Community Matters

The Alhuda Foundation mosque and community center, whose construction began on a 13-acre lot in 2019, had a ceremonial opening May 30.

Located in Fishers, Ind., the June 3rd formal events were attended by neighboring mosques’ representatives, elected officials and interfaith representatives, including Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Indiana State Senator Fady Qaddoura and City of Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness.

Carson said, “The Alhuda Foundation’s new Islamic Center is not only stunning. It also creates a greater sense of place and pride for Central Indiana’s dynamic Muslim community.”

Fadness said, “I can’t tell you how excited we are to have this facility here in our community. And, to be honest with you, until a resident gets to come in here and see this … they truly have built an iconic facility here in the city of Fishers and something the entire community can and should be proud of.”

The Fall River-based Islamic Center of South Coast Massachusetts officially opened its permanent home — a two-story office-style building — in mid-July. The community had purchased the property in 2018, but its opening was delayed for three years because they had to find the right contractors to make the required building improvements.

President Dr. Abdul Majid Dudha, a

Faith Leaders Stand with Indigenous Nations

The Muslim contingent to the Multi-faith Delegation at Treaty People Gathering in Northern Minnesota and Line 3 Protests

FROM JUNE 5-8, OVER 350 FAITH LEADERS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY, ORGANIZED by GreenFaith, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light (MN IPL) and other national faith-based organizations, traveled to northern Minnesota for the Treaty Peoples Gathering. This was in response to the Indigenous leaders’ call to stand in solidarity with them against Line 3, the massive tar sands pipeline from Canada being built on their treaty lands. This pipeline will break the treaties that Washington had signed with them.

Having a faith presence at the event was a powerful, important and multi-faith resistance to fossil fuel projects. Such efforts need to continue. The Muslim contingent included ISNA Green Initiative Nana Firman (GreenFaith) and Imam Saffet A. Catovic (Muslim Alliance in North America), Muhammad Tariq Rahman (ICNA) and Whitney Terrill (MN IPL [not pictured]).

Over 2,000 activists and leaders from across the country, including members of Indigenous nations, organized and participated in prayers, trainings, marches, protests and direct actions to demand that President Biden revoke the permits for Enbridge, the Canadian-based oil company building the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota, and all other fossil fuel projects. Such big projects don’t get stopped without multi-faith solidarity, grassroots support and activism. By exercising their moral power, people can pressure leaders to do what is right.

Commenting at the gathering, Imam Catovic said “As Muslims, we are commanded to stand for justice and with those who are oppressed. As a matter of faith, we must engage in hisba (accountability) by enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. This oil pipeline, which will pollute the climate, destroy habitat and threaten drinking water on Indigenous lands, is wrong. So together, we rise so we can pressure leaders around the globe to end all new fossil fuel projects and deforestation, to respect Indigenous rights, to create green jobs.”

Working together, people of faith and spirit have a powerful moral voice that can influence decision makers to protect the people and their shared sacred Earth. People should join the groundswell of religious action by sharing this message on their social media: #StopLine3. #Faiths4Climate. ih

pulmonologist, said the 20-year-old association had then been seeking a permanent location since day one. Fall River is the state’s tenth-largest city.

In 2010 they had purchased a former Catholic school. They sold it in 2015, finding that they could not afford to make the improvements. Transition: After 16 years of service as Muslim Advocates’ first executive director and president, Farhana Khera stepped down on July 16.

Founding board members Farah Brelvi and Asifa Quraishi-Landes will join the staff as interim

Illinois Adopts Eid Holidays

The Illinois State House and Senate adopted two bills that recognize the two Eids as holidays for Muslim students and exempt them from physical activity classes during Ramadan.

The Northern Illinois American Muslim Alliance played a leading role in achieving this landmark decision, which amends the school code’s Compulsory Attendance of Pupils Article and decrees that the list of recognized religious holidays must include Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

State Rep. Daniel Didech had moved the bill on Dec. 30, 2019 ih

co-executive directors while a national search is conducted for the next executive director. They will both participate in the search but have asked not to be considered for the permanent position.

Brelvi is chair of the ACLU of Northern California and a former vice-chair of Amnesty International USA. Quraishi-Landes is a law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she specializes in comparative Islamic and U.S. constitutional law.

Public high schools across the nation require a foreign language for graduation. However, few, if any, offer Classical (Quranic) Arabic. That’s where Arabic Daily (https://learnarabicdaily. com/high-school-accreditation-classes/) steps in. Its accreditation means that high schools recognize the credit earned. Their students participate in Arabic Daily courses, and the organization grades them, says founder Faraz Malik. This grade and credit are then transferred to the high school, effectively inserting Quranic Arabic into the public sphere.

