According to Susan Slyomovics, one of the main goals of New York City’s Muslim World Day Parade is to educate the people of New York City about the religion of Islam and stage a “temporary creation of Muslim space on a New York City avenue.”  In a sense, the Muslim World Day parade is supposed to be a walking exhibit from the Museum of Natural History, showing average New Yorkers what a day in life of a Muslim can be, with all its rich traditions and cultural heritage.  This parade is intended to be a celebration of America’s acceptance of Islam as well as Islam’s acceptance of America.  Yet in the last line of her article, after twenty pages of lauding Islam’s attempts to make the religion accessible to the masses, Slyomovics brazenly writes “What Muslims in America articulate ritually about Islam in public should be heard as friendly, accommodating, and familiar, it should not overheard, and at best it should still be heard only among their own.”  Not only is this the total opposite of the parade’s goal, it allows for a terrible marginalization.  Saying that allahu akbar should not be recited because of its bloody associations could be extended to almost every injustice done in the name of God for the past 3,000 years.

The takbir is one of the essential prayers of Islam and is meant to be a celebration of God’s strength and power over this world – the true definition of allahu akbar is “God is great,” no more, no less.  And yet organizers worry that this chant will offend American sensibilities because of its historical use as the justifying cry of suicide bombers and terrorists alike, including the much publicized and remembered Iran-Contra affair.  Slyomovics not only agrees with this sentiment, but she praises their judgment and their ability “intuitively recognize that crowds of Muslims may spell danger to the American public.”   One of the goals of the parade is to redefine the traditional practices in the frame of safety, happiness and religious expression – instead of eliminating the takbir to appease the intolerant, the organizers of the Muslim World Day Parade should focus on ways to give allahu akbar a positive connotation.  Slyomovics, it seems, believes that America is still incapable of digesting diversity that does not come pre-chewed and wrapped in a Hallmark card.