Convention Speakers Bios

8/9/2019 Convention Speakers Bios

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46th Annual

ISNA

Convention

July 3-6

2009

“Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness” Speakers

Booklet


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Speakers Accumulated Bios46th Annual ISNA Convention

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Table of Contents

Muhammad Nur Abdullah ...................... 5 Zerqa Abid .............................................. 5

Salma Elkadi Abugideiri ......................... 5

Swami Agnivesh ..................................... 6 Mansur Ahmad........................................ 7 Munjed Ahmad ....................................... 7 Sanjana Ahmad ....................................... 7 Akbar Ahmed .......................................... 7 Nazir Ahmed ........................................... 8 Safir Ahmed ............................................ 9 Saquiba Ahmed ....................................... 9 Sufiya Ahmed ....................................... 10 Assad R. Akhter .................................... 10

Mehmet Aktas ....................................... 11

Aisha Al-Adawiya ................................ 11 Mohammad S. Alam ............................. 11 Abdalla Idris Ali ................................... 12 Saqib Ali ............................................... 12 Shariq Ali .............................................. 12 Wajahat Ali ........................................... 13 Yasir Al Mahdawy ................................ 13 Salam Al-Marayati ................................ 13 Iyad Alnachef ........................................ 14 Zainab Alwani ....................................... 14

Shahed Amanullah ................................ 14

Patricia Anton ....................................... 15 Sadida Athaullah ................................... 16 Moutasem Atiya .................................... 16 Azhar Azeez .......................................... 16 Salman Azman ...................................... 17 Ihsan Bagby .......................................... 17 Mirza Yawar Baig ................................. 17 Owais Balti............................................ 18 Hazami Barmada ................................... 19 Jamal M. al-Barzinji.............................. 20

David Beckmann ................................... 20

Mirza AbuJafar Beg .............................. 21 Mohamed Rida Beshir .......................... 21 Isra Bhatty ............................................. 21 Yaser Birjas ........................................... 22 Kemal Bozkurt ...................................... 23 Zahid Hussain Bukhari ......................... 23 Shahid Buttar ........................................ 24

Sarah Cady ............................................ 24 Mas’ood Cajee ...................................... 24

André Carson ........................................ 25

Sami Catovic ......................................... 25 Robert Chase ......................................... 25 Owaiz M. Dadabhoy ............................. 26 Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo ......................... 26 Mika’il DeVeaux .................................. 27 Susan Douglass ..................................... 27 Jean F. Duff ........................................... 28 A. J. Durrani .......................................... 28 Bob Edgar ............................................. 28 Maha ElGenaidi .................................... 29

Keith Ellison ......................................... 29

Gazi Erdem ........................................... 30 John Esposito ........................................ 30 Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur ....................... 31 Iman Faris ............................................. 31 Manzoor Ghori ...................................... 31 Ghulam Nabi Fai ................................... 32 Maryam Kabeer Faye ............................ 33 Fatemeh Fakhraie .................................. 33 Jess Ghannam........................................ 33 Safiya Ghori .......................................... 34

Linda Gustitus ....................................... 34 Steve Gutow .......................................... 34

Sara Hakeem ......................................... 35 Rabia Terri Harris ................................. 35 Mohamed Hagmagid Ali....................... 35 Asma Hanif ........................................... 36 Mark Hanson ......................................... 36 Aziza Hasan .......................................... 36 Maher Hathout ...................................... 37 Abida K. Haque .................................... 37 Najiyah Diana Helwani ......................... 38

Leslie Hewitt ......................................... 38 Altaf Husain .......................................... 38

Lubna Ismail ......................................... 39 Ameena Jandali ..................................... 39 Rizwan Jaka .......................................... 39 Shaik Jeelani ......................................... 40 Jamillah Karim ...................................... 40 Mohammad Karim ................................ 41


