By Jon Yates
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 12, 2003

ROPMA.NET Note: Do these kids get merit badges for bomb making? 

In a cramped Glendale Heights living room, amid talk of cookie sales and camping trips, Brownie Girl Scout Troop 1887 began its first meeting with a pledge and a prayer.

The pledge made the 13 giddy 2nd graders officially Scouts. The prayer--the opening verses of the Koran-- made them trailblazers.

Troop 1887 is, officials say, the first all-Muslim Scout troop, for girls or boys, in the Chicago area. But many more are on the way: Led by parents seeking both a connection to the larger community and a program that adheres to their religious beliefs, more than a dozen new Muslim Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops are being organized throughout the area.

The new troops are, for some, a perfect fit. Many of the children attend private Islamic schools that lack gymnasiums or extracurricular activities--outlets for social and athletic interaction that Scouting can provide.

Other kids have joined existing Scout troops but become uncomfortable when their heritage clashes with dress codes or prayers.

"There's a big cry not to be isolated but to keep our Muslim identity," said Toni Khatib of Forest Park, who is helping organize the new Scout troops. "We're trying to do it without offending anyone. We're trying to do it to bridge our communities."

A drawing card for many parents is that their children will be able to interact with other, non-Muslim Scout troops at jamborees and camping trips without being asked to compromise their core values. Muslim girls can feel comfortable wearing hijabs, or scarves, around their heads, and boys and girls can wear slacks when other Scouts are wearing shorts.

The coupling of Scouting and religion is not new. For decades, churches, synagogues and other religious organizations have sponsored troops, and Boy Scouts have been able to earn merit badges for religious-based projects.

Although the Boy Scouts have drawn fire in recent years for their handling of gay troop leaders and members, organization officials insist they are committed to diversity, particularly regarding religion. For more than 20 years, a National Islamic Committee for Scouting has provided guidelines for Muslim Scouts hoping to earn service emblems.

Still, the formation of all-Muslim troops is relatively new, Scouting officials say.

Gregg Shields, spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, based in Irving, Texas, said there are 58 Boy Scout units sponsored by mosques in the U.S., a sliver of the country's 125,000 total units. Of the 3.3 million youths in Boy Scouts, only 1,100 are in Muslim units.

There are other Muslim Scouts in non-Muslim units, Shields said, but his organization does not keep those numbers.

Officials with Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. say they don't keep track of religious backgrounds, but there are at least a handful of Muslim troops sprinkled across the country, including a small unit in Springfield.

The push in the Chicago area began this winter when Khatib, who was a Scout herself, began organizing parents at the Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park. As word got out in the Muslim community, calls poured in from across the region.

By early January, 75 boys and 132 girls had signed up, forming troops in Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties. Most expect to be up and running by the end of the month.

Some of the children already are in other, non-Muslim Scouting troops but have decided to transfer to the new groups.

"This is probably the most excited I've ever seen a group of leaders," said Marty Ewing, senior field director for Girl Scouts of DuPage County. "They're just so happy they're going to be Girl Scouts along with their daughters."

Like their children, many Muslim parents have had little or no Scouting experience.

Zehra Azeem grew up in a Muslim household in which her parents stressed academics and studying, not extracurricular activities.

"There's more to life than just studying," said Azeem, of Glendale Heights, whose daughter, Javairia Hadi, 7, is a Brownie. "We really don't have anything like this in our community."

Shoeb Khan, who has volunteered to help organize Cub Scout groups, said he has signed up children from Islamic schools in Chicago, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Villa Park, Lombard and Bridgeview.

Khan said Scouting fills that void and fits well with Muslim beliefs. Both call for service to God, country and community.

"These are very important ingredients in Islamic thinking," he said. "We're hoping to work on these solid principles."

At the Brownie meeting last week in Glendale Heights, the girls sit in a circle on Saliha Afridi's living room floor, a few wearing hijabs, as their parents look on proudly.

A young girl recites Surah Al-Fatiha, the opening verses of the Koran, before Afridi asks them to raise their right hands and repeat the Girl Scout Promise.

Within minutes the girls are officially Brownies, and some find it difficult to contain their excitement.

Afridi asks them what they want to do as a Scout.

"Sell cookies," shouts Ariba Raza, an 8-year-old with pigtails and a broad smile. A few seconds later she raises her hand again.

"I just changed my mind," she says. "I want to go camping, swimming. ..."

As other girls chime in, Raza gives faint protest.

"I still have more."

The parents, too, have expectations.

For some, Scouting is an opportunity to participate in a ritual they missed as youngsters. One mother tells the girls she wants to go rock climbing, camping and hiking alongside them.

In a room filled with 13 girls, there are a half-dozen parents, all volunteering their services.

"We're learning all this together with the girls," said Asma Afridi, whose daughter is in the troop. "It's high time for Muslim girls to get involved because up until now they haven't been organized."