Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Pastor Rick Warren Scheduled To Attend Annual Convention Of Convention Of Unindicted Terror Trial Co-Conspirator- The Islamic Society of North American (ISNA)
Pastor Rick Warren Scheduled To Attend Annual Convention Of Convention Of Unindicted Terror Trial Co-Conspirator- The Islamic Society of North American (ISNA)
June 24, 2009
Pastor Rick Warren Scheduled To Attend Annual Convention Of Unindicted Terror Trial Co-Conspirator - The Islamic Society of North America [ISNA]
Pastor Rick Warren Scheduled To Attend Annual Convention Of Unindicted Terror Trial Co-Conspirator - The Islamic Society of North America [ISNA]
By WILLIAM MAYER and BEILA RABINOWITZ
June 23, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - The pastor of one of America's largest churches, [Saddleback Church, Rick Warren] is planning on attending a July 4th convention sponsored by the controversial Islamic Society of North America [ISNA].
Warren was apparently invited by Sayyid Syeed, past General Secretary of the group as well as past president of the Muslim Student Association [MSA], with the offer having been extended by him during the inauguration of president Obama [see Syeed's bio, http://data.rac.org/bt/?page_id=190].
ISNA has increasingly been under fire, largely from having been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the nation's largest successful prosecution of Hamas terror funding, U.S. vs Holy Land Foundation, et al, [see indictment here, http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/623.pdf] which did so on the basis that ISNA is closely associated with Egypt's terrorist Muslim Brotherhood, the organization which in addition to providing the intellectual/ideological basis for modern Islamic terrorism, founded Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group.
One of the prosecution's exhibits presented at the Holy Land trial has a major bearing on the status of ISNA.
That document [On the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America 5/22/91], half in Arabic, half in English, was prepared by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Detailed in the document is a specific plan of conquest set forth by the Brotherhood, calling it a "Civilizational Jihadist Process."
Below a photocopy from the document.
At the end of this declaration of subterranean war, the Muslim Brotherhood composed what it calls, "A list of our organizations and the organizations of our friends."
Number one on the list?
ISNA
In a seminal special 2004 report by the Chicago Tribune [see, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0409190261sep19,0,79335,full.story A Rare Look At The Secretive Brotherhood In America] ISNA is unequivocally tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Documents obtained by the Tribune and translated from Arabic show that the U.S. Brotherhood has been careful to obscure its beliefs from outsiders. One document tells leaders to be cautious when screening potential recruits. If the recruit asks whether the leader is a Brotherhood member, the leader should respond, "You may deduce the answer to that with your own intelligence."
By 1990, U.S. Brotherhood members had made headway on that plan by helping establish many mosques and Islamic organizations. Some of those efforts were backed financially by the ultraconservative Saudi Arabian government, which shared some of the Brotherhood's fundamentalist goals.
Elkadi himself helped create several noted Islamic organizations, including the Muslim Youth of North America, which attempted to draw thousands of high school students to Islam by sponsoring soccer teams, providing scholarships and offering a line of clothing. He served as president of the North American Islamic Trust, a group that helped build and preserve mosques.
Some of those organizations eventually would distance themselves from the Brotherhood. The Islamic Society of North America, the umbrella group for the Muslim Youth of North America and the Muslim Students Association, says Brotherhood members helped form those groups but that their overall influence has been limited."
Earlier this month these writers noted [see, http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=musbrosid=6.17.09%2Ehtm] that the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohammed Mehdi Akef made a remarkable admission, that the Brotherhood was willing and capable of sending thousands of mujahideen terrorists to fight against Israel alongside Hezbollah, "I am ready to send immediately 10,000 mujahadin to fight the Zionists alongside Hezbollah," Supreme Guide Mohammed Mehdi Akef told AFP." [source, http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2504]
Rafia Zakaria, an activist Indiana Muslim attorney was recently quoted [see the ISNA website, http://www.isna.net/articles/News/Islamic-Society-reaches-out-to-other-faiths1.aspx] in what appears to be a massive understatement, "ISNA has faced a lot of challenges in recent years," Zakaria said. "It is crucial to them to have these alliances with other faith-based groups."
The challenges Mr. Zakaria refers to stem mainly from a growing understanding of the subversive role which ISNA and other stealth jihad organizations such as CAIR, NAIT and others, play.
If Mr. Warren follows through with his plan to attend the ISNA convention he will at the same time bestow a very much undeserved seal of approval on a group whose goal is to topple the civil structure of the West and supplant it with an Islamic theocracy, the Caliphate.
We strongly urge Mr. Warren to reject ISNA by refusing to attend this event. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=warrenid=6.23.09%2Ehtm
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MIM: The ISNA conference speakers list reads like a Who's Who of radical Islamists in North America and includes a bio of Rick Warren. http://www.isna.net/Programs/pages/Speakers-Services.aspx#102
Speakers Information
Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah is an American Muslim; originally born to a Protestant family. He embraced Islam while studying at Cornell University during his tenure as a Woodrow Wilson Honorary Fellow. He subsequently attended the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD with honors in 1978 for a dissertation pertaining to the origins of Islamic Law. He went on to teach at the Universities of Windsor (Ontario), Temple University and University of Michigan from 1977 until 1982, when he left America to teach Arabic in Granada, Spain. In 1984, Dr. Abd-Allah was appointed to the Department of Islamic Studies at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah and taught Islamic Studies and Comparative Religions at the university until 2000. After returning to Chicago, Dr. Abd-Allah went on to work as General Director of the newly-founded Nawawi Foundation and, now teaching and conducting research in Islamic studies and related fields.
Muhammed Nur Abdullah is the past-Chairman of the Fiqh Council of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). He has been a member of the Fiqh Council of North America since 1982. Sheikh Nur has also been past-President of ISNA from 2001-2005.
Abdullah Adhami was born in Washington D.C. from the noble lineage of the family of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He began his studies of shari'ah at the tender age of 8 years old. He has earned scholarly licenses from many eminent scholars from Damascus, Egypt and Morocco and is also a certified narrator of hadith. Sheikh Adhami also holds a degree in architecture from the Pratt Institute in New York City and has several years of international corporate experience in the area of organizational development and executive training. Sheikh Adhami has been serving the spiritual needs of the North American Muslim community for over 20 years. He is also the founder and chairman of Sakeenah, a nonprofit educational foundation in New York City.
Firas Ahmad currently serves as Senior Editor of Islamica Magazine. He has written extensively on issues related to Islam and the American Muslim community and has appeared as a panelist at conferences throughout the country. He earned a Masters Degree at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he received a certificate in Muslim-Christian Understanding.
Munjed Ahmad received his law degree at the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington D.C. Mr. Ahmad is also the national Vice President of American Muslims for Palestine and one of the organizations co-founders. He is also in the private pratice of law.
Parvez Ahmed is the past-Chairman of the Board for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Dr. Ahmed is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He is an active researcher whose articles have been published in leading finance journals such as The Journal of Banking and Finance, Financial Management, Journal of Portfolio Management and more. He recently authored a book on Mutual Funds entitled 'Mutual Funds – Fifty Years of Academic Research'.
In addition, his opinion pieces have been published in several leading newspapers around the country such as the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun Times, Houston Chronicle, New York Newsday, Seattle Times, San Jose Mercury News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Charlotte Observer, Tampa Tribune and many others. Dr. Ahmed served as an at-large board member for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Florida. Currently he serves as a board member for OneJax, formerly the National Conference on Community and Justice (NCCJ). Dr. A-Ahmed won a Civil Liberties award in 2002 from the South-Central Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU.
Abu Bakar Ahmed received his MPH and PhD in Environmental Health from the University of Minnesota in 1984 and 1987, respectively. Since 1988, he has been employed as a radiation safety professional with a federally-funded research laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His community activities include: founding president (1991-94) and executive secretary (1995-current) of the North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (NABIC); vice-president (1991-93) of the Muslim Community of Knoxville (MCK); secretary (1998-current) of the Islamic Education Foundation of Knoxville (IEFK).
Rabiah Ahmed is former Communication Coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). During her tenure at CAIR, Mrs. Ahmed worked on creative projects including the production of videos, public service announcements (PSAs), publications and special advertising campaigns. She also has appeared as a CAIR spokesperson on national and international television such as CNN, MSNBS, BBC and FOX News Channel. Mrs. Ahmed holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a bachelor's degree in communications from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
Abdalla Idris Ali is a well-known American Muslim public speaker, successful fund-raiser and served as ISNA's President from 1992-1997. Additionally, Sheikh Abdalla co-organized the Canadian Islamic Banking Conferences for 1996 and 1997. He also serves as a member on the Board of Trustees for the Islamic Teaching Center (ITC) and North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). Additionally, he is also on the Board of Advisors of the American Muslim Council (AMC) and past-Board member of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America. As an ISNA School principal, he developed and implemented Islamic and Arabic Studies curricula for elementary and junior high students. He has written various articles in Islamic Horizons and is a member of the ATP Editorial Board. His expertise is in the area of Islamic education in North America.
Aisha al-Adawiya is the founder and executive director of Women in Islam, an organization of Muslim women which focuses on human rights and social justice. Ms. al-Adawiya organizes and participates in conferences, symposia and other forums on Islam, gender equity, conflict resolution and cross-cultural understanding. She also represents Muslim women's Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at certain United Nations forums. Ms. Al-Adawiya also coordinates Islamic input for the Preservation of the Black Religious Heritage Documentation Project of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Additionally, she serves as a consultant to numerous interfaith organizations and documentary projects on the Muslim-American experience. She also serves on the boards of numerous organizations related to the interests of the global Islamic community. Ms. al-Adawiya is a guest host and producer of 'Tahrir' on WBAI Pacifica Radio in New York City.