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Merve Kavakci ...................................... 41 Yusuf Kavakci ...................................... 42 Asma Khalid ......................................... 42 Hena Khan ............................................ 43 M.J. Khan .............................................. 43

Muqtedar Khan ..................................... 43

Zeba Khan ............................................. 44 Suhail Khan ........................................... 44 Farhana Khera ....................................... 45 Riaz Khokher ........................................ 46 Richard L. Killmer ................................ 46 John Kiser ............................................. 47 Nsenga Knight ...................................... 47 Kasim Kopuz ........................................ 47 Radwan Kouatli .................................... 48 Murat Kose............................................ 48

Alexander Kronemer ............................. 49

Ola Lanke .............................................. 49 Bruce Lustig .......................................... 50 Edina Lekovic ....................................... 50 Mahmood A. Madani ............................ 51 Mokhtar Maghraoui .............................. 51 Johari Abdul Malik ............................... 51 Sakil Malik ............................................ 51 Mahmood Mamdani .............................. 52 Salam S. Al-Marayati............................ 52 Priscilla Martinez .................................. 53

Ingrid Mattson. ...................................... 53 Ali Al’amin Mazrui............................... 54

Bonita McGee ....................................... 54 Jack Moline ........................................... 55 Hadia Mubarak...................................... 55 Nasreen Mustafa ................................... 55 Mikal N. Nash ....................................... 56 Ghulam N. Mir ...................................... 56 Uzma Mirza .......................................... 57 Asma Mirza ........................................... 57 Yaqub Mirza ......................................... 58

Dalia Mogahed ...................................... 58 Haroon Moghul ..................................... 59

Sultan Muhammad ................................ 59 Abdul Malik Mujahid ........................... 59 Nasreen C. Mustafa ............................... 60 Rayyan Najeeb ...................................... 60 Husain Nagamia .................................... 60 Pervez Nasim ........................................ 61

Ayman Nassar ....................................... 61 Sayed A. Nassar .................................... 62 Daoud Nassimi ...................................... 62 Zarqa Nawaz ......................................... 62 Muhammad Ninowy ............................. 63

Ashraf Nubani ....................................... 63

Sulayman S. Nyang ............................... 63 Serban Popescu ..................................... 64 Yasir Qadhi ........................................... 64 Amjad Quadri........................................ 65 Saifur Rahman ...................................... 66 Zeyba Rahman ...................................... 66 Sabeeha Rehman ................................... 66 Fatima Rahmatullah .............................. 67 Hussein Rashid...................................... 67 Hafiz Rehman ....................................... 68

Sabeeha Rehman ................................... 68

Nadia Roumani ..................................... 69 Walter Ruby .......................................... 69 Agha Saeed ........................................... 70 Louay Safi ............................................. 70 Patricia Z. Salahuddin ........................... 70 Rashid Abdul-Salaam ........................... 71 Monem Salam ....................................... 71 Jihad F. Saleh ........................................ 71 Achmat Salie ......................................... 72 Ako Abdul Samad ................................. 72

Corey Saylor ......................................... 73 Marc Schneier ....................................... 73

Beverly Schwartz .................................. 73 George Selim ........................................ 74 Zakia Iman Shahbaz .............................. 74 Gerry Serotta ......................................... 75 Ahmed Shaikh ....................................... 75 Zaid Shakir ............................................ 76 Sidney Rahim Sharif ............................. 76 Zaki Sherif ............................................ 76 Osman A. Shinaishin ............................ 77

Muzammil Siddiqi ................................ 78 Shazia Siddiqi ....................................... 78

Abdulkader Sinno ................................. 78 Tabassum Siraj ...................................... 79 Cathy Sultan .......................................... 79 Samina F. Sundas .................................. 79 Sayyid M. Syeed ................................... 80 Mohammed T. Taher ............................ 80


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Mobin Tawakkul ................................... 81 Asma Mobin-Uddin .............................. 81 Omar Uddin .......................................... 81 Warith Deen Umar ................................ 82 Iqbal Unus ............................................. 82

