People In Islam

♥بِسْمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله An exploration of how brothers and sisters in Islam are changing minds and saving lives. This blog is meant to be an insight to not only those who adhere to the religion of Islam, but to people (of other faiths) who have questions about what Islam as a religion is and what Muslims (who adhere to this religion) are like. person(s) are learning about Muslims.

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Asad Ali Jafri is a cultural producer, global arts leader and multidisciplinary artist with a creative vision for sustainable social change. As an innovative thinker, Asad utilizes the universal language of art to connect communities, cultures and people to transform our interactions, perceptions, and consciousness. Since 2001, Asad has worked passionately with artists, creatives, and thought leaders across nations, disciplines, and genres to curate meaningful productions, design sustainable initiatives, and build strong communities.

As a cultural producer, Asad is the creative mind behind many festivals, concerts, events and productions. In the role of Director of Arts and Culture for IMAN (Inner-city Muslim Action Network), until 2012, Asad produced Takin’ It to the Streets: Urban International Festival and the Community Café series featuring hundreds of artists and attracting thousands of people.  Asad has also produced events across the globe, including, most recently, the Marketplace of Creative Arts in Kuala Lumpur and London.

As a global arts leader, Asad works closely with emerging and established artists on new opportunities for original work, developmental workshops, artist retreats and residencies, cultural exchanges, network building, and resource sharing.  Asad has served as a touring Cultural Ambassador for the US Sate Department as well as an advisor for the New England Foundation for the Arts’ Center Stage and Art Midwest’s CaravanSerai programs to bring international performing artists on US residency tours. One of Asad’s newer projects, launching in London, is MOCAfellows - a three-day intensive on professional and business development for artists.

As a multi-disciplinary artist, Asad plays and blends soulful, spiritual, and, of course, funky music from around the globe as DJ Man-O-Wax.  As a founding member and director of FEW Collective, Asad directs and tours with a rotating group of performing artists and musicians using art to engage, educate, and inspire.  One of Asad’s signature productions as an artist is “Turntable Dhikr” - a spiritual meditation on the Divine through turntablism. Asad has performed as an artist across five continents and ten countries and is a proud member of the Universal Zulu Nation.

But what makes Asad’s work unique and important is how he brings it all together around Community Building.  He leads many youth workshops and leadership programs, including, for example, the recent Young Fellows program on behalf of the World Islamic Economic Forum, which brought 25 young people to Durban, South Africa for a week of holistic leadership development.  Asad also helped establish “thinkTALK,” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a way to build community dialogue around topical issues.

In short, Asad melds his love of people, communities, and travel with his experience in art, music, and cultural production while aiming to create positive and intergenerational transformation within communities.

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Faila Pašić Bišić, was born in Jesenice, Slovenia, into a Muslim family that had emigrated from Bosnia. Despite being treated as a foreigner, she managed to gain a good education. Faila Pašić Bišić founded an NGO, the Up [Hope] Charity, with the intention of reaching many different groups of people, both adults and children, from wide ranging backgrounds.

… For the last ten years, she has been travelling around the world, promoting tolerance and compassion, protection of the environment, coexistence of all religions, nations cultures and social others. She is also initiator of numerouos humanitarian aid projects, as well as activities promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding. She is also doing voluntary service in Bosnian, Kosovan, African and Palestinian refugee camps. She has earned recognition from various social, healthcare, political personages. She has been awarded the best Volonteer 2006, Humanist of the year 2007, Face of the European year of equal opportunities for all 2007, and nominated for Slovenian women of the year 2008 and Young European 2008.

She also works against racism and islamophobia in Europe; in this video she briefly talks about her experiences as a woman wearing hijab in Slovenia and how she is treated by others because of it. Among one of the very important things she also says in the video is:

"If we label a person as an immigrant, a foreigner, or a second class citizen, we categorise them in a group of people who do not belong to society; by doing so we neglect all other aspects of their identity."

If you don’t know about her, it’s about time you do. She is amazing. God bless.

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First Female to Recite the Quran at the Annual ISNA Convention

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Across the globe, a lot of Muslims will affirm that the appearance of a Muslim woman in a generally male centered discussion is not only surprising, but somewhat controversial.

For those that are not aware about the ongoing discussion surrounding the appearance of a Muslim woman, especially like Tahera Ahmad (in the above video who recites Quran during the ISNA Convention just last week), the idea that a Muslim woman appears to speak, recite Quran, or join in the discussion pertaining to Islam is a delicate subject. 

During the ISNA Convention (2013), Tahera Ahmad, chaplain at Northwestern Univeristy, publicly recited the Qur’an. In this video, you’ll find that Sister Tahera is not just a veiled female, but an active participant in society. 

