Conference to focus on American Muslim consumers

NEW BRUNSWICK — The first-ever American Muslim Consumer Conference will be held Oct. 31 at Rutgers University. The goal of the event is to dispel negative stereotypes of Muslims by highlighting their contributions to America's society and economy.

Faisal Masood, of North Brunswick, is the founder of MuslimLink.org, a social media platform that connects Muslim professionals, businesses and organizations. He decided to hold a conference after reading a 2007 New York Times article which mentioned that Muslims spend $170 billion in America, showing that the American Muslim market is highly educated and fast growing.

He was also inspired by President Barack Obama's recent address in Cairo, Egypt, and the need to prove wrong the stereotypes that developed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"We thought this is a good time to change the subject and talk about positive things," Masood said.

The objective of the conference is to create an awareness of the Muslim consumer, their buying power and their presence in mainstream media and the advertising industry, and in turn, influence companies and Muslim entrepreneurs to develop products and services for Muslims, based on Islamic principles.

Masood said there are 6-8 million Muslims living in America, mostly in New York, New Jersey, Houston, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles.

He said there are about 150 to 200 mosques in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including South Brunswick, New Brunswick, Old Bridge, Passaic County, Teaneck and Trenton.

Masood said marketers and advertisers can benefit from learning about Islamic holidays, such as Ramadan and Eid, during which Muslims spend money exchanging gifts, revamping their homes or purchasing food products.

"It's about culture and sensitivity, about recognizing our festivals or religions or holidays, [and how companies] can help market products better and attract consumers," he said.

The conference will feature a variety of speakers from different personal and professional backgrounds addressing the audience:

• Lubna Khalid is a model who founded Real Cosmetics, which specializes in natural cosmetics that are not alcohol- or porkbased. She will be the keynote speaker, talking about cultural diversity in the next millennium;

• Michael Hastings-Black is the cofounder of the Desedo advertising agency;

• Paul Barret is the assistant managing editor of BusinessWeek and is the author of "American Islam," which discusses Muslim professionals in America who are successful;

• Adnan Durrani is the chief halal officer of American Halal Co. Halal meat is slaughtered in a specific way that Masood said has been proven to be scientifically healthier and less painful to animals;

• Carla Power is a London-based journalist for Time magazine who has researched Islamic social science, especially women in Islam. She has written an article about halal products being sold globally, specifically, cosmetics that are produced without alcohol or animal fat;

• Rasheed Ahmad is the founder of the Muslim Consumer Group;

• Monem Salam is the president and chief executive officer of Saturna Brokerage Services. Saturna manages a $1.4 billion mutual fund that invests in companies that are socially responsible and do not do business with arms, pork or liquor dealers, according to Masood;

• Ahmad Adam is the president of Crescent Foods;

• Bob Burg is the co-author of the book "The Go-Giver";

• Farrukh Siddiqui is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Zayan Finance, which focuses on commercial lending to consumers based on Islamic principles. Sharing profits and losses are permissible, but just taking interest is prohibited, Masood said;

• Shahed Amanullah is the founder of Halalfire Media and AltMuslim.com, which focuses on American Muslims as well as Muslims around the world;

• Tayyibah Taylor is the founder and publisher of Azizah magazine;

• Mohamed El-Fatatry, from Finland, is the CEO of Muxlim.com, one of the fastestgrowing social media platforms across the globe, according to Masood;

• Janet Meiners Thaeler is an online public relations and social media specialist who studies networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, according to Masood;

• Midhat Syed is a partner of Murtha Cullina;

Rafi-uddin Shikoh is the founder of DinarStandard. com;

• Kamran Pasha is a Hollywood screenwriter and director who worked on "Terminator," and

• Faran Tahir had roles in "Ironman" and "Star Trek."

"We don't want negative stereotypes in the media anymore," Masood said. "If we are able to let the mainstream media recognize the potential and understand how they can use our culture or our beliefs to represent products and capture Muslims' attention to their products, that is one of the key things [attendees] will learn," Masood said.

On Oct. 31, breakfast and networking will begin at 9 a.m. at the Busch Campus Center, 604 Bartholomew St., Piscataway, and the program will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gov. Jon S. Corzine is scheduled to attend.

For more information or to register, visit www.MuslimLink.org or www.American- MuslimConsumer.com.

Contact Jennifer Amato at

jamato@gmnews.com.