Doors open when a Muslim man named Jihad comes calling

RALEIGH -- Jihad Shawwa says he has four things against him when he gets up to speak.

First, there's his name. Jihad means "struggle" in Arabic, but many people take it to mean "holy war."

Then there's the fact that he's a Palestinian, born in the turbulent Gaza Strip.

He's an Arab. And finally he's a Muslim.

"What could be worse than that?" he quips.

Yet Shawwa, 58, an equipment engineer for the state Department of Transportation, has managed to overcome those obstacles. When he gets up to speak at the Raleigh mosque, people know to expect a fundraising pitch or a call for interfaith engagement. But, in fact, wherever Shawwa goes, doors open, people listen and relationships are formed.

With the start of Ramadan on Wednesday, Shawwa is particularly visible - both in the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. He's raising money for the hungry - a religious obligation, especially during the holy month, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Cash raised during this lunar month will go to the Interfaith Food Shuttle; Shawwa hopes to provide for 25,000 meals.

"I truly believe if we had cheerleaders and supporters like Jihad in every faith community, we wouldn't have a problem with hunger in our community," said Jill Staton Bullard, executive director of the food shuttle. "His enthusiasm and zeal is just contagious."

During a recent visit to the mosque, Shawwa made his case to a dozen men who had completed their prostrations and were sitting on a green prayer carpet.

"I just want to take a moment of your time to tell you about a program to feed the hungry and needy around here," he began.

Shawwa recently joined Toastmasters to help him hone his public speaking skills. But by now people recognize him - with his wire-rimmed glasses, mustache and receding hairline - and trust his intentions. After his pitch at the mosque, as he greeted people and pressed leaflets into their hands, he got his first donation of the day: an envelope with three $20 bills.

A proud citizen

Shawwa came to Raleigh 21 years ago after detours in Kuwait, Egypt and Texas. Married with two children in college, he lives in North Raleigh, oversees DOT equipment in a facility near the fairgrounds and manages to find time for nearly every community event.

A dialogue between the Muslim community and Homeland Security officials? He's there.

An interfaith memorial service for community members who died and had lacked health insurance? He's the only Muslim representative.

A preliminary hearing for eight Triangle men indicted on charges that they conspired to commit terrorist acts? Shawwa arrives early at the federal courthouse for a seat in the visitor gallery.

Over the past few years, he has attended the installation of a Raleigh rabbi and the retirement party for a prominent Presbyterian minister. He has participated in interfaith talks among Jews, Christians and Muslims and lent his support to advocacy groups such as the Muslim American Public Affairs Council, raising money to feed the hungry.

"Part of enjoying life is getting to know others and giving them a chance to know you," Shawwa said.

A U.S. citizen since 1986, he is a particularly proud one. He has gotten to know all his representatives in state and national offices. Shawwa has not only shaken their hands, he has programmed their numbers into his cell phone.

"If I wanted to meet the chief of police in Pakistan or Egypt or Lebanon, I might be shot," he said. "That's what makes this country great: Here they are public servants. They will take my call and listen to me."

Valued for enthusiasm

With his insistence on speaking up - sometimes passionately, especially when it comes to politics in the Middle East - he has come to represent the Muslim community.

"Jihad is the most energetic person our organization has ever had," said Waleed Elhentaty, vice president of the Triangle's Muslim American Public Affairs Council, a group that advocates for greater Muslim civic participation. "Some people get discouraged, but he has a positive attitude all the time."

These days, Shawwa is thinking a lot about fasting. The Quran says that "fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you," (2-183) and that got Shawwa delving into the Bible to see how Jews and Christians practice it.

He can't help it. He's curious about other people and wants to learn.

"Why did God create us with different faiths and different colors and different races?" he asked. Maybe, he wondered, because "it could make us recognize our humanity."