Arabic Daily, which has been accredited by Cognia, the world-leading accrediting body for high schools, is talking with high schools nationwide and is accepting its first batch of students in fall 2021. Accreditation implies that the organization’s online instructors, tools, services and staff meet or exceed the essential standards of educational quality. ih

ACHIEVERS

Lena Khan’s June nomination and approval as the Federal Trade Commission chief has made news across the seas. Having won the Senate vote 69-28, she will hold the post until Sept. 25, 2024. A prominent critic of Big Tech firms, she had previously worked there as a legal advisor in the Office of the Commissioner and as legal director at the Open Markets Institute.

Khan’s last job was associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, where she taught and wrote on antitrust law, infrastructure industries law and the antimonopoly tradition. Prior to joining Columbia, she was counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. In that position, she led the congressional investigation into digital markets. While still an unknown law student at Yale, she became a public figure in 2017 when her article in the Yale Law Journal, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” became a runaway best-seller in the world of legal treatises. It won several coveted prizes.

The 32-year-old British-born Khan, who moved with her Pakistani family to the U.S. when she was 11 years old, is a graduate of Williams College (B.A. magna cum laude with highest honors, ‘10) and Yale Law School (J.D., ‘17). Yale awarded her the Reinhardt Fellowship for public interest law.

Khan and Shah Rukh Ali, a cardiologist, married in 2018.

Amaney Jamal (Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics; director, the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice) started as dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) on Sept. 1. She succeeded Cecilia Rouse, who is now White House Council of Economic Advisers chair.

A daughter of Palestinian immigrants, Jamal spent her childhood in northern California and Ramallah. She earned her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

Jamal is a longtime Princeton faculty member whose research and teaching focuses on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), political development and democratization, inequality and economic segregation, Muslim immigration in the U.S. and Europe, along with issues related to gender, race, religion and class.

She has held numerous leadership positions on campus, including chair of the Department of Politics’ ad-hoc committee on race and diversity and as a member of the dean’s Faculty Committee on Diversity. Jamal also directs the Workshop on Arab Political Development and the Bobst–American University of Beirut Collaborative Initiative.

Among her many awards and fellowships, Jamal was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020), the Kuwait Prize (economics and social science; 2019) and a Carnegie Scholar (2005).

She was also a faculty adviser in Forbes College and is currently a faculty fellow for the women’s golf team.

Outside of Princeton, she is the principal investigator of the Arab Barometer, a nonpartisan research network that measures public opinion through polling in MENA.

This award-winning author, who was previously an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University, has published numerous journal articles and scholarly papers. Her books include “Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy at All” (2012) and “Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World” (2007).

The Maryland State Board of Education unanimously voted Mohammed Choudhury State Superintendent of Schools. He took charge on July 1.

Choudhury, as associate superintendent of strategy, talent and innovation at San Antonio Independent School District, created a school integration plan and is known for his innovative initiatives when it comes to poverty and race.

“With the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future as a guide for MSDE and every district in the state, the state’s leaders have shown a remarkable commitment to the hard work that’s necessary to bridge gaps and ensure every student has the tools and supports needed to be successful,” Choudhury said in a statement.

Choudhury, who grew up in Los Angeles as a first-generation American with parents who emigrated from Bangladesh in the 1980s, started his career as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. After being awarded for his innovative work to provide additional support to middle school students, he became the director of transformation and innovation for the Dallas Independent School District.

Board members welcomed Choudhury and his wife, Aniss Khani, virtually and extolled his appointment.

Iram Shaikh-Jilani (principal, Brighter Horizons Academy, Garland, Texas) was named one of the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ (NAESP) 2020 Class of National Distinguished Principals.

NAESP honors outstanding elementary and middle-level administrators for setting high standards for instruction, student achievement, character and climate for the students, families and staff in their learning communities. Its mission is to advocate for and support elementary and middle-level principals and other education leaders in their commitment to all children.

Irfan M. Asif, M.D. (University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, ‘07), took charge on June 1 as associate dean for primary care and rural health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) School of Medicine.

Asif, as a primary care physician who specializes in sports and exercise medicine and chaired the UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine, has developed an international reputation for teaching and scholarship.

During his career, he has held several academic leadership positions, among them

Hidayah Martínez-Jaka was installed as president of the 17,000-member Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) during the SAVMA Symposium. The Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine held this event virtually on March 12-15.

Coming from a joint Latin American and South Asian heritage, she is the first woman of color to serve as SAVMA’s president in its 52-year history. The vast majority of American veterinarians are white, and it has been called the “whitest profession in the country.”

After being elected in March 2020, Martínez-Jaka spent the following year as president-elect, “essentially training to become the president” before officially taking office.