Burton L. Visotzky................................ 82

Miroslav Volf ........................................ 83 Siraj Wahhaj.......................................... 83 Khurrum Wahid .................................... 84 Rick Warren .......................................... 84 Mohammed Yousuf .............................. 84 HamzaYusuf ......................................... 84 Safaa Zarzour ........................................ 85


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Muhammad Nur Abdullah

Sheikh Mohammad Nur Abdullah, Imamand director for the Islamic Foundation ofGreater St. Louis, came to the United Statesfrom Sudan in 1978. He received his B.A. inSharia at the Islamic University, Medina anda M.A. in Sharia at the Ummal QuraUniversity, Makkah. He completed furtherstudies at the University of Chicago where

he received an M.A. in Islamic Studies andis now a Ph.D. candidate.

Abdullah is past chairman of the ISNA FiqhCouncil and has been a member of the FiqhCouncil of North America since 1982. He isthe principal for the Al Salaam Day Schooland member of the Shari'a ScholarsAssociation of North America.

Abdullah has authored several articles on

family in Islam, marriage and divorce, andthe concept of Shura in Islam. He also worksas a marriage counselor.

Zerqa Abid

Zerqa Abid is a social/political activist, journalist, writer, blogger, editor, TV producer/director, speaker, marketingcommunication specialist, campaign maker,event manager/organizer and CEO of her business, ZAPS Technocrats Inc., based inthe United States. She has successfully

organized international trade and consumershows. Her consumer show, “Expo Juniors,”was recognized as the first mega event andlegendary expo for children in Pakistan. Itdrew 800,000 people in three days to the

Expo Center, Karachi. Prior to running herown business, Abid has worked at theAmerican news giant, NBC News as NewsEditor. She has also worked at ARY Digital Network of Pakistan as the General Managerof The City Channel.

Zerqa Abid is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of North Carolina State University, where hermajor was Mass Communication, TV production, and her minor was

Journalism. She received “Norma & WallyAusley Merit Scholarship for being “TheOutstanding Student of MassCommunications” in her junior year at thecollege. Abid was also chosen as a youngwoman leader to represent College ofHumanities of NCSU in the U.S. Senate andthe U.S. Congress in a conference organized by National Organization of Woman, NOW.She is also a member of Golden KeyInternational Society.

Abid is proud to accomplish all of the abovewhile strictly observing Islamic dress codeincluding head scarf and face veil.

Salma Elkadi Abugideiri

Salma Elkadi Abugideiri is a licensed professional counselor in private practice inReston, VA. She received her master’sdegree in counseling from George MasonUniversity, and completed a post-master’scertification program in marriage and family


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therapy at Virginia Tech. She providesindividual and family therapy for a widerange of problems, including mooddisorders, anxiety disorders, trauma, abuse,and cultural adjustment issues. She has

worked extensively with Middle Eastern andMuslim families.

As co-Director of the Peaceful FamiliesProject, an organization dedicated toeducating Muslim community leaders andmembers about domestic violence, she provides educational workshops anddevelops resources related to domesticviolence among Muslims. She has written achapter in Walking Together: Working with

Women from Diverse Religious Traditions entitled “Working with Muslim women:Understanding Religious and CulturalIssues,” as well as “Domestic Violenceamong Muslims Seeking Mental HealthCounseling,” which is in the edited volumeChange from Within: Diverse Perspectives

on Domestic Violence in Muslim

Communities. She has also co-authored a brief guide for helping professionals entitledWhat Islam Says About Domestic Violence.

In addition, she is associate producer of thevideo Garments for One Another: Ending Domestic Violence in Muslim Families.

Since 2007, she has been part of Faith TrustInstitute’s Leadership team, providingtraining to clergy and faith communities onissues related to domestic violence. She isalso a member of the Interfaith Coalitionagainst Domestic Violence, a national effortwith a focus on guiding policy and

legislation that supports domestic violencesurvivors.