Amal Ali earned a Masters Degree in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago where she conducted her graduate studies on the strategies employed by Muslim-American youth as they attempt to reconcile the conceptual differences in their hyphenated identity. A long-time youth activist herself, Ms. Ali has worked in youth development in many different capacities for more than ten years and is also a co-founder of the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) in Chicago.
Ahmad Al-Akhras, Ph.D., P.E., P.T.O.E is the past-president of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR-Ohio) and vice-chair of the national CAIR Board. He is also the president of the Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio, the oldest Muslim organization in central Ohio.
Salam Al-Marayati is currently the Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). For the past 16 years, he has had the opportunity to speak to congregations at community-sponsored events, temples, synagogues, churches, high schools, and college campuses. Mr. Al-Marayati has written extensively on Islam, human rights, democracy, Middle East politics, the Balkan Crisis, and the Transcaucus conflict. He has also been deeply involved in interfaith activities by serving as co-chair of the Interfaith Coalition to Heal Los Angeles, which formed as a result of the Los Angeles uprising in the summer of 1992. Mr. Al-Marayti also works as an advisor to several political, civic and academic institutions seeking to understand the role of Islam and Muslims in America.
Abubaker Ahmed Al Shingieti is currently the Vice President for Islamic Programs at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD). He is also the Regional Director for the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) covering Europe and North America.
Zainab Alwani is a PhD candidate in Islamic Studies. Her research interests have focused on Islamic studies (Fiqh & Usul al fiqh), and Family and Women's issues. She has developed Quranic models through various courses toward building "Quranic family structure". A few of her publications include: Al Qazali and his Methodology in Fiqh legislation, Aisha's Commentaries and Their Methodological Premises in Hadith Sciences, What Islam Says about Domestic Violence: A Guide for Helping Muslim Families, and others. Currently, she teaches Islamic and Arabic Studies along with the Culture of Middle East at Northern Virginia Community College NOVA and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She has developed courses in Arabic Studies examining the link between Islamic Philosophy, language and the culture at previous institutes. Ms. Alwani also teaches Women and Family in Quran at GSISS. She is a Board Member on different academic, educational, and social organizations.
Shahed Amanullah is a longtime Muslim American community leader who has been active in articulating the voice of American Muslims. As editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, an online newsmagazine covering issues related to Islam in the West, Shahed writes and speaks regularly about the challenges and opportunities facing Islam in America. His work and writings have been featured in Newsweek, San Jose Mercury News, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC News, National Public Radio, BeliefNet, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Voice of America. His television appearances include "Nightline with Ted Koppel", CNN Headline News, the "Today Show", "America's Most Wanted", and "Hannity & Colmes".
Shahed is the founder of Halalfire Media (http://www.halalfire.com/), a network of Islamic-themed websites with over 5 million visitors annually. Along with altmuslim.com, signature properties include zabihah.com, the world's largest database of Halal restaurants and markets, salatomatic.com, an extensive list of reviewed mosques and schools in Muslim-minority countries, and halalapalooza.com, a comprehensive guide to Islamic e-commerce.
Shabana Anees M.A., CRC was born, raised and educated in the United States. Educationally, she obtained her undergraduate education from the University of Pittsburgh majoring in the Behavioral Neurosciences. This became the foundation for furthering studies in Rehabilitation Counseling. She obtained her Masters of Arts in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University with a focus in the area of diversity and outreach for rehabilitation /disability services within multicultural communities.
She is also a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She has been selected to present information for both regional as well as national conferences in the areas of disability and rehabilitation in regard to cultural awareness. Also, she was one of fifteen individuals chosen nationwide to receive a full scholarship and participate in the Summer Research Program (2006) funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) sponsored by Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Mazen Asbahi is a senior associate at the law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP in its corporate & securities and intellectual property groups. Mr. Asbahi serves as general counsel to a number of nonprofit entities and is active with a variety of civic, educational and charitable groups. Mr. Asbahi serves as a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), as director of publications for the Nawawi Foundation and as a member of the Auxiliary Board of the Chicago Legal Clinic. He is a 2007 Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and has previously served as president of the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago. He also serves on the Charities Advisory Committee of Muslim Advocates, the charitable sister organization to the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML).
Mr. Asbahi received his undergraduate degree in political science and Islamic studies, with highest honors, from the University of Michigan in 1996. He attended the Northwestern University School of Law, where he received his law degree, cum laude, in 2000.
Bilal Ansari who is a native of New Haven, Connecticut currently holds an Islamic Chaplaincy Graduate Certificate at the prestigious Hartford Seminary. For the past ten years, he has served as a Correctional Chaplain for the State of Connecticut at multiple level institutions youth, male and female facilities and last year became consultant for Islamic Society of North America's Leadership Development Center as Chaplaincy Coordinator. From 1990 to 1994, he served as Muslim chaplain and Community Organizer for several California Bay Area masajids and college campuses. He has served as an adjunct professor at Ohlone Community College for African American studies from 1992 to 1994. Mr. Ansari then joined Americorps National Civilian Community Corps as National Ambassador in Community Relations serving in America's most blighted communities
Shahid Athar MD, FACP received his medical degree from University of Karachi and completed a fellowship in Endocrinology at Indiana University School of Medicine; where he is also a Clinical Associate Professor. An endocrinologist by profession, he is also a fellow at the American College of Physicians and American College of Endocrinology. Additionally, he is a past-president of Islamic Society of Greater Indianapolis (ISGI) and Interfaith Alliance of Indiana (IAI). He is also an author of seven books (including Islamic Perspective in Medicine and Health Concerns for Believers) and over 120 published articles on medical and Islamic topics. He has spoken to many churches, civic organizations and colleges on various topics including Islam, interfaith issues, spirituality and medical ethics here and abroad. His other affiliations include past-president and medical ethics chair of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMA).
Nihad Awad is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest non-profit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.
Dr. Jamal Badawi is "Professor Emeritus" at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he served as Professor of both Management and Religious Studies. During its May, 2008 Convocation, Saint Mary's University granted him an Honorary Doctorate of Civil law in recognition of his promotion of " a better understanding of Islam" and contribution " to civil society around the world" He completed his undergraduate studies in Cairo, Egypt and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Dr. Badawi is the author of several works on Islam, including books, chapters in books and articles. Some of his works are available also on the internet including Gender Equity in Islam available on www.google.com/ and a 352-segment television series on Islam, now available [in audio format] at http://www.islamonline.net/ under "Reading Islam", sub-link "Islam in 176Hours".
Other interviews and articles on topics such as "Apostasy", "Muslim/Non-Muslim Relations" and Muslim Contribution to Civilization are also available at the Islamonline site.
In addition to his participation in lectures, seminars and interfaith dialogues in North America, Dr. Badawi has been frequently invited as guest speaker on Islam in nearly 38 other countries.
He is a member of the Islamic Juridical [Fiqh] Council of North America, The European Council of Fatwa and Research and the International Union of Muslim Scholars. He has been serving as a volunteer Imam of the local Muslim community in the Halifax Regional Municipality since 1970.
Dr. Badawi is father of 5 children and grandfather of 17 [so far!]
Email: [email protected].
Ihsan Bagby is currently Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky. He obtained his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan and his research for the decade has focused on Muslim life in America. In 2001, Dr. Bagby published the results of the first comprehensive study of mosques in America, entitled 'The Mosque in America: A National Portrait'.
Dr. Bagby is also a former director of ISNA's Islamic Teaching Center from 1985 to 1991. Dr. Bagby has also been a board member for various organizations, including: Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), ISNA's Leadership Development Center, Hartford Seminary's Hartford Institute for the Study of Religion and the Fiqh Council of North America.
Saleem Bajwa is a long-time community leader from Western Massachusetts. Dr. Bajwa has served the community over the years in his capacity as former Executive Director of the Islamic Council of New England, as a trustee of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts and a past president and Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Islamic Medical Association of North America. He is also a member of ISNA's Founders Coordinating Committee. Dr. Bajwa received his graduate education from King Edward Medical College in Pakistan.
Abdul Basit is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Northwestern University in Chicago. He has served as the Chair of the ISNA Islamic Perspectives on Counseling Conferences. He was appointed by the US Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services as the Chair for the National Advisory Council on Mental Health. He is the author of numerous papers and is a prolific speaker at ISNA conferences.
Hatem Bazian is the current president of the American Muslims for Palestine. Dr. Bazian received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in near eastern studies and ethnic studies and a master's degree in international relations from San Francisco State University. Currently, Dr. Bazian is a senior lecturer in the Near Eastern Studies and Ethnic Studies Departments at UC-Berkeley. In addition, Dr. Bazian is an adjunct professor at: UC-Berkeley Law School at Boalt Hall, religious studies at Saint Mary's College of California and UC-Davis. Dr. Bazian co-hosted "Islam Today", a weekly radio magazine show covering Islam and its diverse people around the world. Since 9/11, he has appeared on many TV and radio interviews and was also a translation consultant for the San Francisco Chronicle on a number of stories relating to Islam, Muslims and global politics.
Ghalib Begg is an American Muslim businessman who spends most of his time and as a community activist at both the local and national level. Born in Hyderabad, Mr. Begg studied at Aligarh Muslim University in India and immigrated to the USA in 1970. He later graduated with an MBA from the University of Detroit in Michigan.
