Archive for May, 2008
Christians in the Muslim world
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christians in the Muslim world, Elias Karmi
Comments(0) By Elias Karmi
In recent years, much has been said in the media about Islam and countries with Muslim majorities. At first, many reports were made with conspicuous bias due to the public outrage at the events of 9/11. Slowly, more reports are being made with an extra effort at being objective.
Still, certain aspects of the Muslim world are either being misrepresented or simply left to the audience to guess. Read more »
Local Human Rights Award Recognizes Interfaith Work
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: American Muslim Community Center, awareness, difference, diversity, Eden Prairie, faith, Guest bloggers, Human Rights, Human Rights award, interfaith, Islam, Minnesota, muslim, peace, Qur'an, tolerance
Comments(1) By Autif Sayyed, American Muslim Community Center
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Representatives from the three churches
and Saleem Adam of American Muslim Community Center, second from left. |
On May 20, the City of Eden Prairie honored American Muslim Community Center (AMCC) and three churches–Eden Prairie United Methodist Church, Pax Christi Catholic Community and Prairie Lutheran Church–with its annual Human Rights Award. The award was in recognition of our participation in planning and executing the Interfaith Worship Service Program in 2006 and 2007. These events brought together hundreds of people of different faiths to celebrate the commonalities held by all and to promote peace, tolerance, and awareness.
The AMCC strives to create an inclusive community spirit through its activities and programs. We have achieved this by embracing diversity as a strength rather than a weakness. The reasoning behind this approach is very simple. Read more »
Take Heart: Join Get-Together at Convention Center
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Guest bloggers, interfaith, Minnesota Council of Churches, Taking Heart
Comments(1) By Gail Anderson
How do we take heart in times like these?
Read more »
Policing Our Attitudes About the Police
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: citizens public safety academy, Guest bloggers, Lino Lakes, Minnesota, muslim, national night out, Police, Uncategorized
Comments(1) 
By Zainib Ahmad
I never thought I would dress up like a firefighter, oxygen tank and all, and put out a car fire, visit the dispatch center where 911 calls are handled or fire an actual shotgun. For the past month I have been doing that and more while spending my Thursdays at the fire station in Lino Lakes.
I am one of eight women and twelve men participating in a nine-week Citizens Public Safety Academy sponsored by the Lino Lakes Police Department and Fire Station. This experience is teaching me a lot about the hard work these brave men and women do, often putting their lives on the line on a daily basis.
Read more »
What’s Troubling About Charter School Debate: The Hate
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Asad Zaman, charter school, hate speech, Islamophobia, Kersten, Marcia Lynx Qualey, Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Education, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, TIZA
Comments(2) By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Education has issued a report clearing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of the major allegations leveled against it and requesting that the school address smaller areas of concern.
The May 19 report states that the school’s core business—curriculum—is nonreligious, in full compliance with all Minnesota statutes. The Department of Education’s areas of concern related to how the school structures its voluntary Friday prayers as well as the timing of after-school busing. In a statement, Tarek school officials said that they take these concerns “very seriously” and will be getting together with parents and Department of Education officials to quickly rectify any possible or perceived infractions.
But the small concerns detailed in the report are not what should worry us most.
What should worry us most is the atmosphere of hate that surrounds them. Read more »
Muslim Group Supports Student’s Right to Service Dog
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cair, dog saliva, dogs and Islam, dogs and Muslims, God's creatures, guide dogs, Marcia Lynx Qualey, Muhammad and dogs, service dogs, service dogs and Islam, service dogs and Muslims, St. Cloud State, St. Cloud Times, Tyler Hurd, Uncategorized
Comments(5) By Marcia Lynx Qualey and Asma L. Saroya, Engage Minnesota
A civil rights group is working again to debunk the myth that Muslims and dogs can’t get along.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today is clarifying Muslim beliefs about dogs and expressing support for a St. Cloud State University student who felt his service dog was threatened. CAIR-MN issued a statement following a May 12 article in the St. Cloud Times, which said that graduate student Tyler Hurd left the university because he feared for the safety of his dog.