Unfortunately, a lot of controversy surrounding her choice to “reveal her awrah,” or display what Muslims understand as the “awrah,” an aspect of the human being that should neither be vocalized nor displayed, has been present. 

As an Islamic feminist, I applaud Tahera for choosing to recite the Qur’an in a male dominated environment. It does not only harbor strength and courage, but inspiration for the many Muslim women who have similar aspirations as sister Ahmad.

And as Omid Safi explains in his article: Words of God in women’s voices: Women reciting the Qur’an in public, “The truth of the matter is that half of the recitation talent, like half of any other talent, in the Muslim community is found among its female citizens. To deprive a community of the opportunity to benefit from the leadership, recitation, interpretation of half of its members will allow it to be only half as good as it can be.”

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Merhezia Labidi-Maiza: Why she kicks ass

She is the official translator (Arabic-French) of the International Union of Islamic Scholars and a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders. She is also a coordinator of Women of Faith Global Network (WFGN), co-president of Religions for Peace (RfP), a co-author of school manuals on religious education in multicultural societies, and a lecturer on Islamic topics.  

She graduated from Tunis High College for Teachers with a degree in English Language and Literature in 1986. In 1991, she received a post-graduate diploma of DEA in English literature from La Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.

In 1996, Ms. Labidi-Maiza received a post-graduate diploma of specialized studies of translation at La Sorbonne. She teaches translation of religious texts at the European Institute for Humanities, France’s first academy of Islamic theology. 

In 2011 she was elected as representative of Tunisians living in France in the National Founding Assembly of Tunisia, as a member of the Ennahdha Party. She was elected vice chair of the assembly.

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Yassmin Abdel-Magied: Why she kicks ass

She is an Australian mechanical engineer and founder of the non government organisation based in Australia named Youth Without Borders.

Youth without Borders is an advocacy group designed to empower youth in their communities. It provides a structured journey into volunteering and global citizenship for young Australians aged 13 to 20. It takes the idea of a gap year and turned it on its head to create an extended volunteering placement in Australia or Asia-Pacific. "Young People Without Borders will transform a generation, embedding the notion of contribution and giving back to society into the DNA of all young Australians."

Her achievements bear this out: she was presented with the ‘Young Queenslander of the Year’ award in 2010 for her contribution to the community, In 2007 she was named Young Australian Muslim of the Year,  In 2012 she was named Young Leader in the Australian Financial Review  and she also won the inaugural 100 Women of Influence Awards. 

She also coaches a football team for Muslim girls called ‘Shinpads and Hijabs’.

She also aims to use her degree to go into the field of motorsport, and perhaps become the first female Muslim Formula 1 driver. In the more distant future, her friends see a political career beckoning, and something she sees as a very real possibility.

She is currently blogging regularly for two websites, Richard’s F1 as the V8 Supercars correspondent and at Future Challenges, writing as a local correspondent, and contributes to the Brisbane Times and the Griffith Review. She also runs her own blog at redefiningthenarrative.

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pictured:Dr. Mohamed picks up a BET ‘Black Girls Rock’ Award for her mother.

She’s a doctor, a newlywed, a fighter of terrorists in Somalia and a humanitarian

Dr. Deqo Mohamed and her sister, both doctors, work in Somalia with their trailblazing mother, also a doctor, who runs a hospital and camp that houses some 90,000 displaced people, mostly women and children

read more

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[Flickr] Here, Muslim women are hosting a workshop (majlis, or halaqa) discussing “Women & Social Responsibilities” in which topics such as social responsibility, freedom for women, and individualistic, personal roles have been pin-pointed.

In this article, Dr. Zehra ( executive committee member of the AIMPLB) said that Muslims lag behind in education which is largely responsible for most of the problems faced by the community. 

We need more of this, like a lot more. And what I love about this is that Muslim women are the hostesses of this discussion, not men. Love!

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People in Islam -- Samina Ali, an advocate for women's rights. 

Samina Ali, an Indian born Muslim who lives in San Francisco, is one of the most bravest women we have a part of our religious community today. Founder of an online exhibition titled: International Museum of Women "Muslima," Samina is also a writer and a blogger, in which you can find her twitter here.

After reading an interview with Samina on the Economist newsletter, I have found Samina to be a great, reliable heroine of our century. She promotes stability, empowerment, and structure within the Muslim community and uses the internet as a tool to achieve that.

After scrolling through this exhibition that's promoted online, which you can find here, I have found Samina's project to be an extraordinary achievement for the Muslim Ummah.

I hope that some day, she gets the exposure she deserves and continues to advocate for the right to be heard. 

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People in Islam: Ani Zonneveld

A Malaysian-born singer, Sister Ani Zonneveld is a Grammy Award winning musician and LGBT-rights, interfaith activist within the Muslim community, being the president and co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values and editor of the book Progressive Muslim Stories.