Khalil Bendib is an award-winning editorial cartoonist. Born under colonial rule in French-occupied Algeria during its war for independence, Mr. Bendib is the only widely read political cartoonist in North America who brings an Arab, Muslim and progressive perspective to our editorial cartoon landscape. His prominent cartoons are featured in over 1,700 small and mid-size newspapers across the country; including many Arab, Muslim, African-American and ethnic publications (and can also be viewed at http://www.bendib.com/). His books of cartoons include It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It (PlanNine, 2003,) Mieux Vaut Empire qu'en Pleurer (E-dite, Paris 2005) and Mission Accomplished (Interlink, 2007.) His cartoons have been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and numerous other mainstream newspapers around the country.
Ekram and Mohammed Rida Beshir
Ekram and Mohammed Rida Beshir are the founders of several prominent Islamic schools in Ottawa, Canada. Both are the recipients of the Director's Citation Award of the 2000 Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for their contribution as the best educators from among 7000 local educators. Dr. and Mr. Beshir have been very active with the Canadian Muslim community in Ottawa in the areas of study circles, children and youth camps, women's programs, and marriage counseling. Together, the husband-wife team co-authored two prominent parenting books in North America: Meeting the Challenge of Parenting in the West, an Islamic Perspective and Muslim Teens, Today's Worry, Tomorrow's Hope: A Practical Islamic Parenting Guide along with many other parenting books. Currently, both are teaching the same two courses at the Islamic American University. Both are members of the editorial board of The American Muslim Magazine; as well as regular contributors to its family section. They have also written numerous articles for Islamic Horizons and The Message. For the last five years, Dr. and Mr. Beshir have been delivering parenting workshops to various Muslim communities in North America, Europe and South Africa and are regular speakers at ISNA, ICNA, MAS, and MAYA Conventions on family issues and other parenting subjects.
Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, MAS Freedom (MASF), the civic and human rights advocacy entity of the Muslim American Society (MAS).
Congressman André Carson is a 33-year-old native of Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised and mentored by his grandmother, Congresswoman Julia Carson, he served as a member of the Indianapolis City-County Council before winning a Special Election on March 11, 2008 to become the Congressman for the 7th District of Indiana.
André was taught to value education. He is a graduate of Tech High School, where his passion for law enforcement first took hold. André went on to obtain a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice Management from Concordia University-Wisconsin and a Masters in Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University.
André's law enforcement background consists of nearly a full decade of public service. He has served as a Local Board Officer/Investigator for the Indiana State Excise Police for nine years, throughout Indiana. As our nation's growing concern for Homeland Security developed, André was detailed to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Intelligence Fusion Center. There he worked in an anti-terrorism unit to provide Indianapolis and all of Indiana with the security measures necessary for our physical safety.
André believes that community involvement contributes greatly to the cultural advantage that makes Indianapolis a world-class city. He has spent much of his time working with organizations that share this commitment. As a member of the IndyParks Kennedy/King Park Advisory Board, André has been able to demonstrate his dedication to providing safe, clean and quality parks for our community. His commitment to Indianapolis neighborhoods has led André to also serve as a board member for the Citizens Neighborhood Coalition. The Citizens Neighborhood Coalition is an umbrella organization representing all neighborhood organizations within its boundaries of 10th Street on the south, 30th Street on the north, Pennsylvania Street on the west, and the Monon Trail on the east.
He and his wife Mariama, a professional educator in the Pike Township Schools, are the proud parents of their one year-old daughter, Salimah. They have lived in the Fall Creek Place neighborhood for five years.
Chaplain (COL) David Colwell was born in Bedford Massachusetts in February 1956. He grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where he graduated from high school. In 1978, Chaplain Colwell graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BA in Political Science. In 1984, he graduated from Boston University School of Theology with a Masters of Divinity degree. In 2002, he graduated from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC with a Masters in World Politics. Chaplain Colwell entered active duty in 1984. Chaplain Colwell's awards include: the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters; Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters; Army Achievement Medal; National Defense Service Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon with two oak leaf clusters.
Susan Douglass has an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, a B.A. in History from the University of Rochester, and is currently in the doctoral program at George Mason University. During 2006, she was Senior Researcher for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. She served as an Affiliated Scholar with the Council on Islamic Education for over a decade, reviewing over a dozen commercial textbooks in development, reviewing state standards, and developing instructional resources.
Major publications include World Eras: Rise and Spread of Islam, 622-1500 (Thompson/Gale, 2002), teaching resources for the Council on Islamic Education and the National Center for History in the Schools, a children's book Ramadan (Carolrhoda Books, 2002), Teaching About Religion in National and State Social Studies Standards (Freedom Forum First Amendment Center and Council on Islamic Education, 2000), and many articles and book chapters. She contributed to online teaching resources such as the IslamProject.org, the Smithsonian Freer Gallery teaching guide Arts of Islam, and the online curriculum World History for Us All, and designed The Indian Ocean in World History online resource. For the past three years she has conducted the educational outreach program at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding.
Qari Sheikh Abdelkarim Edghouch
Qari Sheikh Abdelkarim Edghouch was born in Morocco, moved to the US in 2000. He memorized the entire Quran at the age of nine, after that he studied the Seven recitations. He participated in many Quranic Contests, locally in Morocco, and internationally, in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, and others,and was ranked first place in most of them. He was ranked first place among 20,000 contestants at the Hassan II Award (former King of Morocco). He is a graduate of Quranic Institute In Rabat, Morocco. He used to be the official reciter for the local Moroccan TV channels before he moved to the States. He has an Ijaza with an authentic chain from him to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him). He is now located in Dallas, Texas where he works as the Director of a Quranic Institute. He was the official reciter at Reviving the Islamic Spirit in Toronto, Canada (2007). In Ramadan he travels around the USA to lead people in Taraweeh Prayer.
Here are some links of Sheikh Abdelkarim in the Toronto Convention (includes leading prayer and slow recitation):
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=abdelkarim+ris&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=abdelkarim%20ris&hl=en&emb=0
Here is a recording from last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cFYaWlbC_U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWq2872ahUY
The link below is Sheikh Abdelkarim's page on Youtube
http://ca.youtube.com/user/SheikhKarimTeam
Hesham ElGamiel is a native Egyptian and immigrated to the US at the age of 15. He attended both high school and college in Southern California and as an undergraduate student, Hesham was accepted into the FBI Honors Internship Program. He later went on to graduate with honors in the field of applied criminal justice. After several jobs and a career change, Hesham joined the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in 2000 and Agent ElGamiel regularly speaks to groups and community forums about working for the FBI. Since joining the FBI, he has received several awards for Outstanding Service and Leadership.
Maha ElGenaidi is the Founder and President of Islamic Networks Group (ING). She is a commissioner on Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante's "Commission for One California", Commissioner on Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, and Advisor to California's Commission on Police Officers Standards & Training (POST) for hate crimes and cultural diversity training, and former Co-chair and Vice-chair of the Bay Area Hate Crimes Investigators Association (BAHCIA). She is the recipient of numerous civil rights awards which include the 1999 Civil Rights Leadership Award from the California Association of Human Relations Organizations, the 2000 Human Relations Award from the Santa Clara County Human Relations office, and the 2002 "Citizen of the Year" Award from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Ms. ElGenaidi has spoken to hundreds of schools, churches, police departments, corporations and other public institutions, has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, and is author of seven training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims, as well as eight training modules for public institutions on "developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community". Ms. ElGenaidi is currently ING's CEO.
Keith Ellison has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives since taking office on January 4, 2007. The Fifth Congressional District is the most vibrant and ethnically diverse district in Minnesota with a rich history and traditions. The Fifth District includes the City of Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs. Representative Ellison's philosophy is one of "generosity and inclusiveness." His roots as a community activist and his message of inclusivity through democratic participation resonates throughout the Fifth District. His priorities in Congress are: promoting peace, prosperity for working families, and promoting civil and human rights.
Dr. John Esposito is University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs, Professor of Islamic Studies and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam from North Africa to Southeast Asia, and Religion and International Affairs. He is editor-in-chief of the four-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam and The Islamic World: Past and Present. His more than thirty books include Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Islam and Politics, Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform?, Islam and Democracy (with J. Voll). Many of his books have been translated into Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Bahasa Indonesia, Urdu, European languages, Japanese and Chinese. A former president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies, he is currently a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders, the High Level Group of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations and President of the Executive Scientific Committee for La Maison de la Mediterranee's 2005-2010 project, "The Mediterranean, Europe and Islam: Actors in Dialogue." Esposito is a recipient of the American Academy of Religion's 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan's Quaid-i-Azam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State and to governments, corporations, universities, and mainstream media. In 2003, he received the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Dr. Esposito is widely interviewed in the global media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NPR, BBC, and other media outlets around the world.
Dr. Muneer Fareed currently serves as the Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in Plainfield, Indiana. Prior to his post as ISNA Secretary General, Dr. Fareed was an associate professor of Islamic studies in the Department of Near Eastern and Asian Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His fields of interest include Qur'anic studies, Islamic legal reform, and Islam in the modern world. To his credit, he has several journal articles, a monograph entitled 'Legal Reform in the Muslim World' and translations of classics of the Islamic world; including the Síra Nabawiyya of Ibn Kathir, The Muqaddima of Ibn Saláh, and 'l-Itqán fi 'Ulúm 'l-Qur'an of Suyúti. He received a diploma in Arabic Language and Literature from King Abdul Aziz University in Mecca and an Ijáza in Classical Islamic Studies from Darul-Uloom in Deoband, India and a doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor. Since the 1980s he has served the American Muslim community in various capacities, including imam and scholar-in-residence for the Muslim community in metropolitan Detroit.