SAVMA, a branch of the American Veterinary Medical Association, has 74 delegates representing 37 student chapters. Hidayah Martinez-Jaka performing an

Martínez-Jaka (‘22), who knew that ultrasound exam on a goat (Photo courtesy she had a future in veterinary medi- of Martinez-Jaka) cine at age 14, is currently a student at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, a collaborative program between Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland. She began to pursue a veterinary career, enrolling at Northern Virginia Community College at age 16 and earned an associate’s degree in two years before obtaining a bachelor’s degree (biology, Shenandoah University) at age 20.

Martínez-Jaka inherited her passion for representing and community advocacy from her parents, who frequently partake in civic engagement with elected officials on behalf of their interfaith community. ih

sports medicine fellowship director at the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine Greenville and the University of Tennessee’s sports medicine fellowship director at the School of Medicine Greenville, interim director of Greenville’s family medicine residency program and as interim chair for Greenville’s Department of Family Medicine.

In addition to sitting on the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine board and chairing its Collaborative Research Network, he is an associate editor for the journals Sports Health and the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Hafedh Azaiez, Ed.D., started as the new superintendent of the Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District (ISD) on July 5. He was the superintendent search’s sole finalist out of a pool of 48 candidates from across Texas and 19 other states.

Azaiez had worked as the superintendent of Donna ISD in the Rio Grande Valley since 2018, where he is credited with spurring significant improvements. Born and raised in Tunisia, Azaiez, who is fluent in English, Spanish, Arabic and French, earned a bachelor’s degree (physics and chemistry, La Faculté des Sciences de Tunis), a M.Ed. (University of St. Thomas, Houston) and an Ed. D. (educational leadership, Sam Houston State University).

Beginning his public education career in 2002 as a middle school science teacher with Houston ISD, he later moved on to administrative roles, including assistant principal, principal and lead principal in Houston ISD and assistant superintendent of middle schools in Spring ISD.

Azaiez said. “One of the things I love about Round Rock ISD is the diverse opportunities for students to excel and find a sense of belonging. From stellar academics to nationally recognized fine arts programs, athletics, clubs and organizations. We will continue to focus on the whole child, broaden opportunities to pursue diverse programs of study and will maintain a relentless focus on equity, diversity and inclusion issues, ensuring that all truly means all.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed Hassan Yussuff as an independent senator for Ontario.

Yussuff, one of Canada’s most experienced labor leaders and the first person of color to lead the country’s union movement, had served two terms as president of the Canadian Labor Congress. In addition, he is also past president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, an international organization that represents more than 55 million workers in 21 countries. He has received numerous leadership awards, as well as honorary doctorates from Brock and Ryerson universities.

After emigrating from Guyana, Yussuff worked as a truck mechanic with General Motors for 10 years before getting involved in the labor movement.

He joined the Canadian Auto Workers union as the National Staff Representative in 1988 and later became its first director of human rights. In 1999, he became the Canadian Labor Congress’s first person of color to be elected to an executive position — executive vice-president. He went on to be elected secretary-treasurer for three terms (2002 to 2014) before being elected president in 2014. He was re-elected to this role in 2017.

Malak Shalabi, 23, became [possibly] the first hijab-wearing Muslima to graduate with a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law on May 28.

At the University of Washington Bothell (‘18), she was a recipient of the academic year 2020-21 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, which helped pay for much of her law school. The Islamic Society of Northern Wisconsin (Altoona Masjid) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a luncheon at the Lake Altoona County Park on July 25, alongside the Eid al-Adha celebration.

The mosque was founded in 1991 when community leaders at the time, including Dr. Mahmoud Taman, AbdelRahman Ouda, Dr. Irfane Khatib, Dr. Abdel Ghani Khatib and Mostafa Ahmed, raised funds to purchase the church, which had used the building since 1960. Prior to that, it had been a Lutheran Church since the early 1900s. In 1992, the mosque was topped with a crescent on the spire to identify it as a mosque. The Altoona Masjid, among only 10 or so mosques in the state is perhaps the third oldest. In 2009 the mosque established a Muslim cemetery at Prairie View Cemetery in Lake Hallie.

Throughout its history the mosque has been part of the greater Chippewa Valley community participating in interfaith dialogues and supporting social justice initiatives. Dr. Alboury Sow, president, said, “The Board hopes to continue its engagement in the community such as our upcoming sponsorship at the Community Table. We are also focusing on Islamic education for our children.”

The July 25 event was attended by about 80 people from the Muslim community, many new to the community.

Maryam Suhail, vice president of the mosque board said, “We are delighted that so many people came to the celebration. We hope to have more Muslims active in the mosque because there are approximately 70 Muslim families in the Chippewa Valley and we are reaching out to them.” ih

She has worked as a legal and advocacy intern at the organization American Muslims for Palestine and a law clerk at the United States Attorney’s Office.

Shalabi, who was born and raised in Houston, has also volunteered with the Syrian American Medical Society and as a community resource coordinator with the Syrian Heritage Club.

Ahmed Muhammad became the first Black male student in Oakland Tech High School’s 107-year history to give the valedictorian address.