Before her time as a notable activist, Ani was a well established musician who wrote songs in the style of hymns for Muslims, some of her songs are Prayer of Light and In My Soul.

If you would like to know more about Ani Zonneveld, you can find her website here.

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People in Islam - Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels : Scholar, Activist, teacher

Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels is a South African Islamic Scholar known for his passion for the Palestinian cause. This passion for Palestine was born out of his own experience with the South African Apartheid regime, which had forcibly removed him and his family from their lush home in Claremont, Cape Town, to a suburb on the overcrowded Cape Flats.

It was here on the Cape flats, that Gabriels met his Ustaath, Imam Ismail Johnstone. The alim served as a great inspiration to the young Gabriels, and urged him to study Arabic and the deen of Islam. He subsequently spent nine years studying Islam in the city of our beloved Prophet (pbuh), Medina. He graduated from the faculty of Shar’iah in 1987. In addition, he holds a BA degree in Theology.

Gabriels went on to become the President of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) of South Africa and President of the United Ulema council of South Africa (uucsa). As president of the respective bodies, Gabriels led extensive outreach programs to various communities, and provided much needed guidance to the Muslim community.

One of his main concerns for the Muslim community is the manner in which parents raise their children. “I honestly feel we are not doing enough to contribute to our children’s spiritual development. In fact many parents think that seeing to their children’s worldly needs is where their responsibilities end,” stated the Alim.

This concern spurred him to get involved in various Islamic education institutions, to assist, teach and guide parents and children. Gabriels is currently the president of the Darul Arqam Islamic High School in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town.

His work for Palestine, sees the Alim appearing on various radio stations across the country, calling on the South African community to support the BDS Campaign. He has led various Humanitarian Aid conveys to Palestine, including Miles4Smiles and Africa 2 Gaza Aid Convoy.

He is currently the Director of the Al Aqsa Foundation South Africa, and has been Imam at the Portlands mosque in Mitchell’s plan for 19 years.

Gabriels loves teaching and working with disadvantaged communities. He is still actively involved in the MJC, and travels to Palestine regularly.

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People in Islam - Moulana Igsaan Hendricks : Scholar, activist

Moulana Igsaan Hendricks is the current president of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa. An Ulama body which provides religious authority within the country. Hendricks assumed the presidency from esteemed Islamic scholar and Palestinian activist, Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels.

Under Hendricks authority the MJC has seeked to promote the value system of Islam and provide guidance to the Muslim community, based on the Shari’ah of Islam, the Sunnah, Ijmaa and Qiyaas, with due reference to the Four schools of Jurisprudence which are recognized by the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jama’ah.

He has personally undertaken the task of enhancing stability, peace and harmony throughout the Western Cape community, stretching across racial and religious lines. Under his leadership the Muslim community in Cape Town faced one of its biggest challenges, the “Orion Scandal”. In short, non-halal food was labelled as halal, and the MJC, which is a halal authorizing body, faced extensive criticism, both from within the community and from mainstream media.

Through confident reassurance and a venerated leadership, Hendricks weathered the storm and steered the MJC and the community through the crisis.

Hendricks appears regularly on a local community radio station, Voice of the Cape, where he speaks assertively about compassion, tolerance and spirituality within the Muslim community He is also the National Director of the Al-Quds Foundation South Africa and head of the Africa 1 Gaza Aid Convoy.

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People in Islam -- Leila Ahmed: writer, activist, spokesperson 

Leila Ahmed, one of the most prominent Muslim female scholars in the contemporary world, is a powerful figure to hundreds of thousands of Muslims and non Muslims alike. 

Born to a Turkish woman and Egyptian father, Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian American writer on Islam and Islamic feminism. After reading her great work, Women and Gender in Islam, I've come to particularly admire all that Leila Ahmed presents in terms of intellectual discourse and studies. 

According to several sources, Leila Ahmed earned her doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge; when she moved to the U.S, she was appointed professorship in Women's Studies at University of Massachusetts Amherst. By 1999, Sr. Leila taught Women's Studies and Religion at Harvard Divinity School, earning many certificates of recognition for her hard work in teaching and writing, which you can read more about here. 

To read her article on Foreign Policy, titled "Veil of Ignorance," click here. For a more detailed description, click here. To watch a video of Leila Ahmed, please click here.

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Arooj Aftab innovates off classical Pakistani, Sufi & pre-partition South Asian music, creating original compositions honoring ancestral roots,for a sound that is fresh, graceful, and musically complex. Paying homage to classical sufi legends such as Abida Parveen and Reshma; neo-soul and jazz icons such as Sade and Ella Fitzgerald; and contemporary world musicians such as Marisa Monte and Fat Freddy’s Drop, Arooj presents an original, interactive sound embraced by young and old, South Asian and beyond.