Dr. C. George Fitzgerald directs the Spiritual Care Service at Stanford University Medical Center. In addition to a staff of 5 chaplains and an administrative associate, the department has 250 volunteers from a variety of religious traditions—Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh—and is considered a model of interfaith spiritual care. Dr. Fitzgerald previously served as director of Chaplaincy Care at Princeton Medical Center (1966-78) and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (1978-88). His undergraduate degree is from U.C.L.A. and he did graduate work at Princeton and San Francisco seminaries. He was certified as an ACPE supervisor in 1971, has taught in two seminaries, and has published several articles in pastoral care and counseling journals, in addition to publishing a booklet on Congregational CPE. He currently chairs the ACPE Task Force on Islam. He is married with three children.
Chaplain Gary Friedman is a widely recognized authority on prison and jail chaplaincy. Since 1995, he has headed the Jewish Prisoner Services International pastoral care agency and has served for the past decade as the communications director of the American Correctional Chaplains Association. He has been a member for several years of the American Correctional Association's Religion and Faith-Based Services Committee and its Policies and Resolutions Advisory Committee. On his home turf, Chaplain Friedman chairs the Religious Services Advisory Committee community oversight board to the Washington State Department of Corrections. In 2005, he was selected as the corrections industry's national ‘Chaplain of the Year'. In February of this year, he briefed the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights about religious discrimination in our nation's prisons and jails, where he pointedly condemned the escalating discrimination against Muslims.
LaDale George is a senior counsel in the Chicago office of Foley & Lardner LLP, where he is a member of the firm's Business Law Department and Health Care Finance and Restructuring Team. Mr. George has over ten years of experience advising a variety of individual, corporate and governmental clients on business transactions. He focuses his transaction practice in for-profit and not-for-profit corporate formations and restructuring, private equity investments, tax-exempt financing, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Mr. George's previous positions include: Assistant Attorney General of the Office of the Virginia Attorney General, representing the Department of Mental Health; staff attorney with the Tidewater Legal Aid Society in Norfolk, Virginia; and legal liaison with the Ghana Information Centre in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. Mr. George is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., 1990) and the University of Kansas (B.A., biochemistry, 1987). He serves as legal counsel to the African-American Health Care Council, and he is a former president of the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago and former co-chair of the National Bar Association, Health Law Section. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Missouri and Virginia.
Jess Ghannam is Chief of Medical Psychology, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and faculty in the Global Health Sciences Program at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been working in Palestine for over 15 years teaching, conducting research on post-traumatic stress disorder, and developing community health centers throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Dr. Ghannam writes and presents frequently on the Middle East.
Manzoor Ghori is the co-founder of the Indian Muslim Relief & Charities (IMRC) and has served as Chairperson since its inception. IMRC provides financial resources for distribution and implementation of diverse projects to help Indian Muslims achieve greater prosperity, self-sufficiency and security in India. He is also the co-founder of Ameen Housing Co-operative, Inc., the Muslim Community Association of Santa Clara and the Islamic Society of East Bay. He has served on the local advisory boards of the CAIR-Northern California and the Islamic Network Group (ING). He has received a Masters in Management & Supervision and Bachelors of Sciences in Medical Technology, Chemistry, and Zoology.
Tahra Goraya is the National Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, D.C. Through her diverse experience in non-profit management, Goraya has distinguished herself as a passionate and dedicated administrator and a visionary for creative community coalition building.
Before joining CAIR in the fall of 2007, Goraya served as executive director of Day One in Pasadena, Calif., for nearly seven years. Day One is a grassroots nonprofit organization that works to prevent harm to youth and families from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs through education and public policy advocacy.
Under her steadfast vision and leadership, Day One became regionally and nationally recognized for its comprehensive approaches to improving the quality of life for its constituents.
Goraya is active in a number of social justice, civil right advocacy and women's health issues, and has provided consultative services for state and local governments, faith and community-based organizations, school systems, corporations, and other public and private sector entities.
Goraya served as the first female president of the board of CAIR's Greater Los Angeles area chapter. She was also was selected as the 2005-2006 Fellow with the Women's Policy Institute of the California Women's Foundation, 2005 Women in Business Non-Profit Executive Director of the Year Honoree and 2006 Woman of Excellence by the YWCA.
She was the mayor's appointee for the Northwest Commission, and Taskforce on Nuisance Liquor Stores in Pasadena. She is the Coalition Advisor to the national Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America based in Washington, D.C., board member for the California Prevention Collaborative, and an advisor for Pasadena Forward
Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali is the Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and also serves as the executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in Sterling, Virginia. He was born in Sudan, the son of a leading Islamic Scholar and the Mufti of Sudan. Imam Magid studied at the hand of his father and other notable scholars, gaining ijaza in several disciplines, including Ghazali's Ihya-Uloom-al-Deen. Imam Magid is also well known as an effective communicator to our youth and for work with other organizations and interfaith dialogue. Imam Magid is also well known for his counseling and family counseling expertise. His other Islamic activities and responsibilities include: East Zone Representative on ISNA Executive Council from 2001 to present; Chair, Fairfax (VA) Faith Communities in Action; Member, InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington Assembly; Member of the Arab, Muslim Sikh Advisory Committee to the FBI Washington Field Office; Board, Fairfax Youth Partnership.
Jannaan Hashim is a native of Washington D.C. and was born to an Iraqi father and Caucasian-American mother. Her involvement in Muslim youth activities stems from her teenage years in the early 1980s into her adulthood in Chicago. Janaan served as a high school journalism teacher at Universal School in suburban Chicago and she also used her experience as a student leader in college; where she was elected president of her student body. Janaan is a partner at Amal Law Group, the nation's first law firm founded by six American Muslim women; where she practices criminal defense and civil rights law. She is also an adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary where she teaches a master's level course entitled 'Religious Pluralism and the Ministry'. Janaan is also the Tuesday night host of WCEV's Radio Islam program, a spokesperson for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) and serves as CIOGC media relations co-chair.
Ali Hassan is the Chief Financial Officer of the Zaytuna Institute. He is a graduate of Southeastern University in Karachi, Pakistan, with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1998, and Santa Clara University, with an MBA, with honors, in 2003. His previous business experience includes acting as cross currency manager for Vital Capital Markets Limited, portfolio manager with Taurus Securities (an affiliate of HSBC) where he managed assets in excess of $20 million for both foreign and domestic institutions, and as a portfolio manager at Silicon Valley Securities (an affiliate of Raymond James).
As CFO of the Zaytuna Institute, Mr. Hassan has focused his time and energy on building its financial infrastructure, raising funds and enhancing the Institute's management and programming. He is currently working closely with the Institute's Board of Directors, staff and counsel to develop Zaytuna's seminary program, endowment and planned giving programs
Nasir Hassan M.D., FACP, FCCP is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C. and the president of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMA). He is licensed to practice medicine in Maryland and Washington D.C. and was the Chief of Medical Services at the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home in Washington D.C.
Some of his positions at Howard University included: Program Director in Internal Medicine from 2000-2003; Program Director, Transitional Year Program from 2000-2002; and Clerkship Director in Internal Medicine from 1990-2003. In 2003, he was inducted as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He also served as Chairman, Network on Cultural Diversity in Medicine, American College of Chest Physicians from 2004-2006; and he arranged the framework for Continuing Medical Education for the Federation of Islamic Medical Associations from 2003-2006. Dr. Hassan served on many other local and national committees and was one of 12 physicians who were recognized by the American College of Chest Physicians in 2000 for his work in caring for patients near the end of their lives.
Dr. Hassan hosted a radio program (AMIN Radio - WWTL) weekly talk show host "Ask Your Doctor" in 2001 and was executive director for the Islamic Society of the Washington Area (1982-85 and 1992-94. He was a member of the Board of Directors with the Muslim Community Center in Maryland where is now on the MCC Board of Trustees.
Faizan Haq is a professor of Islamic Cultural History and US and the Muslim World at State University of New York, Buffalo. He also lectures at Buffalo State College on Intercultural Communications and is the Project Support Specialist for Center for Development of Human Services. Currently he is a fellow of Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training and American Institute of International Studies. He is the current Vice-President of American Muslim Social Scientists and Pakistani American Association of Western New York, as well as General Secretary of Pakistani American Congress. He is also a founding member of Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. Mr. Haq has been working relentlessly for humanitarian causes for peace with organizations like Interfaith Peace Network. He also serves on the board of governors for the Network of Religious Communities of Western New York.
Maher Hathout is a leading spokesperson for the American Muslim community, is a retired physician best known for his tireless commitment to public service. He is an international figure who is highly regarded as a positive voice of Islam offering a unique and valuable perspective on national and international issues involving Muslims. Among the numerous offices he holds, Dr. Hathout is MPAC's Senior Advisor. He is also a Charter Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, the western partner of the Council on Foreign Relations, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Alliance. Dr. Hathout has been invited to Capitol Hill and the State Department several times to address a variety of topics such as "Islam and U.S. Policy," "Islamic Democracy," "Emerging Trends in Islamic Movements," and "the Future of the Middle East." He has traveled to Australia, Egypt, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan, and South Africa to lecture on Islam and Muslims. Dr. Hathout has written extensively on Islam, human rights, democracy, Middle East politics, and Bosnia. His articles and interviews have appeared in such prominent newspapers as The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor. He appears frequently on national television and radio talk shows.
