Preaching Islam In America

Imam Mohammad Azeez Tries To Build Bridges

(CBS)  Islam is the fastest-growing religions in the United States. John Blackstone reports on a man who's out to change the way others see Muslims.

At the Salam mosque in Sacramento, Calif, the call to prayer echoes with tradition. But the leader of the mosque is anything but traditional. Imam Mohammed Azeez delivers his Friday sermon while his 2½-year-old daughter darts among the worshipers. He prays five times a day – prompted by a high-tech reminder: his BlackBerry.

Azeez is young for an imam — he's only 30. He came from Egypt six years ago and graduated from Ohio State University. His daughter was born here. His wife, Kauther, seems no less modern. She wears jeans with her headscarf. "The fashion changes, you know," she says with a laugh.

But a lot has changed since Sept. 11, 2001. The imam now worries about his wife. "She was called a 'raghead' at one point," he says. Azeez is also afraid that little Zeyneb could be a target of intolerance. "I'm scared to let my kid play outside for fear of any person or attacker," he says.

But Azeez's answer is not to hide out — it's to speak out. He goes to interfaith gatherings to try to build bridges across chasms of misunderstanding.

"Almost everyone in the Middle East things that America is on a crusade to Christianize the Muslim world," he said at one such recent gathering. "I hope that's not the case, but that's what they say."

What he says is that keeping this country safe from terrorists should be as much a priority for American Muslims as anybody else.

"I want to carry a gun and stand at the border and protect the border myself," he says, "because I am the first person to be impacted."

The challenge facing Imam Azeez is reflected in a new CBS News poll that shows fewer than one in five Americans has a favorable view of Islam. Azeez says that's a stereotype Muslims themselves must work to change.

"Any group that comes to this country — they have to pay the price of being part of this system," he says. "We're paying our price." Is it worth it? "I think it is. I think it is."

Imam Azeez hopes the bridges he builds will help make Islam an accepted part of America's religious mosaic.