Originally from Lahore, Pakistan, Arooj moved to the U.S. in 2005 to study Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. Having completed her education and now based in New York, Arooj is working as a fulltime performing artist, music composer and sound editor.

Through exposure to diverse musical genres and incredibly talented artists in Boston and in New York City, Arooj is inspired to continuously develop her art and deepen her understanding of the possibilities of music. Layering subtle, intricate, dynamic vocals over acoustic instrumentation, Arooj skillfully re-imagines indigenous soul with signature ‘cool.’

Arooj will soon be releasing her debut album as part of Rebuild Pakistan, an initiative she created to promote a vision of peace and healing for Pakistan, inspiring a global community to rebuild perspective on Pakistan, and urging the people of Pakistan to actively engage in rebuilding their homeland. The album and the initiative harness collective creativity to express solidarity with politically stigmatized, economically marginalized, culturally and spiritually powerful people across the earth.

Listen to her music

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People in Islam: Imam Suhaib Webb - Lecturer, Activist, Imam & Scholar

Suhaib Webb is one of the most influential of contemporary scholars in the U.S. and has impacted the lives of thousands in his journey through Islam. Imam Suhaib Webb went from a pre-Islam life of gangs, shootings and a career of DJ-ing to his spiritual awakening and conversion to Islam in 1992, after which he pursued a bachelor's in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. Suhaib Webb eventually got his education in Fiqh, Shariah, Islamic knowledge and the Arabic language from the world renowned Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. 

Prior to his current posting as the Imam of the extremely influential Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), Suhaib Webb had been active in numerous causes dealing with American youth and reverts, seeing as how he could genuinely relate to some of the most pressing troubles they might face in today's society. Personally, Suhaib Webb has truly inspired me and helped me reach out to the spiritual side of my deen. Alongside Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, Usama Canon, and the like, Suhaib Webb sought to popularize the spread of the softer side of Islam and reach out to the younger generation of the Bay Area, California. Their talks and lectures sparked somewhat of a movement in the youth of the West Coast that still resonates throughout the country. The message of acceptance, peace, serenity, knowledge and wisdom became a central essence of most of the lectures we hear from these folks today. His move to the ISBCC as an Imam was met with bittersweet partings and most of us in the Bay Area still feel the loss of a great Scholar.  However, before he left, he started a website that he hoped could serve as a virtual mosque experience where people could read, ask, learn, and relate. Visit the website, look around, and learn more about Imam Suhaib Webb and his influence across the country.

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People in Islam: Salma Hosseini -- first female trainer and medalist in Afghanistan

A profound and brave woman, Salma Hosseini, was recorded as the first female trainer and medalist in Afghanistan. Growing up in Afghanistan, but fleeing to Iran after the war that erupted in Afghanistan, Salma -- wherever she has been -- has been completely dedicated to her work and aspirations regarding self defense, serving her people, and standing up for her country.

Salma,a member of the National Youth Team in Kabul, volunteer at the Haidari Club, and the coach for the National Women's Team in Kabul is truly an inspiring individual. To listen to more of her story, click here. To read an article regarding her work, read here.  

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People in Islam: Susan Carland -- sociologist, teacher, lecturer

Named in 2009 as one of several Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow by the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Susan Carland is a Muslim sociologist. She is a lecturer in politics, sociology and gender studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. 

Viewed by many as a great example of Muslim woman, Susan completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science and in 2007, she was completing her PhD, researching leadership challenges facing Western Muslim women. In 2004, she received the Australian Woman of the Year award. Unsurprisingly, she is the co-creator of the Victorian Convert Support Service, and has managed the Islamic Council of Victoria’s youth wing, Grassroots. 

To read little more about Susan, read this interview here. To watch someof her panel appearances here. Also, you can read some of her transcripts here (just scroll to the bottom).

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People in Islam: Nihad Awad

In the United States, the Muslim population is a growing and diversified force in the American political sphere. One of the leading groups advocating for Muslim rights, human rights, and a more human foreign policy, is CAIR, and at the head of CAIR is brother Nihad Awad. Born in a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan, Nihad Awad studied in Jordan and Italy before coming to the United States to pursue higher education. Since his time in the United States and since taking his role in founding CAIR, Nihad, on behalf of the American Muslim community has given aid to the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1997, speaks routinely about the situation in Syria, and Islamophobia in the United States. His message is one of seeking understanding between non-Muslims and Muslims in the United States, being a signatory of A Common Word Between Us and You, a interfaith document intended to create interfaith dialogue, and standing with President Bush after the 9/11 attacks in a show of condemnation against the terror attacks. Nihad Awad has consistently for nearly two decades provided a powerful voice for Muslims in the political arena, and has constantly spoken to the trials and tribulations American Muslims face in the modern age, and in the western world.