Uruzurum Heer was born in Canada and she is a business consultant with over 8 years experience working with Dun & Bradstreet Canada in their Risk Management department.
She is also serving her 2nd term as Chairperson of the Council of American Muslim Professionals (CAMP) International; a 20,000 North American Muslim professionals organization since 1994. She recently started a charitable organization called CAMP CARES for Communities; serving the new immigrant community.
She is involved in various community services, including women's issues, youth activities and interfaith dialogue in her area.
Virginia Gray Henry, a native Kentuckian, studied world religion and art history at Sarah Lawrence and then taught filmmaking in New York. In1968, she and her husband sailed to Morocco and drove across North Africa to take up scholarships at Al Azhar University in Cairo. Their daughter Haajar was born in Libya on the way and their son Mustafa later in Cairo. After a decade of studying Tajweed, Fiqh and Hadith, they moved to Cambridge, England and founded the Islamic Texts Society in 1979 in order to publish English translations of Islamic classical texts and other works which would help Islam be properly understood. There she completed an M.A. in Education, became a research fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge, and began doctoral work at Oxford now being completed at Canterbury's Faculty of Divinity. In 1990, she returned to Louisville so that her parents could die at home and took up a post in academic development at Bellarmine University where Thomas Merton's works are archived. Honoring Merton, she ran the Year of Tibet for Kentucky, visited Tibet and produced the first scholarly work and video on Islam in Tibet. In 1994, the Dalai Lama came to Louisville and Gray also set up a gathering at his request in 2007 where the Dalai Lama met with Muslim scholars and dignitaries in San Francisco. Fons Vitae is now arranging a follow up meeting to be held at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. After her parents' death, Gray worked in Bosnian refugee camps and went on to publish books for their young people. In 1997, she opened up Fons Vitae in order to continue publishing and began creating interfaith events and annual interfaith festivals for her region. She continues lecturing in universities, churches, even to the novices at the Gethsemani Monastery and most recently in March joined Shaykh Hamza Yusef at a congress in Mauritania where she also had the great honor of meeting his beloved teacher in the far reaches of the desert.
Ibrahim Hooper is National Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest American Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. He has a background in broadcast journalism and has offered an American Muslim perspective to hundreds of national and international media outlets during his 13 years as CAIR's spokesman.
Altaf Husain is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and his research interests include the integration of immigrant and refugee families, and especially Muslim adolescents, in the United States. Dr. Husain is a former two-term national president of the Muslim Students Association (MSA National), a current executive committee member of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), a faculty member of COMPASS - the state of the art management training program of MSA National, chair of the Leadership Development Committee of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Peaceful Families Project - dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence. Dr. Husain lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Mona, and their two sons 'Omar and Ahmed.
Kareem Irfan is the past Chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. Prior to that, he has been active with many Council projects, Co-Chairing its Bosnian Refugee Relocation Project and Chairing its Media Relations Committee. He has collaborated with the Islamic Society of North America on varied projects including Program Development, Presentations, and Media Relations for ISNA's Annual Conventions, and was a founding member of the ISNA Wills and Living Trusts Initiative. Mr. Irfan currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Islamic Center of Naperville and remains committed to pro bono work for professional, religious and non-profit institutions. Mr. Irfan has a MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois and a JD from DePaul University. Following several years in private practice as an Intellectual Property lawyer with two prominent Chicago law firms, he has been with Schneider Electric for 10 years and is currently responsible for legalities of business initiatives in Information Technology and e-Commerce for the company.
Sherman A. (Abd al-Hakim) Jackson
A native of Philadelphia, Jackson received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Oriental Studies –Islamic Near East in 1990. Presently, he is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Visiting Professor of Law, and Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan. From 1987 to 1989, he served as Executive Director for the Center of Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) in Cairo, Egypt. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University and Wayne State University, and recently declined a full-professorship at Stanford University. In addition to numerous articles on Islamic law, theology and history, he is author of "Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihâb al-Dîn al-Qarâfî" (E.J. Brill, 1996), "On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam: Abû Hâmid al-Ghazâlî's Faysal al-Tafriqa" (Oxford, 2002) and the controversial "Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection (Oxford, 2005)." He is both co-founder and primary instructor of the American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM), as well as a member of its Board of Trustees. Jackson is also a former member of the Fiqh Council of North America, past president of the Sharî‘ah Scholars' Association of North America (SSANA) and a past trustee of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). He is a sought-after speaker and has lectured throughout the US and in numerous countries abroad
Sheikh Mohamed Jebril graduated from Al-Azhar University in Egypt in Shariah law and has lead Ramadan taraweeh prayers in Masjid Amr Bin Al-Aas in Cairo since 1988. He is among the most prominent reciters of the Holy Quran in the Muslim World today.
Sheikh Jebril has served as an instructor of the Qur'an at the University of Jordan and has prepared religious programs for Jordanian Television. He has traveled the world to lead worshippers in mosques and delivered lectures at Islamic centers in Quranic Studies. He has recorded the Holy Qur'an for radio and television broadcasts for Egyptian Television and many Arab television networks.
Ameena Jandali is a founding member of Islamic Networks Group (ING). She has delivered hundreds of presentations in schools, colleges, universities, churches, and other venues on Islam and related subjects. Ameena is also the editor of ING's training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims; as well as an author and editor of training modules for public institutions on developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community. She currently team-teaches a class on Islam at San Francisco City College. She received her M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from University of California-Berkeley and B.A. in History from the University of Illinois.
Rizwan O. Jaka Mr. Jaka's community involvement includes: Board Member of ADAMS(June 2008- May 2009); Past President of ADAMS(2002-2008); Past Vice President of ADAMS(2000-2002); Chair of the Board of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, Cub/Boy Scout Chartered Organizational Representative(2004-Current); Member of Goose Creek District(Loudoun County) Boy Scouts of America Committee(2006-current); Board Member, Islamic Society of North America(ISNA)(2008-Current); ISNA National Convention 2009(Washington DC) Steering Committee Chair(2009); Chair of DC Area Eid Committee(1997-Current); CCMO DC Election Committee Chair(2003-2007); ISNA National Convention 2002(Washington DC) Steering Committee Chair(2002); ISNA Youth Strategic Planning Committee(2004); ISNA East Zone Conference Steering Committee Chair(2006 and 2007); ISNA Election Committee(2005-2008); Ashburn Soccer Club Coach(2003-2005); Dulles little League Baseball Manager/Coach(2004-2008); University of Texas Student Government Representative(1992); Citizens Affairs Committee Co-Chair, University of Texas Student Government(1993); Board Member, of University of Texas Texas Student Publications(1995); Editorial Columnist, University of Texas Daily Texan(50,000 circulation -1994/1995). Mr. Jaka graduated with Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from University of Texas at Austin in 1995, and presently works as a Manager of Technology Sales Consulting in the Technology Industry.
Jamillah Karim is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Spellman College. She obtained her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Duke University and specializes in Islam in America, women and Islam, African American Islam, and Islam and culture. She continues to research, write, and lecture on her dissertation topic, "Negotiating Race and Class in the American Ummah: African American and South Asian Women in Chicago and Atlanta." Dr. Karim was raised in an Atlanta Muslim community in association with Imam W.D. Mohammed.
Mohammad A. Karim is Vice President for Research at the Old Dominion University. He oversees ODU's research enterprise, which involves six colleges, 20+ research centers, 600+ faculty and 6000+ graduate students. Karim serves on the Governor's Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission, and on the Board of the Southern Universities Research Association. Mr. Karim is the North American Editor of Optics and Laser Technology, an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions of Education, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Microwave and Optical Technology Letters. He has also served as guest editor of 16 technical journal issues. Mr. Karim has authored eight text and reference books, over 325 research papers, six book chapters, ten book reviews, two US patents, and numerous technical reports. He is an elected fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS), and a Distinguished Engineering Fellow of the University of Alabama. Mr. Karim was the former President of North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (NABIC); a board member of Center for Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Understanding, Upper Westchester Muslim Society, and of Avicenna Academy in Bronx.
Yusuf Ziya Kavakci was born in 1938 in Hendek, Sakarya, Turkey. His rise to scholarship began early; by the age of 10, he memorized the entire Quran and became a certified Qari, or reciter. He proceeded to pass the rigorous National Exams in Turkey for Waiz, or preacher, by age15, and also for Mufti, a scholar authorized to derive legal rulings in Islamic Jurisprudence, by age 18. While still a student, he also worked as Muezzin and Imam in various Istanbul mosques.
Dr. Kavakci obtained a bachelors degree in Islamic Studies from the Institute of Higher Islamic Studies, and a Law degree from the College of Law, Istanbul University. A board certified attorney in Turkey, he has also practiced law in Libya, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
In 1967, he received his PhD in Islamic History and Culture from Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters. Thereafter, he worked as Assistant and Associate Professor at the Institute of Islamic Research, Istanbul University.
In 1974, he moved to Erzurum to help establish the first college of Islamic Studies in modern Turkey: the College of Theology, which is now part of Ataturk University, Erzurum. As senior faculty, he chaired several Islamic Sciences Departments, and in 1980 was given full professorship in Islamic Law – one of the first such positions in Turkey since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Dr. Kavakci has held numerous other positions in Turkey and has served as Guest professor at University of Cambridge, UK (1973-1974), as well as Temple University in Pennsylvania (1978-1979).
