The following was included with the application. Assalamu Alaikum! Throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have witnessed the profound impact of healthy diversity within the Muslim community and its positive contribution to broader society. Unfortunately, I’ve also observed the consequences when diversity is not embraced. I am thrilled to share that the Dawah committee at the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield, IL, has been actively promoting Islamic education, dawah training, leadership development, and program initiatives over the past few months. We are fortunate to engage with an active interfaith community, receive regular requests for information about Islam, and collaborate
Read MoreI stay in touch with my brothers and sisters through WhatsApp, and we are all part of the NFB Blind Muslims group as well as the newly formed Global Advocacy of Blind and Low Vision Muslims group. Recently, a brother from our group needed specific items for a student, commonly referred to as guide canes. I believe this term hails from the old British terminology for canes designed for the blind. This brother is actively working to enhance accessibility in his community, and he has successfully brought together blind individuals to join our group—mashaAllah. He expressed the need for guide
Read MoreBy Heather Albright As-salamu alaykum wa Rahmatullah, Alhamdulillah and Mashallah! I recently managed to acquire tools for my blind friends abroad who require assistance. It surprised me to learn that some of them lacked access to basic aids like a white cane, which the National Federation of the Blind provides for free in the USA. I’ve always taken for granted the ease of replacing my cane if it breaks. Similarly, the NFB also offers free slates, styluses, and a program providing talking medical devices like scales and blood pressure machines, but unfortunately, these aren’t accessible overseas. However, I stumbled upon
Read MoreLatinos are the fastest-growing segment of the US Muslim population. According to some estimates, there are between 55,000 and 198,000 Latinos practicing Islam in the country. At a time when President Donald Trump has issued a ban on Muslim refugees from seven countries and fortified Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the group has become particularly vulnerable. However, research explaining why many Latinos have converted to Islam or shedding light on the group’s experiences in the United States remains scarce. Hoping to fill this gap, Gastón Espinosa, Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont Mckenna College, conducted the first-ever, large-scale survey research of Latino
Read MoreBy Saadia Faruqi, Dec 16, 2016 Wear Your Voice magazine Media stereotypes and misinformation about Muslims are nothing new. But in a post-election world, Muslims are finding more allies who often want to help but don’t know much about us. More and more of our fellow Americans have questions and need answers. In on online forum recently, someone asked me about books I would recommend to those wishing to learn about Muslims. I’m happy that people want to learn — even though I think meeting Muslims is far more valuable than reading about them — but searching in the sea of available choices can
Read More—New York— Introduccion al Islam en EspanolClass Dates: February 10th, 2010 – May 5th, 2010Timings: Wednesdays, 7:00pm – 8:30pmLocation: The IC http://www.icnyu.org/index.php?option=com_eventcal&task=event&eventid=477&date=1268874000 Class Description: El propósito de esta clase será proveer conocimientos básicos sobre la religión del Islam, empezando por los seis principios de la fe Islámica y los cinco pilares de la misma. De igual forma, buscaremos entablar una conversación productiva sobre asuntos que atañen a los musulmanes hispanoparlantes hoy en día. Cuáles son los retos y posibilidades que enfrentamos los musulmanes latinos en relación a nuestras familias, nuestras comunidades, y la comunidad musulmana norteamericana en especifico? Cómo podemos
Read MoreThe United States has its share of visitors every year. Some men and women are here to work, others come to study, while others are tourists; I am here to stay. Like it or not, I am bound to the land through my work and memories. The constant reminder that my religion is under siege here in the United States has not wavered my loyalties to my country. Islam and the United States had a shotgun wedding on September 11, 2001. Separated by centuries of misunderstanding and neglect, the two are now struggling to understand each other over night. The
Read MoreBy UCLA Latin American Institute http://www.international.ucla.edu/lai/events/showevent.asp?eventid=7321 Symposium about the growing presence of Islam in Latin American Societies. Friday, April 03, 20099:00 AM – 12:30 PMRoyce 362Los Angeles, CA 90095 Muslim communities in the Americas are made up of migrants- people from historically Muslim regions like the Middle East and South East Asia who have settled in the region, and a growing number of converts. Migrants and their descendants are a majority of Muslims in South America, particularly in Argentina and Brazil. Converts are more visible in Mexico and the Caribbean. In all of these regions however, migrants and converts interact
Read MoreBy Imam Yusef Maisonet and Sr Khadijah Rivera Piedad-Latinodawah.Blogspot.comJune 4, 2009 http://piedad-latinodawah.blogspot.com/2009/06/historical-trip-to-puerto-rico-unites.html A man may plan but ALLAH is still the best of planners. Everything comes at the time that it was meant to be. For over 25 years I had dreamed of returning to Puerto Rico. But my work as a Merchant seaman took me to ports in Central and South America with work turned into Dawah. All that time Puerto Rico was in the back of my mind. Last year I prepared to take that ground breaking trip to Puerto Rico which was brought about by a New
Read MoreTimeline September 1997 Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO) is founded to promote Islam among Latinos in the United States. October 1997 LADO begins to formalize its mission statement and the means for accomplishing its mission. October 1997 LADO selects “¡A su LADO!” as its slogan. October 1997 LADO establishes first LADO website. October 1997 LADO establishes first LADO online newsletter. 1998-2000 LADO makes alliances with organizations on a local level. January 2001 LADO initiates Latino Muslim Census. July 2001 LADO attends the 2nd Annual Latino Muslim Conference. July 2001 LADO is endorsed by ISNA and ICNA. August 2001 LADO is
Read MoreBy Mahasin Shamsid-Deen Masjid Jauharatul-Islam, (The Jewel of Islam), the first mosque built totally along Islam design by indigenous American Muslims commemorates its 25th year on June 19, 2006. Activities to celebrate the anniversary will take place on Sunday, June 18, 2006. On Friday, June 19, 1981 the dedication for the new mosque was held at its location at 102 W. South Mountain Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. Delegations from all over the United States and from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Canada, Morocco, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey, Fiji Islands and Iraq attended the dedication ceremonies. Masjid Jauharatul-Islam started as the Phoenix
Read MoreBy Nichola Saminather November 18, 2005 When Pamela “” now Aisha “” Munoz came to the United States from Bolivia five years ago in search of her true self, she didn’t imagine that it would involve a radical conversion away from her Roman Catholic roots. Today, 17 months after she accepted Islam, she sits serenely on a metal bench in the bustling Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, with her black hijab wrapped securely around her head. She has, she says, finally found what she was seeking. Without the hijab “” the Muslim headscarf — she could be any 23-year-old Latina.