Hurd told the St. Cloud Times that while many Muslim students grew to like his dog, the dog was threatened by a student at one of the schools where he was doing his field training.
The Times article falsely states that Islam “forbids the touching of dogs.” CAIR-MN clarifies that many Muslims are uncomfortable around dogs, as they believe the saliva of dogs invalidates the ritual ablution performed before prayer. For this reason, it has become a cultural norm for individuals not to have dogs in their homes.
However, “the moral and legal need to accommodate individuals using service dogs far outweighs the discomfort an individual Muslim might feel about coming into contact with a dog, which is one of God’s creatures,” said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley. Read more »
Taking Heart: Visit a Mosque, Share a Meal
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: church, dialogue, Events, Gail Anderson, interfaith, interfaith dialogue, Marcia Lynx Qualey, Masjid Ummat Muhammad, Minnesota Council of Churches, mosque, Muslim American Society, prayer, relationships, Taking Heart, terrorism
Comments(2) By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota
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From a Taking Heart picnic,
summer 2007. |
Gail Anderson isn’t asking you to make a new best friend.
“I think if next Wednesday night, we get a number of Christians to walk into a mosque—
that’ve never been in a mosque before—then I think we’ve done something,” said Anderson, unity and relationships organizer with the Minnesota Council of Churches.
Anderson helps head up the interfaith project “Taking Heart,” which brings Muslim and non-Muslim neighbors together over good meals and good conversation.
The next event, set for May 14 at Masjid Ummat Muhammad, was designed for South Minneapolis residents. The program is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with two presentations: There will be a brief talk about Muslim prayer, and Anderson will discuss the Christian prayer tradition. Afterwards, free Middle Eastern food will be served, and people will be encouraged to mingle and talk.
But what if people self-segregate, and Christians sit together with Christians, and Muslims with Muslims?
“We don’t let ‘em,” Anderson said, and laughed. Read more »
My Mother and My Religion
Filed under: Tamim Saidi | Tags: Al-Tirmidhi, Bukhari, Islam, mother's day, mothers, muhammad, muslim, parenting, Prophet, Qur'an, rahm, Tamim Saidi
Comments(0) Mothers in Islam
By Tamim Saidi, Engage Minnesota
There is a great deal of love and respect for mothers in Islam. Over 1400 years ago, one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked him who the most deserving person of his kindness and his companionship was.
The Prophet (p) said, “Your mother.”
The man asked, “Then whom?”
He said, “Your mother.”
The man asked for the third time, “Then whom?”
The Prophet (p) said, “Your mother.”
The man asked for the fourth time, “Then whom?”
The Prophet (p) said “Your father.”
It was after becoming the father of three-year-old twins as well as a 19-month-old toddler that I began to understand why the status of the mother is three times that of the father. Read more »
Mideast Role Model for Peace, Shirin Ebadi, Speaks Locally
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Israel, Thasneem Ahmed, Palestine, Shirin Ebadi, Hamline University, Nobel Peace Prize, Chaos in Middle East, Iran, nuclear, Iran's youth, Iran's women, Islam and women, democracy in Middle East, democracy in Iran, Iraq war, poverty in Iran, youth in Iran, Iranian women
Comments(0) By Thasneem Ahmed, Engage Minnesota
On Friday, April 25, Hamline University had a wonderful event featuring Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi. Her lecture centered on the “Roots of Chaos in the Middle East,” and she gave an honest, frank assessment of the region’s problems as well as of potential solutions.
Dr. Ebadi also spoke passionately about women and youth, and their struggles to achieve equality and peace. She exuded confidence, courage and compassion as she touched upon the pain and difficulties of the Iranian people—but it was when she spoke of their amazing strengths and accomplishments that her spirit and pride radiated. By the end of the hour, it was clear why this amazing woman had won the Nobel Peace Prize. She truly is a powerful force for peace and a tribute to the women of the Middle East. Read more »