Dr. Kavakci and his family moved to the United States in April 1988 in order to obtain an education for his three daughters who were denied entry to their university building in Turkey due to their hijab. Residing in Dallas, Texas, he serves as Scholar-in-Residence for the Islamic Association of North Texas (IANT), the largest mosque in north Texas. He continues to teach a host of programs there, which are also available to others at no cost in video or audio format at http://www.iant.com/. Some of his current course subjects include Fiqh (Nur al-Idah, Majalla and others), Aqida (grammatical analysis and translation of al-Fiqh al-Akbar by Abu Hanifa, Aqida of al-Tahawi, Aqa'id of Umar Nasafi), Hadith (Nawawi's Forty Hadith, Ramuz al-Ahadith by Gumushhaneli Ziyaeddin Efendi), and Grammatical Analysis of the Quran, in which the Arabic text is analyzed word by word in its entirety, and is presently in the twenty-sixth of thirty chapters (juz,siparah).
Dr .Kavakci is also founder and instructor of two unique Islamic Institutions in Dallas. The first, IANT Quranic Academy, or IQA (http://www.quranicacademy.org/), is an elementary through high school program intended to produce American Scholars of Islam. There, he instructs students chosen for the Alim Program. He is also Founding Dean and instructor at Suffa Islamic Seminary (http://www.suffa.org/), which offers college level instruction in Islamic Education.
Due to his vast education and experience in both traditional Ottoman Methodology of Islamic Sciences as well as modern academia, Dr. Kavakci is called upon to speak in numerous local, national, and international conferences on Islam, and is heavily involved in interfaith relations. He is a Shura member of ISNA (Islamic Society of North America), a member of the Fiqh Council of North America, and is on the list of speakers called on behalf of the US State Department program.
MJ Khan is a living example of the American Dream. Earning two Bachelor of Science Degrees in Physics, Mathematics and Engineering from the Universities of Sind and Karachi, Pakistan; he went on to earn two Masters Degrees, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a Masters of Business Administration from Rice University.
Councilman Khan was elected to Houston City Council, District F in December 2003. He currently serves on several local boards as well as seven City of Houston committees including the International Liaison and Protocol Committee and the Flooding and Drainage Committee – both of which he chairs.
Known for his leadership in the community, Council Member Khan has been honored by the City of Houston and other prestigious organizations.
In April of 2007, USCIS - U.S. Department of State honored Council Member Khan with the Outstanding American by Choice Award in Washington, D.C. Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Department of State (DOS), gave the keynote address to the recipients. In 2008, Council member Khan received the Asian American Leadership Award from Asia Society Texas Center and the Leadership Award for
Outstanding Community Service from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
Yasmine Khan is the Interfaith Coordinator at Islamic Networks Group in San Jose. She joined ING as an intern in June 2006, focusing on research and development of content and design for ING's educational seminars and cultural competency presentations. As Interfaith Coordinator at ING, Yasmine has organized the annual interfaith Ramadan iftar, as well as ING's Spring 2007 Series of Interfaith Dialogue events in San Mateo County in collaboration with the Peninsula Temple Beth El, New Vision United Methodist Church, and Yaseen Foundation. Yasmine is a graduate of the University of California at Davis, where she studied Human Development and Social & Ethnic Relations. She currently resides in Walnut Creek.
Farhana Khera is the President and Executive Director of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML). She also serves as the President and Executive Director of NAML's sister charitable entity, Muslim Advocates.
Prior to joining NAML, Ms. Khera served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where she worked for six years directly for Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI). Ms. Khera focused substantially on the USA PATRIOT Act, racial and religious profiling, and other civil liberties issues raised by the government's anti-terrorism policies since September 11th.
Prior to her service with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Khera was an associate with two major Washington, D.C. law firms. Ms. Khera received her B.A. with honors in political science and economics from Wellesley College. At Wellesley, she served as president of the student body and co-founded the first Muslim student's organization, al-Muslimat ("The Muslim Women"). Ms. Khera received her J.D. from Cornell Law School, where she was a finalist in the law school's annual Cuccia Cup Moot Court Competition and was an editor with the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy.
In 2005, Khalid Latif was appointed as the first Muslim chaplain at NYU where he began to initiate his vision for a pluralistic future on and off campus for American Muslims. Imam Latif was also appointed as the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University in 2006. Spending a year commuting between these two excellent institutions, he finally decided to commit full-time to New York University's Islamic Center where his position was officially institutionalized in the spring of 2007. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever fully established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. Imam Latif's exceptional dedication and ability to cross interfaith and cultural lines on a daily basis brought him recognition throughout the city, so much so that in 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg nominated Imam Latif to become the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24.
Mokhtar Maghraoui received his PhD in Physics from Syracuse University. He received his Islamic education in Algeria before coming to the U.S. He has been an Imam in the state of New York and is a Central Shura Member of the Islamic Circle of North America.
Dr. Ingrid Mattson is the current President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and served as ISNA Vice-President from 2001 to 2006. Dr. Mattson also currently serves as Director of Islamic Chaplaincy and Professor at the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. She earned her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1999; focusing on Islamic law and society. Her publications include studies on slavery, poverty, and Islamic legal theory. Prior to her Ph.D., Dr. Mattson obtained her B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Hamid Mavani is Assistant Professor of Religion, Islamic Studies at the School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University. He has been active at the academic and community level in promoting interfaith dialogue, inter- and intra-Muslim dialogue, religious pluralism, civil society, democratic governance, reform in the Islamic legal tradition, gender and religion, and environmental ethics. His primary fields of interest include Islamic legal reform, Muslims in America, Twelver Shi'ism, Qur'anic studies and Contemporary developments in the Muslim world.
M. Yaqub Mirza is President and CEO of Sterling Management Group, Inc. Since 1984, Dr. Mirza has been actively negotiating mergers, acquisitions and sales of various sized companies located in different parts of the world. After many of the acquisitions, Dr. Mirza is involved as director and officer in the development of the company by evaluating top management to maximize efficiency and profitability and then restructuring, streamlining or expanding the company. Dr. Mirza has served as a Trustee and Treasurer and later as Chairman of Amana Mutual Fund Trust (1987 to February 2003), and is now an Advisor to the Board of Trustees of the Amana Mutual Funds, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an open-end investment company and managed by Saturna. He also serves as an Advisor to the Board and/or on the Board of Directors of numerous other companies. He served on the Board of Mylex Corporation, a NASDAQ listed, and world leader of RAID technology and network management products from December 1988 until September 1999 when Mylex was acquired by IBM for $240 million. Dr. Mirza was awarded the Entrepreneur Award in 2002 by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry in San Jose, California.
Abdul Malik Mujahid is the Chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) and founder of Sound Vision, an Islamic multimedia company. An award winning author, as the national coordinator of Bosnia Task Force USA, he successfully lead efforts to declare rape as a war crime. He is also a board member of the Parliament of the World Religions.
Dr. Aneesah Nadir has taught in the social work program at Arizona State University and for the counseling program at the University in Phoenix. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at ASU-West. Dr. Nadir is a graduate of Arizona State University, School of Social Work where she obtained her Masters and PhD. Dr. Nadir's over-arching research interest is related to cultural diversity, religion and spirituality. Her primary focus is on Muslim life in America and her most recent research study is on the life experiences of young Muslim women in America. Dr. Nadir had developed an elective course for social workers and others in the human services called the 'Muslim Reality: Living in America' which helps students learn about the traditions, beliefs, practices and experiences of this community as well as other minority religious communities. She is the co-author of a chapter on Islam in Spirituality and Religious Traditions in Social Work Practice (edited by Van Hook, Hugen and Aguilar, 2001); and the author of a chapter titled, 'Promoting Positive Marital Outcomes among Muslims in America' in Islam in America: Images and Challenges by Phylis Lan Lin; and a chapter titled "An American Muslim Reflects upon the 9/11 Commission Report" in First Impressions: American Muslim Perspectives on the 9/11 Commission Report. Dr. Nadir is a founder and current president of the Islamic Social Services Association in the United States. She is currently working on developing a Certificate Program in Social Work and Spirituality for practitioners, students and religious community leaders at Arizona State University.
Rami Nashashibi is the Executive Director and one of the original founding members of the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN). He completed his B.A. in English Literature and International Studies at DePaul University, has an M.A. in Social Sciences and is currently a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Chicago. Previously, he has been an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago, Robert Morris College, and Daley Community College and most recently at St Xavier University. He is also a recipient of the Davis Putter Student Activist Grant and lectures frequently on a range of topics relating to Islam, Muslims and community activism.
Imam Niwowy attended Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; under the faculty of usool-ud-deen, where he studied under many Azhar scholars. He has been the Imam at Al-Madina Masjid in Atlanta, Georgia since 2001.
Professor Sulayman Nyang is a naturalized American citizen originally from the African republic of the Gambia. His career as an Africanist academic and professor of African Studies spans more than 32 years. He joined the faculty of the African Studies Department at Howard University after receiving his PhD in 1974 in the field of government. Dr. Nyang has held administrative academic positions at Howard University; contributed to several expert panels on African affairs, handling a wide range of topics, including cultural, political, religious and social affairs. Dr. Nyang also served as First Secretary and Head of Chancery of the Gambian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and consultant to World Bank and United Nations agencies. He was the lead developer of the "African Voices Project" for the Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute and Co-Principal Investigator of Muslims in the American Public Square (MAPS) Project; an initiative to foster greater understanding of Islam and Muslims in the United States. Professor Nyang has published profusely on a variety of issues affecting Africans in the diaspora and around the world. He has written or collaborated with other experts to write 11 books and more than 70 articles on Islam, African political, cultural, and development affairs. Dr. Nyang is also presently one of the Washington Post panelists writing for their online webpage on faith issues.
