Time to Rethink and Rebuild

By the time this issue reaches our readers, many of us will have started preparing for the our most cherished journey — hajj — an undertaking that requires spiritual, physical and spiritual preparation, as well as devotion, gratefulness, and learning how to exercise tremendous patience when confronted with the unexpected.

Once again, we reprint the handy “Hajj at a Glance” chart, which Maryland architect Ansar Hasan Burney developed in 1983 to share his experience. We have been republishing it in our pre-hajj issue since 1995.

This year, ISNA is hosting its 24th annual Education Forum, an event that has established itself as a much-valued convention for Islamic educators, administrators and school boards members nationwide. Magda Elkadi Saleh and Abir Catovic, members of the ISNA Education Forum Planning Committee, offer us a glimpse into this year’s offerings.

Educating and helping our children develop into the leaders of tomorrow is no easy feat, and educators take their responsibility in this regard seriously. As this is a collaborative effort, many of the decisions taken are based on the feedback that ISNA receives from the attendees’ session surveys.

Two years ago, the Islamic Schools League of America conducted research with Islamic school alumni. One key finding stood out: Their knowledge of African and African-American history was sorely lacking. African American alumni “cited common racist actions and micro-aggressions from fellow students, staff and administrators” (IH, September/ October 2022).

In the fall of 2021, executive director Shaza Khan, Ph.D., along with the board, reviewed the research data and decided to address this inequity with a student-centered contest. The resulting “Celebrating African and African American Muslim History Contest” has become a springboard for introducing Muslim 6th-8th grade students to their fellow Muslims’ amazing contributions and achievements.

The intention is to include families, teachers and community members, as well to further amplify awareness and knowledge of African Muslims’ crucial contributions throughout history

In this issue, we delve into a muchneeded area of focus — mental health. Dr. Basheer Ahmed, a former professor of psychiatry at Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, points out that an estimated 5% of the world’s adult population suffers from depression. Yet, despite the growth of this country’s Muslim population, no reliable data indicates how many of them suffer from this mental health issue. Muslim organizations need to take the initiative by launching a project that meets the discipline’s standards.

Rasheed Rabbi, who serves as a khateeb and Friday prayer leader in three Northern Virginia correction centers, invites Muslim Americans to become more involved with a much-overlooked segment of their growing community — those who are blessed with faith while incarcerated. Notably, he points out that Muslims make up about 9% of state prisoners, despite making up only about 1% of this country’s population — not because more Muslims are committing crimes, but because inmates easily find guidance and a strong sense of justice in Islam. He laments that nothing could be sadder than American prisons, where opportunities of da‘wa are so rife, remain a taboo subject.

Isn’t it time to deploy out resources where they benefit us most — da‘wa by whatever name you want to call it. As he correctly notes, we’re ignoring or at best relegating da‘wa to the sidelines, while a growing number of Muslims are engaging in interfaith discussions and ready to take on the burden of learning and discussing intricate theological points. While interfaith engagements are unavoidable, prisons are more fertile fields for Islam’s faster and easier expansion.

May Allah accept our striving and provide ease to everyone facing hardship. And may we, in turn, be merciful to others. Ameen. ih

PUBLISHER

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)

PRESIDENT Safaa Zarzour

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Basharat Saleem

EDITOR

Omer Bin Abdullah

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Iqbal Unus, Chair: M. Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Saba Ali

ISLAMIC HORIZONS is a bimonthly publication of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) P.O. Box 38 Plainfield, IN 46168‑0038

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