Swami Agnivesh

Swami Agnivesh, is a prominent AryaSamaj scholar, social activist and achampion for peace, harmony and interfaithdialogue. He is the president of the WorldCouncil of Arya Samaj, an associate of theoriginal "Arya Samaj", a Hindu reformmovement founded by Swami DayanandSaraswati in 1875. He is the Chairperson of'United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund onContemporary forms of Slavery' and also theChairperson of Bonded Labour LiberationFront.

In 1977, he was elected Member of theLegislative Assembly of the state ofHaryana, and became the State's Minister forEducation, 1979-1982. In 1981, while still a

minister, he founded the Bonded LabourLiberation Front, which continues to fightagainst bonded labour as a form of slaveryin India, especially in the quarries in andaround Delhi. He has been testifying beforethe Working Group on Contemporary Formsof Slavery at the U.N. Human RightsCommission in Geneva.

Among Swami Agnivesh's immensecontributions is his championing of dialogue

and peace activities, the anti-castemovement, liberation of bonded labouractivities, a movement against alcoholism,and equal rights of women, such as theirright to education and reading Indianscriptures.


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Agnivesh is accepted as peace and harmony pioneer by all religious communities such asHindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist,Bahai, Jewish etc. because of his efforts to build an atmosphere of peace and harmony

in India.

Mansur Ahmad

Mansur Ahmad, BDS, PhD, is an AssociateProfessor and Director of Radiology at theUniversity of Minnesota School ofDentistry. He was raised in India andworked as a faculty member in a MedicalCollege before coming to the United Statesfor his graduate education. He is an authorof 10 textbooks for weekend Islamicschools. Dr. Ahmad's presentation will focuson the negative external and internalinfluences on the Muslim youths of India,

and suggestions to counter the bleeding ofthe society.

Munjed Ahmad

Munjed Ahmadreceived his law degreeat the CatholicUniversity of AmericaColumbus School ofLaw in Washington

D.C. Mr. Ahmad is also the national VicePresident of American Muslims forPalestine and one of the organizations co-founders. He is also in the private pratice oflaw.

Sanjana Ahmad

Sanjana works onenvironmental issues in both her personaland professional life. She obtained herMasters in Public Policy with anenvironmental policy concentration at theUniversity of Maryland and currently worksin the DC-area on transportation anddomestic policy. Over the past year and ahalf, Sanjana has been working with a groupof "green Muslims" in the Washington, DCarea to explore the Islamic basis forenvironmental awareness and activism. TheDC Green Muslims hope to encouragedialogue and action around these issues tocreate a more sustainable future for us all

Akbar Ahmed

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is currently theIbn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies,American University in Washington DC, theFirst Distinguished Chair of Middle East andIslamic Studies at the US Naval Academy,Annapolis, and a Nonresident Senior Fellowat the Brookings Institution. He has taughtat Princeton, Harvard, and CambridgeUniversities and is considered “the world’sleading authority on contemporary Islam” by the BBC. He has advised General DavidPetraeus, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke,


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and Secretary Michael Chertoff on Islamand foreign policy. He is regularlyinterviewed by CNN, CBS, BBC, and Fox News and has appeared several times on the“Oprah Winfrey Show.” He is the author of

over a dozen award-winning books,including Discovering Islam, which was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called“Living Islam.” His books have beentranslated into many languages, includingChinese and Indonesian. His most recent book is Journey into Islam and his current project, “Journey into America,” is anunprecedented study based in fieldwork ofMuslims in America.

Nazir Ahmed

Lord Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed (born1958) is a member of the House of Lords,

having become the United Kingdom's firstMuslim life peer in 1998. Many of his political activities relate to the Islamiccommunity both in the UK and abroad.

Ahmed was born in Mirpur (Azad Kashmir,Pakistan) but soon after his birth his familymigrated to the UK, where he was broughtup. He attended Spurley HeyComprehensive School, then ThomasRotherham Sixth Form College. He studied

Public Administration at Sheffield HallamUniversity and joined the Labour Partywhen he was 18 years old.