Esam Omeish serves as the US East Zone representative of National MSA, eventually becoming the President of National MSA for two years in the early 1990's. Dr. Omeish served in the national Board (Majlis Al-Shura) of ISNA as a representative of MSA for two years.
He has been involved in national affairs of MAS since its inception and has held different regional and local leadership capacities. Dr. Omeish was elected as the president of MAS by the newly elected board of trustees of MAS national for the term of 2004-2008.
Chaplain Col Brett Oxman is Command Chaplain of United States Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, NE. He is the principal advisor to the Commander, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of United States Strategic Command on religious, moral, and ethical issues related to the policies, plans and actions undertaken or overseen by the Command. Additionally, he supervises religious support in subordinate units and provides for the free exercise of religion for all personnel assigned to United States Strategic Command. Chaplain Oxman is an orthodox rabbi. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant Chaplain Candidate in the United States Air Force Reserve in February 1982, and entered active duty as a Chaplain on 11 May 1986.
Eboo Patel is the Founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit building the interfaith youth movement. He is the author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation and a panelist for the Washington Post/Newsweek Magazine "On Faith" blog. Eboo holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. He is an Ashoka Fellow, was named by Islamica Magazine as one of ten Muslim visionaries shaping Islam in America and has been profiled by numerous media outlets, including PBS.
Chaplain Joe Pryor is currently serving as the Chaplaincy Administrator for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He began his career with the Bureau in 1990 and has served institutions in Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and in the Regional Office in Dallas, Tx. Chaplain Pryor is a graduate of Marshall University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married and has three children and three grandchildren.
Yasmeen Qadri is one of the founders and the former principal of the Muslim Academy of Central Florida (established in 1991), the first full-time Islamic school in Central Florida. In 2002 she was appointed as the Education Coordinator for the Department of Education at Valencia Community College located in Orlando, Florida. She is also a tenured professor and the diversity representative at the college. Dr. Qadri has also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Education since 1991. Her passion for Islamic Schools has enabled her to continue to serve in the capacity of a consultant through EdConsultations. As a strong advocate of Islamic Schools, Dr. Qadri travels around the United States utilizing her expertise in a variety of education related areas to help build and strengthen the Islamic schools.
Habeeb Quadri is the principal of the MCC Full Time School in Morton Grove, Illinois. He has a B.A. degree in Teaching of History and a Masters in School Administration. In addition to his teaching and administrative experience in public and private schools, Habeeb has delivered dozens of lectures throughout North America and abroad on Islam, society, and social problems confronting Muslim youth and the community-at-large for the last fifteen years. Additionally, Habeeb maintains an active interest in education consulting. He has started his own educational consulting company called High Quality Educational Consulting in which he has partnered with IQRA International Educational Foundation as a consultant. Mr. Quadri has conducted workshops for weekend and full-time Islamic schools, public schools and universities around the world, delivering insightful presentations on such topics as classroom management, motivational techniques for students and faculty, curriculum development, Muslim sensitivity training and overall educational administrative. He has currently co-authored a book entitled the War Within Our Heart: The Struggles of the Muslim Youth. He also has two other book projects in the works regarding parental advice on dealing with Muslim youth and a story book for children.
Khurshid Qureshi has been involved in Islamic work since he was a college student at Oklahoma State University. In the early days of the Muslim Students Association (MSA), he coordinated the establishment of MSA chapters in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas. He volunteered his time as a Sunday school teacher in the then newly-acquired MSA headquarters in Gary, Indiana in 1970. He founded the first regularly scheduled Islamic Youth Camp in the United States (Al Hilal Youth Camp recently observed its 27th anniversary). He has also worked with different Islamic organizations in Michigan to improve the conditions of inner-city youth to guide them to better career opportunities. He served as a member of board of Directors of Islamic Association of Greater Detroit and worked as a volunteer principal of its Islamic Sunday School for 15 years. His other Islamic work included seminars for the youth, Muslim unity symposiums and political action committees. In the 1980s, he advised the Government of Pakistan on improving Science & Technology education and to develop a strong industrial base. He is also the current president of Muslim Scientists and Engineers.
Mr. Qureshi has worked for 20 years with multinational corporations such as General Motors, Ingersoll-Rand and Hughes Corporation. At present he is the president and CEO of zeeWAVES Corporation a hi tech company which he founded in 2003. He served as Chairman of Society of Automotive Engineers Rocky Mountain Area and President of Colorado Engineering Society (an umbrella organization of 25 engineering societies with a membership of 50,000). He has been highly recognized by his business and peers and awarded with entrepreneur of the year and emerging venture awards.
He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and completed his post graduate work at Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology and Anderson School of Business at UCLA.
Naheed Qureshi is a Project Coordinator with the City of Los Angeles, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Prior to her current position, Ms. Qureshi served as a National Field Organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, DC, focusing on the USA PATRIOT Act and other post-September 11th civil rights and civil liberties issues. Ms. Qureshi previously held positions with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At the Justice Department, Ms. Qureshi also focused on obtaining discrimination complaints, organizing national civil rights forums, and outreach to the Muslim, Arab and South Asian American communities. She has also served as an attorney advisor for Immigration Judge Ellen K. Thomas. Ms. Qureshi received her B.A. From the University of Wisconsin at Madison and her J.D.from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Agha Saeed is a lecturer in the Communications and Political Science departments at University of California-Berkeley and California State University at Hayward. He is also the National Chairman of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), a civic education and leadership training organization. Dr. Saeed is also the current coordinator of the California Civil Rights Alliance (CCRA), a coalition of 23 statewide organizations of various political, social and religious backgrounds. The CCRA was instrumental in the introduction of this year's California statewide resolution calling for the amending of the USA PATRIOT act. He is also the current chair of the national coalition of Muslim organizations known as the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT). For his forthcoming book, Pakistan in its Own Mirror: Elite Autobiographies and National Consciousness, Dr. Saeed interviewed more than 40 authors, thinkers and leaders in Pakistan; including the current president, General Pervez Musharraf..
Dr. Shabbir Safdar is a professor of hematology and oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouei. A practicing oncologist, Dr. Safdar is also the national Vice-chair of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA). He has also played a leading role in the formation of national organizations such as: American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) and the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT).
Louay Safi is the Executive Director of the ISNA Leadership Development Center (ILDC) in Plainfield, Indiana. He also serves on the board of several leading Muslim organizations; including the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), Islamic Horizons and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). He is a Fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and serves on the steering committee of the Muslim-Christian Initiative on the Nuclear Weapons Danger.
Imam Zaid Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Islamic scholars in the West. As an American Muslim who came of age during the civil rights struggles, he has brought both sensitivity about race and poverty issues and scholarly discipline to his faith-based work.
Born in Berkeley, California, he accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He obtained a BA with honors in International Relations at American University in Washington D.C. and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he led a successful campaign for disinvestment from South Africa, and co-founded a local Islamic center, Masjid al-Huda.
After a year of studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut and continued his community activism, co-founding Masjid al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. As Imam of Masjid al-Islam from 1988 to 1994 he spear-headed a community renewal and grassroots anti-drug effort, and also taught political science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State University. He then left for Syria to pursue his studies in the traditional Islamic sciences.
For seven years in Syria, and briefly in Morocco, he immersed himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and spirituality with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he graduated from Syria's prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut, serving again as the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, and writing and speaking frequently on a host of issues. That same year, his translation from Arabic into English of "The Heirs of the Prophets" was published by Starlatch Press.
In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California to serve as a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute, where he now teaches courses on Arabic, Islamic law, history, and Islamic spirituality. In 2005, Zaytuna Institute published "Scattered Pictures: Reflections of An American Muslim" an anthology of diverse essays penned by Zaid Shakir. In 2006, a translation from Arabic to English with commentary of Al Muhasibi's "Treatise For The Seekers of Guidance" was published by NID Publishers.
He is a frequent speaker at local and national Muslim events and has emerged as one of the nation's top Islamic scholars and a voice of conscience for American Muslims and non-Muslim.
Muzammil Siddiqi received his BA in Islamic and Arabic Studies from the Islamic University of Medina, Saudi Arabia and later went on to complete a degree in Comparative Religion at Harvard University. Currently, Dr. Siddiqui works as an Educator and Religious Director of the Islamic Society of Orange County where he has served since 1981. Dr. Siddiqi also serves as a member of the ISNA Majlis Ash-Shura and the Fiqh Council of North America. He has served as chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee and has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the National American Islamic Trust (NAIT). As a member of the Executive Board of Majlis al-Shura of Southern California, Dr. Siddiqi has organized and participated in several national and international Islamic conferences on Sirah, Fiqh and Da'wah. Because of his devotion to the preservation of Islam in America, he has organized numerous training programs for Muslim adults and youth. He also lectures on Islam and interfaith dialogue in North America and abroad. Dr. Siddiqi has authored books on Hajj & Umra, Ramadan and has published many academic papers and articles in encyclopedias and journals, as well as his weekly column in Pakistan Link. Since 1982, he has provided Qur'an commentary in a weekly radio program. Dr. Siddiqi served as the President of ISNA from 1996 - 2000.