Read MoreUn Aprendizaje a base de experiencia Por Rebecca Abuqaoud Paz y bendicion, Mi participacion en la organizacion de programas como las Confraternidades Anuales, Clases Islamicas en Espanol para las hermanas y otros eventos de Dawah en la comunidad me han dejado una gran leccion de vida que en ocasiones comparto con mis hermanas cuando nos reunimos. Con el transcurrir del tiempo he aprendido que la vision y metas se logra a base de mucho esfuerzo y dedicacion con optimismo. Una vez lei el pamfleto La Vision, publicada por The Instituto of Islamic Information and Education. De este pamfleto aprendi que
Read MoreBy Rebecca AbuQaoud An unforgettable reunion of women reflected their togetherness and unity in cooperation, effort, organization, and preparation. Because of their togetherness and unity, they had an amazing event. Some brothers also joined the sisters to help in the arrangement on the day of the sister’s event. Around three o’clock in the afternoon, a group of sisters and brothers set up the tables, arranging and preparing the Red Banquet Room for the special occasion. At the entrance, next to the main door, a big banner read – “Chicago Association of Latino American Muslims.” Meanwhile, bright lights inside the banquet
Read MoreBy Juan Galvan I have personally been blessed to have met several Latino Muslims from Chicago. I met Brother Ricardo Pena, Sister Diana Pena, and Brother Yahya Lopez in 2002 at the ISNA Latino Muslims Conference. Husband and wife, Brother Ricardo and Sister Diana, have been involved in the local Chicago Muslim community volunteering, for example, with the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). Brother Yahya Lopez is responsible for translating much of the Spanish Islamic literature distributed by the Institute of Islamic Information and Education (III&E). A year later, I would meet Brother Edmund Arroyo who works extensively with the
Read MoreBy Abd al-Rahman Benavidez In the summer of 2002, the Nawawi Foundation organized and lead a group of some one hundred American Muslims on a tour throughout China that included five provinces across the vast continent from the capital Beijing to the heartland Xian and finishing at the great metropolitan and commercial city Shanghai. More meaningful than a tour, it was a journey that focused on the little known ethnic Chinese Muslims, or Hui, and their monuments dating back to the ancient Islamic civilization established by their ancestors. One may ask: of all the places and people to visit, why
Read MoreBy Susy Tekunan VOA Indonesia Two reporters of VOA Indonesia met with LADO sisters on October 7, 2005. It was during Ramadhan, and the sisters were having an Iftar Dinner at one of the sister’s house. We conducted an interview with some members but mostly with Zulayka Martinez who we think could represent the group with her story as the only Muslim in her family. Before the day of this event, we visited with brother Mujahid and his family at his residence to speak with him about how his life changed after he became a Muslim. Mujahid, his wife, and
Read MoreIn the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful The Fiqh Council of North America wishes to reaffirm Islam’s absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism. Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram or forbidden – and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not “martyrs.” The Qur’an, Islam’s revealed text, states: “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]”it is as thoughhe has killed all mankind. And whoever saves
Read MoreBy Juan Alvarado Evolution of the Latino American Dawah Organization Since childhood I always noticed that I was spiritual to say the least. I was baptized, did my communion and confirmation. I was even an altar boy. By the time I was 19, I renounced Christianity once and for all due to my lack of belief in the basic teachings of Christianity. However, I continued my search for truth. This search led me to read on a non-stop basis, something that I still do. After studying Islam for a couple of years, I was sufficiently comfortable that I decided to
Read MoreBy Juan Galvan Assalaam alaykum,On October 18, Latino Muslims from the Dallas area hosted a mosque open house in Spanish at the Dallas Central Mosque. The open house was organized by Latino Muslim brothers and sisters who meet every Saturday for a halaqa session at the mosque. Upon entering the mosque, I quickly noticed flags from various South American and Caribbean countries. I was pleasantly surprised to a Mexican flag in a Texas mosque. Seeing the various flags was one more reminder of just how much our religion is unifying people from every part of the world. After signing in
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