In 1998 Ahmed was appointed to the Houseof Lords, becoming the first Muslim life peer as Baron Ahmed, of Rotherham in theCounty of South Yorkshire. Lord Ahmed

took his oath on the Qur'an. At the age of40, he was also one of the youngest peers toachieve this position. As a Muslim peer,much of his activities relate to the Muslimcommunity, both at home and

internationally. Ahmed led one of the firstdelegations on behalf of the BritishGovernment on the Muslim pilgrimage ofthe Hajj, to Saudi Arabia and has advocatedlegislation against religious discrimination,international terrorism and forcedmarriages.[citation needed]

At home, Ahmed speaks on wider equalityissues, and has spoken several times onissues of race, religion and gender. He is

seen as one of the leaders of the Muslimcommunity.

Born in the region, Ahmed has a personalinterest in seeing a peaceful resolve to theongoing bloody dispute in Kashmir andseeks international mediation to achieve this.As well as being an active figure in theIndian Subcontinent, he has worked on the plight of Muslims around the world rangingfrom the collapse of former Yugoslavia, to

the Chechens and Palestinians. He has beenon many delegations to the Arab world, theUS, Eastern Europe, Africa, the formerstates of the USSR and the Far East, meetingwith heads of state to discuss theirrespective problems and how he may be ableto assist them.

Ahmed helps with various charitable causesand is on the board of several organizationsfrom local groups such as his position as

President of South Yorkshire VictimSupport, to international bodies such as his board membership on the SAARCFoundation.

Lord Ahmed was among the founders ofThe World Forum, an organization set up to promote world peace in the after math of the


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9/11 with an effort to build bridges ofunderstanding between The Muslim Worldand the West by reviving a tradition ofDialogue between people, cultures andcivilizations based on tolerance.

In November 2007 Ahmed was involved ina diplomatic effort to secure the release ofGillian Gibbons from custody in Sudan. Theteacher, Gillian Gibbons, allowed her classto name a teddy bear Muhammad. LordAhmed, from Britain's ruling Labour Party,and Baroness Warsi, an oppositionConservative, visited Khartoum and had ameeting with the President of Sudan.Following this the President pardoned Ms

Gibbons and she was allowed to return tothe UK.

Safir Ahmed

Safir Ahmed has been the ExecutiveDirector of Zaytuna since June, 2008 andsince 2005 has overseen the Publicationsdivision at Zaytuna where he helped editShaykh Hamza Yusuf’s writings, including

the The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi andCaesarean Moon Births as well as hisarticles for Seasons Journal and other publications. Safir is also an independent book editor and editorial consultant and has been a journalist for more than 20 years. Hehas served on the boards of various non- profits and was a Communications Directorfor a U.S. Senate campaign in 2004. Amongthe authors he has edited are MarkosMoulitsas Zuniga of DailyKOs, George

Lakoff of UC-Berkeley and GlennGreenwald of Salon magazine

Saquiba Ahmed

Saquiba Ahmed is Connecting Cultures'Vice President for Business Development.

Her work history spans beyond US boundaries. On international assignments,working for the World Bank, she utilized herconflict resolution skills to negotiate andmediate disputes between mission

consultants and local project managers.Some of her mediation efforts resulted inopening up lines of communications tofacilitate the implementation of an irrigationsystem that provided irrigation to over40,000 people in eight villages.

As an HR Generalist for Corporate HumanResources reporting to the Vice President ofHuman Resources, she was primarilyresponsible for managing programs and

events for diverse external partners, andmanaging the vendor, communications, andimplementation of Sodexo’s nationwideWork Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)Program.