Rushdi Siddiqui is Global Director of the Islamic Index Group at Dow Jones Indexes. Rushdi joined Dow Jones Indexes in 1997 to oversee an initiative to develop and market Shari'ah-compliant indexes for Islamic-focused investors. In the years since, Rushdi has led Dow Jones Indexes's efforts to introduce the entire Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) index family, which now includes equity indexes for countries, regions, sectors and social-ethical themes (DJIM Sustainability Index), as well as a fixed-income index (DJ Citi Sukuk Index). While supporting and growing Dow Jones Indexes's presence in Islamic markets, Rushdi has received a number of awards and has been named to various Islamic-based advisory councils. He has also done well over 200 media interviews including television interviews for CNN fn, BBC, CNBC Arabia and CNBC Pakistan.
Rev. Dr. Snorton is the Executive Director of the national Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., an accrediting and certifying agency for programs of Clinical Pastoral Education. She is the former Executive Director of the Emory Center for Pastoral Services in Atlanta, Georgia and the Director of Pastoral Services at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta. She has been a certified ACPE Supervisor since 1989 and anadjunct instructor in Pastoral Care at Candler School of Theology at Emory University since 1991. She is an ordained minister in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and was a former pastor in Kentucky. Prior to moving to Atlanta, she was a Psychiatric Staff Chaplain at Central State Hospital-Louisville, on the adjunct faculty of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky, and on the faculties of the Patient Counseling Program at the Medical College of Virginia and the School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond.
Abdur-Rahim Syed is a co-founder of Project Sakinah, a new compatibility-based marriage initiative for the American Muslim community. To be launched by year-end 2007, Project Sakinah will be a unique online service that introduces marriage-minded Muslims on the basis of personal and religious compatibility. The Muslim Marriage Survey, the results of which are being shared at the ISNA Annual Convention, provides a glimpse of the significant research that has gone into developing this service. Mr. Syed's professional experience spans management consulting, economic consulting and corporate strategy (at Mercer Management Consulting, Analysis Group, and most recently eBay).
Sayyid M. Syeed resumed responsibilities as National Director of ISNA's Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances, in Washington, DC, from March 2006. A naturalized American citizen, Dr. Syeed obtained his Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics from the Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1984. As President of the Muslim Students Association of USA & Canada (1980-1983), he pioneered its transformation into the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). During 1984-1988, he was Secretary General of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO) in which capacity he traveled widely through the former Soviet Union, and Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America. Dr. Syeed has been General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), a national professional organization founded 31 years ago. Dr. Syeed, one of the founders of the quarterly American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), served as its Editor-in-Chief (1984-1994).
Iqbal Unus is the Headquarters Director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Director of Child Development Foundation (CDF), and Director of IIFTIHAR-USA. He is the former Dean of Students/Registrar at the School of Islamic and Social Sciences (SISS) in Leesburg, Virginia. His volunteer involvement in Islamic work began in North America as the President of the Muslim Students Association of Atlanta, Georgia in 1970. Later, he served successively as Regional Representative, Vice President, and President (in 1975) of the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada (MSA).
Imam Siraj Wahhaj is the current Imam of Masjid Al-Taqwa in Brooklyn, New York. He received his training from Ummul Quran University in Mecca and has become a world-renowned speaker on Islam. Imam Wahhaj has been on the ISNA Majlis Ash-Shura since 1987 and has also previously served as ISNA Vice-President. He has been a member of ISNA's Planning Committee and served as a member of the Board of Advisors for North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) from 1989 to 1993. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for the American Muslim Council (AMC). Imam Siraj has appeared on several national television talk shows and interviews; especially about his anti-drug campaigns in his native Bedford-Stuyvesant. He received high praises from the media and NYPD for initiating his anti-drug patrols in Brooklyn in 1988. Among other achievements, Imam Wahhaj was the first person to give an Islamic invocation to the United States Congress in 1991.
Khurrum Wahid is an attorney and founding partner in the law firm of Wahid, Vizcaino & Maher LLP; a civil and criminal litigation firm based in Florida. He has defended several high-profile individuals and organizations, including successfully defending three innocent Muslim medical students falsely accused of terrorism in Florida on the anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11. In 2006, Khurrum helped found the Center for Voter Advocacy to promote the values of democracy and political efficacy within the Muslim American community. Khurrum has testified on civil rights issues several times before various government organizations, including twice before the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Rick Warren is often called "America's most influential spiritual leader." He founded Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, which is now one of the largest and best-known churches in the world. He also founded the Purpose Driven Movement, a network of tens of thousands of churches from all denominations in 160 countries. He has trained over 350,000 pastors worldwide. Calling him a "spiritual entrepreneur," Forbes magazine said, "If Warren's ministry was a business it would be compared with Dell, Google, or Starbucks in impact." Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of the profits from their books to charitable causes, including their global P.E.A.C.E. plan and Acts of Mercy, which services those infected with and affected by AIDS. Warren gave the invocation at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January 2009.
Asad M. Ba-Yunus is an attorney in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who practices general civil litigation and medical malpractice defense. Mr. Ba-Yunus is also the President of the Florida Muslim Bar Association. Asad is the son of Dr. Ilyas Ba-Yunus, ISNA's first president and current Majlis-as-Shura member. Asad has been involved in MYNA, MSA and ISNA activities from childhood, and served as MSA National's Vice President US from 1999-2000.
Hamza Yusuf was born in Washington and raised in Northern California. In 1977, he became Muslim and subsequently traveled to the Muslim world and studied for ten years in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, as well as North and West Africa. He received teaching licenses in various Islamic subjects from several well-known scholars in various countries and is a prominent American Muslim scholar.
Safaa Zaraour is the President of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) and an associate attorney at the law firm of Odelson & Sterk. A well-known Muslim activist, he has served as the Principal of Universal School in Chicago for over 10 years, is the Program Chair for the ISNA Education Forum, serves as the Chairman for CAIR-Chicago and has spoken at a number of national and regional conferences. He is a Member of the Village of Bridgeview Zoning Board and was elected as a member of the Bridgeview Public Library Board of Trustees. He is active with the Catholic-Muslim Education Project and Play for Peace. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Universal School Board of Directors.
Dr. James J. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream.
For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in a full range of Arab American issues. A co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late 1970s, he later co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In 1982, he co-founded Save Lebanon, Inc., a private non-profit, humanitarian and non-sectarian relief organization which funds health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war, and other social welfare projects in Lebanon. In 1985, Zogby founded AAI.
In 1993, following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington, he was asked by Vice President Al Gore to lead Builders for Peace, a private sector committee to promote U.S. business investment in the West Bank and Gaza. In his capacity as co-president of Builders, Zogby frequently traveled to the Middle East with delegations led by Vice President Gore and late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. In 1994, with former U.S. Congressman Mel Levine, his colleague as co-president of Builders, Zogby led a U.S. delegation to the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Cairo. Zogby also chaired a forum on the Palestinian economy at the Casablanca Economic Summit in 1994. After 1994, through Builders, Zogby worked with a number of US agencies to promote and support Palestinian economic development, including AID, OPIC, USTDA, and the Departments of State and Commerce.
Dr. Zogby has also been personally active in U.S. politics for many years; in 1984 and 1988 he served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. Most recently, in 1995 DNC Chairman Don Fowler appointed Zogby as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC), an umbrella organization of Democratic Party leaders of European and Mediterranean descent. In 1999 and 2001 he was reelected to that post. Also in 2001, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and in 2006 was also named Co-Chair of the DNC's Resolutions Committee.
A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby appears frequently on television and radio. He has appeared as a regular guest on all the major network news programs. After hosting the popular "A Capital View" on the Arab Network of America for several years, he now hosts "Viewpoint with James Zogby" on Abu Dhabi Television, LinkTV, Dish Network, and DirecTV [broadcast schedule].
Since 1992, Dr. Zogby has also written a weekly column on U.S. politics for the major newspapers of the Arab world. The column, Washington Watch, is currently published in 14 Arab countries. He has authored a number of books including two recent publications, "What Ethnic Americans Really Think" and "What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and Concerns."
Dr. Zogby has testified before U.S. House and Senate committees, has been guest speaker on a number of occasions in the Secretary's Open Forum at the U.S. Department of State, and has addressed the United Nations and other international forums. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of State "in recognition of outstanding contributions to national and international affairs."
Dr. Zogby is also active professionally beyond his involvement with the Arab American community. He currently serves on the national advisory board of the American Civil Liberties Union, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Additionally, he is a Senior Advisor for the polling firm Zogby International.
In 1975, Dr. Zogby received his doctorate from Temple University's Department of Religion, where he studied under the Islamic scholar, Dr. Ismail al-Faruqi. He was a National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University in 1976, and on several occasions was awarded grants for research and writing by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Defense Education Act and the Mellon Foundation. Dr. Zogby received a Bachelor of Arts from Le Moyne College. In 1995, Le Moyne awarded Zogby an honorary doctoral of laws degree and in 1997, named him the college's outstanding alumnus. In 2007, the Temple University College of Liberal Arts also singled out Dr. Zogby as an outstanding alumnus of the year. And in 2008 the American University of Cairo awarded Dr. Zogby a Doctorate in Human Letters "in Recognition of Outstanding Efforts to Secure Arab American Political Empowerment."
Dr. Zogby is married to Eileen Patricia McMahon and is the father of five children.
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