Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Counting the days to the End Times
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: apocalypse, Elias Karmi, end times, evangelical, hagee, Islam, Israel, jesus, judgement day, Muslims, prophecies, prophecy, second coming, Uncategorized
Comments (2) A Quick guide to the Islamic attitude toward prophecies
By Elias Karmi, Engage Minnesota
For some religions/denominations, notably Evangelical Christians, the subject of the End Times constitutes a formidable chunk of faith. Many of Pastor John Hagee’s books, from the fictional “Left Behind” series to “Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World,” attempt to predict the future according to interpretations of the Bible and have enjoyed tremendous popularity among Evangelical Christians. “Left Behind” was even made into a movie.
Spanning the differences
By Johanna Osman, Engage Minnesota
Today I attended the Interfaith Memorial Service at the Basilica St. Mary in Minneapolis, commemorating the anniversary of the 35W Bridge Collapse. My intention was to document, as a scholar, the cooperation between peoples of many faiths. This was to be another example of Minnesota’s interfaith activities to include in my study. Read more »
Professor, Imam Present ‘A History of Islam in America’
On July 18, Dr. Ihsan Bagby and Imam Qasim Khan will present on “A History of Islam in America” at the Minnesota Dawah Institute.
The presentation, set to begin at 7 p.m., will feature Bagby, a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky. Bagby has been a key figure in documenting the lives of Muslims in America; in 2000, Bagby conducted the first national survey of mosques in the United States.
“A History of Islam in America” is sponsored by the Muslim Alliance in North America, a national network of mosques, Muslim organizations, and individuals working together to address the needs of Muslim communities.
The Dawah Institute is located at 478 University Avenue in St. Paul, 55103.
Bright Spot in Charter-school Report: Tarek Academy
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, Uncategorized
Comments (2) By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota
On Monday, Minnesota education officials released a report on our state’s charter schools, and not all the news was good. In particular, the achievement gap between white and non-white students has widened considerably. This certainly should give us pause.
But test-score troubles didn’t just hit schools with primarily non-white or low-income students. Math was one area where Minnesota kids seemed to have the hardest time. According to education reformer Joe Nathan, math-passing rates declined by half from third to 11th grades.
But there were some bright spots. The Star Tribune reported that—among schools with a majority of low-income kids—the best math performer was Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Indeed, that’s the same charter school that was attacked by Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. Her charge that the publicly funded institution was “teaching Islam” was shown by the state’s Department of Education to have been unfounded.
At Tarek Academy, 84 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Eighty-six percent reached math proficiency.
Congratulations to Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Read more »
Understanding Islam: A Conversation with Arafat El-Bakri
By Lydia Howell
In the almost seven years since the September 11th attacks, intensifying after the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, non-Muslim Americans have been fed a steady diet of myths, distortions and outright hatred propagated about Islam. The religion has 1.4 billion believers worldwide, and more of Minnesotans’ neighbors are Muslim, hailing from Somalia, different Middle Eastern countries and South Asia. Islam is also winning many American converts. One of the most surprising facts in a wide-ranging interview with Arafat El-Bakri is that the biggest group of the 5 million American converts to Islam are educated women.
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Event:
“Meet Your Muslim Neighbors: A Dialogue”
Thursday June 26, 7 p.m.
Robbinsdale United Church of Christ
4200 Lake Road, Robbinsdale, MN
Free and open to the public
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El-Bakri is participating in a series of events to challenge the misconceptions about Islam and Muslim people, and to foster interfaith dialogue, at the Robbinsdale United Church of Christ. He is the founder of the Islamic Relief Social Services in Minneapolis, an outgrowth of his work on the Bosnia Relief Committee. An imam, he is on the boards of many Islamic organizations, and serves on the board of Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless.
“A lot of words are being used to discredit and smear Islam,” El-Bakri says. “Jihad literally means ‘struggle’. It’s mostly translated as ‘holy war’–a concept that is not in Islam at all. Jihad is a struggle–struggle against your own desires, struggle in education, struggle on the battlefield. For us, war is justified or unjustified. There’s nothing holy about war. Wars are bad. The highest jihad is with yourself.”
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 »
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 (6) 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 »
Students Deserve Equal Religious Rights Under the Law
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Al Amal, Asad Zaman, church and state, education, fairness, faith-based, Fedwa Wazwaz, Katherine Kersten, madrassa, Marcia Lynx Qualey, mosque and state, Shariah, Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy, TIZA, Uncategorized
Comments (4) By Fedwa Wazwaz and Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota
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On April 9, we read Katherine Kersten’s column in the Star Tribune, and the e-mail exchange between Kersten and Asad Zaman, executive director of Tariq ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), and were compelled to respond.
I (Fedwa) have an eight-year-old daughter. I visited TIZA and decided not to enroll my daughter, choosing instead Al Amal School in Fridley. The primary reason is that I was convinced TIZA is not an Islamic School and does not teach Islamic Education to kids. I pay from my own pocket to put my daughter in Al Amal, the only Islamic school in the Twin Cities.
I (Marcia) have a four-year-old son, enrolled in a private Montessori school in St. Paul. While the school is housed adjacent to a Jewish temple—as TIZA is housed adjacent to a mosque—my son has learned nothing about Judaism by mere contact with the building. The school’s vacations are, as you might imagine, focused around Christian holidays.
Both of us work at the University of Minnesota, a public institution that receives taxpayer money. This school also closes on Christian holidays. Tests and school breaks are planned around Christian holidays to allow Christians time to celebrate. The floating holiday this year was on the Christian Good Friday, right before Christian Easter. There are “holiday parties” around Christmas Day—not, for instance, Ramadan.
However, the University of Minnesota presents itself as a secular university. Read more »
Gaza’s humanitarian nightmare: A call for help
We are passing along this humanitarian appeal on behalf of the besieged people of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian-Minnesotans interested in writing about the situation are welcome to contact us at info@engagemn.com.
Palestinians need your help and support
Please help us to help them; they are in real need of our support.
Please donate: http://www.islamic-relief.com/submenu/Appeal/gaza_strip_appeal.html