Within Sodexo she was a member of all thenetwork groups and is a founding membersof the Pan Asian Network Group (PANG).Saquiba also served as the SodexhoRelationship Manager for Working Mother

Media, a four year relationship unitingcorporate America to create a safe haven forexecutive women of color, corporate leadersand diversity professionals to speak andwork openly on the most crucial issues;resulting in a benchmark of best practicesfor America's companies to examine andadopt.

Saquiba is a Certified Trainer for DiversityAwareness for Frontline Employees. A

graduate of the University of Maryland,College Park, Saquiba’s research interestslie within Industrial and OrganizationalPsychology, with a focus on cross culturalcommunications.


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Sufiya Ahmed

Sufiya Ahmed set up her own company,BIBI Publishing, to bring the Zahra series tothe market which follows the adventures ofa young British Muslim girl. Sufiya’s published novels include ‘Zahra’s First

Term at the Khadija Academy’ and ‘Zahra’sGreat Debate’, the former of which wasshortlisted in the Best Published BookCategory at the 2008 Muslim WritersAwards in London. Her new book, ‘Zahra’sTrip to Misr’ is scheduled for release inSeptember 2009.

Sufiya set up the BIBI Foundation toencourage teenagers from deprived anddiverse backgrounds to visit the Houses of

Parliament and learn more about thedemocratic process. She is also part ofMosaic, a Muslim charity led by HRHPrince Charles, and delivers her owncreative writing workshops in schools.

Currently Sufiya is acting as a judge in thechildren’s category at the 2009 MWA with

Penguin editors and she has just returnedfrom participating in the international AbuDhabi book fair, an event organised by theruling Sheikh to encourage Arab children tothe joys of reading.

Assad R. Akhter

Assad R. Akhter currently serves asLegislative Director to Congressman BillPascrell (D-NJ) where he oversees theCongressman’s entire legislative agenda andmanages his legislative staff. He is alsotasked with coordinating the Congressman’s

position on the House Ways & MeansCommittee as well as staffing hisassignment on the House HomelandSecurity Committee. He previously workedfor Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) where he helped create theCongressional Pakistan Caucus and was thelead staffer for the House ScienceCommittee. He has also spent a substantiveamount of time working on politicalcampaigns throughout America. He

provided material assistance to andcampaigned with both Reps. Keith Ellison(D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN) as they became the first and second MuslimMembers of Congress in 2006 and 2008,respectively. In 2005, Assad workeddirectly with the NJ AFL-CIO to organizeand mobilize over one million labor workers


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which led to the election of Jon Corzine (D- NJ) as Governor in New Jersey and anincrease in the majority for Democrats in theState Assembly. Apart from his officiallegislative duties, Assad serves as the

current President of the CongressionalMuslim Staff Association (CMSA).

Mehmet Aktas

Mehmet Atkas is President of ReligiousCounsel, United American MuslimAssociation, Brooklyn NY.

Kemal Aktas was born in Corum, Turkey.He received traditional Islamic educationfrom private teachers and institutions andworked as an imam and Vaiz (officialreligious speaker) in various cities inTurkey. He moved to USA in 1980 and hasspend most of his time as and imam first atthe Turkish Society of Rochester, and thenIslamic Cultural Center of Rochester,Rochester, NY. He retired from active imamduties and periodically visits variousmasajid to give speeches. He is marriedwith three children and lives in Boston MA.

Aisha Al - Adawiya

Aisha Al-Adawiya is the Founder andExecutive Director of Women In Islam Inc.,an organization of Muslim women whichfocuses on human rights and social justice.Ms. al-Adawiya organizes and participatesin conferences, symposia and other forums

on Islam, Gender Equity, ConflictResolution, Cross-Cultural Understanding,and represents Muslim women in United Nations forums as a Non-GovernmentalOrganization. She also coordinates Islamic

input for the Preservation of the BlackReligious Heritage Documentation Projectof the Schomburg Center for Research inBlack Culture. Ms. Al-Adawiya serves onnumerous boards related to the interests ofthe global Islamic community. She alsoserves as a consultant to numerous interfaithorganizations and documentary projects onthe Muslim American experience. Ms. al-Adawiya is a guest host and producer onTahrir, WBAI Pacifica Radio in New York

City.