A straight-A student, star athlete and young entrepreneur, Muhammad was invited to enroll into nearly a dozen of the country’s best schools, among them Stanford, Princeton and Harvard. He chose Stanford, where he is studying engineering.

Muhammad played on the varsity basketball team and was a volunteer tutor with the Oakland Youth Advisory Commission. His nonprofit science program, Kits Cubed — kits for experiments, such as a potato battery, pop rocket, and sundial — provides products that families can purchase for a reasonable price.

Addressing his fellow students, he stated, “While I may be the first young Black man to be our school’s valedictorian, I won’t be the last … I’m not the only ‘first’ in this crowd. Many of us here are the first in our family to live in America, the first to graduate high school and will be the first to attend college.”

Malika Bilal (left) hosts The Take, and Zahra Rasool (right) heads AJ Contrast (Photos © Al Jazeera)

Al Jazeera Media Network’s Digital Division won two Gracie Awards for excellence in work produced by, for and about women. This is the first time that Al Jazeera Digital content has picked up wins in the prestigious competition.

Hosted by The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, the organizers of the 46th edition of the awards cited a year marked by exemplary work by women who “spearheaded media progress and those who are setting the path for the future.”

Malika Bilal won the award for Best

CORRIGENDUM In the Achievers section of July/August 2021, we erred in noting the details of qualification of Salma Hussain Bachelani. The correct news item is:

Salma Hussain Bachelani, OTD, OTR/L joined faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in the departments of occupational therapy and pediatrics. She teaches pediatric case-based learning, professional identity and practice, and other courses to students in the masters and doctorate programs. Bachelani, who was previously affiliated with St. Louis Community College and St. Louis Public Schools, sits on the advisory board of Project Downtown St. Louis.

A Kansas City native, Bachelani (OTD, WashU ‘16; BS, Missouri State University ‘13) is interested in examining best practices in therapy service provision in school settings and in developing community-based programs such as youth development workshops and parent education sessions. ih Podcast Host award. Based in Washington, D.C., The Take is an award-winning, interview-driven news podcast that builds on Al Jazeera English journalists and correspondents’ global reportage.

Bilal joined The Take in 2020, after eight years as co-host of Al Jazeera’s The Stream, the 2013 Gracie Award-winning TV news talk show centered on online community participation.

Zahra Rasool (head, AJ Contrast), won the Best Online Producer for Still Here, the multiple award-winning immersive experience that uses virtual and augmented reality to explore the impact of imprisonment and gentrification on Black women in the U.S.

Still Here, which premiered as an installation at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the steep challenges facing jailed women as they struggle to rebuild their lives post-incarceration.

The Gracie Awards Gala, to be held virtually on Sept. 27 in Los Angeles, honors women in TV, radio and digital media.

Freshman Ahmad Masood (‘24), a 6’2” 241 lb. two-way linesman, will start for Syracuse University football.

Masood, a native of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., joined the team in February as a midyear enrollee, preferred walk-on. He had been waiting to get to campus, as he was originally a member of the 2020 class. But then Covid-19 happened.

The David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics enrollee, who played at Cranbrook-Kingswood High in Bloomfield Hills, was originally part of the 2020 recruiting cycle.

Plainfield (Ind.) High School had a double starter of Muslims at its May 28 graduation ceremony: Rashad Basharat Saleem (valedictorian) and Salik Tipu Ahmad (salutatorian). They are sons of immigrants from Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Rashad’s father is Basharat Saleem (executive director, ISNA); Salik’s father is Tipu Ahmad, a former ISNA conventions director.

Rashad, who was admitted to the National Honor Society and won several scholarships, has joined the Hutton Honors College, Indiana University’s honors program, as a pre-med student.

Salik received a scholarship to the Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology, a private college specializing in engineering, mathematics and science located in Terre Haute, Ind. ih

IMAM NEEDED

MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF CLEVELAND EAST (MACE) 26901 Chardon Road, Richmond Heights, OH 44143

Applications are invited from U.S. citizens/Permanent Residents for the position of a part-time/full time Imam at the MACE Islamic Center.

Successful candidate, in consultation with the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, is expected to develop and sustain programs for community and youth involvement and development, Dawah, Counseling in the light of Quran and Sunna, leading prayers, Friday Khattab, Khatiras, Friday Family Programs, Ramadan and Eid Programs, Religious Counseling and other religious duties as needed.

Salary is negotiable and relocation assistance will be available.

Qualifications:

Degree in Islamic Studies (Preferred) and Hafiz Quran; Excellent communication skills, Mastery of English Language, Strong knowledge of written and spoken Arabic, Experience of dealing with religious affairs, Ability to motivate young Muslims, etc.

Applications will be accepted till the position is filled. If interested, please send your application and a resume with names and contact details of references to: tariqmhaqqi@gmail.com