Imam shares concerns with Alexandria Human Rights Commission

Alexandria (Map, News) - A Falls Church imam described his experiences since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and his views on how Muslims are perceived in the Washington area to the Alexandria Human Rights Commission on Tuesday.

Johari Abdul-Malik is the director of community outreach at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church and president of the Muslim Society of Washington Inc. Previously, he was the Muslim chaplain at Howard University.

The Human Rights Commission’s work is often driven by complaints it receives, but the members also like to “get a sense of how things are going,” said Jean Kelleher Niebauer, director of the Office of Human Rights.

“We’ve done this kind of thing before to do examinations as to whether there are social conditions that could give rise to discrimination,” she said.

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com
mhegstad@dcexaminer.com