played a role in the terrorists' actions.

"It didn't quite ring true to me. It didn't make sense," said Morgan. "I was hoping some light bulb would go off."

Still, participants said the session helped non-Muslims understand things that might not be clear in a work setting.

"It gives you a better feel for the culture and what happens to them when they leave work," said Ed Blanch, a white, non-Muslim manager at Ford.

Samia Barnat, a manufacturing engineer who is Muslim, attended the class to see what was being taught. She said the results are tangible.

"Last year, for instance, people who didn't know about Ramadan would offer me food," she said. Now, she said, more people seem aware that Muslims fast during the day for the monthlong holiday.

In 1994, as Ford's desire to hire a more diverse work force began to bear fruit, the first of 10 employee organizations representing people from different ethnic, racial and religious groups and sexual orientations was established.

"They really began as a grass-roots initiative," said Madeline Sulaiman-Eason, Ford director of personnel relations, diversity and work/life.

Now there are 10 such groups, including the recently formed Middle Eastern Community at Ford.

Hossein Nivi, a native of Iran who directs global product development and manufacturing leadership programs at Ford, says the group was just finding its footing when the terrorists hit. "We were kind of bewildered," he said.

The group organized a Sept. 28 concert for Ford employees that doubled as a fund-raiser for attack victims.

"People came in and made several thousand-dollar donations. They said, 'I'm doing this to show my support for the Middle Eastern community.' That was truly heartwarming," Nivi said.

Imad Hamad, Midwest regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said the Middle Eastern employee group has helped, as has Ford's willingness to support its activities.

"It's highly needed at this point of time where we fight for further tolerance and further understanding," Hamad said.

Other employee resource groups represent blacks, Hispanics, Middle Easterners, gays, bisexuals, Chinese, Asian-Indians, parents and professional women of all backgrounds.

They have helped the company with recruitment of minorities, marketing to different ethnic groups and defining employee benefits.

The company's diversity efforts have spurred two class-action and seven individual lawsuits by current and former white managers, who claim they were passed over for promotions or lost out on raises. The suits are being settled out of court.

Joe Laymon, a human resources vice president at Ford, says the company is trying to make sure no one feels the employee groups provide an undue advantage.

"We've got to make sure we don't forget majority males, some of our most significant contributors in our enterprise," said Laymon.

Employees at Ford's U.S. competitors have organized similar groups.

At General Motors Corp., eight employee resource groups were founded in 1998, they now are called "affinity groups," according to spokeswoman Jocelyn Allen. There now are nine, Allen said.

At the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler Corp., there are six employee groups.

A FORMER MUSLIM PROFESSOR ON WHY HE LEFT ISLAM (click on picture)

The Hardcover edition.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.