Ms. al-Adawiya specializes in developingeducational forums on human rights andsocial justice, interfaith initiatives, cross-cultural understanding, and peace-building.

Mohammad S. Alam

Dr. Mohammad S. Alam is a Professor andChair of the Electrical and ComputerEngineering Department at the University ofSouth Alabama. He is a Fellow of theOptical Society of America (OSA), a Fellowof the International Society for Optical

Engineering (SPIE), a Fellow of theInstitution of Engineering and Technology(IET, UK), a Fellow of the Institute ofPhysics (IoP, UK).


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Abdalla Idris Ali

Abdalla Idris Ali is a public speaker andfund-raiser, and has served as ISNA’sPresident from 1992-1997. Sheikh AbdallaIdris co-organized the Canadian IslamicBanking conferences for 1996 and 1997. Heserves as a member on the Board of Trusteesfor the Islamic Teaching Center (ITC) and North American Islamic Trust. He also ison the Board of Advisors of the AmericanMuslim Council and past Board member ofthe Council of Islamic Schools in NorthAmerica. As an ISNA School principal, hedeveloped and implemented Islamic andArabic Studies curricula for elementary and junior high students. He has written variousarticles in Islamic Horizons and is a memberof the ATP Editorial Board. His expertiseis in the area of Islamic education and

Islamic Schools in North America.

Saqib Ali

Saqib Ali is a State Delegate in theMaryland House of Delegates, having beenelected to represent the 39th District in the2006 elections. Ali is of Indian and Pakistanidescent and having elected both Ali andKumar P. Barve (for the 17th District),“Maryland became the first state to send two

South Asians to the state legislature”. Thiswas seen as part of Asian Americansdisplaying “political clout beyond traditionalstrongholds in California and Hawaii.” Ali’selection is also seen as evidence of another

American minority moving towards civicempowerment by participating in the political process, as “He is the first Muslimin the Maryland State legislature.” Hiselection and that of Keith Ellison (D-MN) tothe United States Congress are viewed as“part of a concerted march of Muslims intocivic and political life” in reaction to“worries about civil liberties andimmigration policy” that began after Sept.11, 2001.

Shariq Ali

Shariq Ali, LEED AP, EIT is a Mechanical

Engineer at URS Corporation, where hecontributes to the engineering and design ofhigh performance HVAC (heating,ventilation and air conditioning) and plumbing systems. Currently he is involvedin designing health care, transit, and retailfacilities, and assessing energy conservationmeasures on new and existing buildings.Recently Mr. Ali has been involved onvolunteer projects such as Masjid planning,financing for minor Masjid renovations, and

www.GotIslam.com.Mr. Ali is a graduate of the University ofMichigan and a product of the Islamiccommunity of greater Detroit. He currentlylives with his wife in Dearborn Heights, MI,holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering,and is pursuing post-graduate studies.


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Wajahat Ali

Wajahat Ali is a playwright, journalist,humorist, blogger and Attorney at Law,whose play, "The Domestic Crusaders[www.domesticcrusaders.com], is the firstmajor play about the American Muslimsexperience making its New York premiere

on 9-11-09 at the world famous NuyoricanTheater.

He was honored as an "An InfluentialMuslim American Artist" by the StateDepartment and invited to their AnnualRamadan dinner. He was also recentlyhonored as a "Muslim Leader of Tomorrow"for his journalism. He is the recipient ofMuslim Public Affairs Council's prestigious"Emerging Muslim American Artist" Award

of 2009.

He is an Associate Editor of Altmuslim.com,the leading American Muslim onlinemagazine; and a contributing editor to theaward winning Illume Magazine He is acontributor to the Washington Post, TheGuardian, and Huffington Post. His firstmovie, "Ms. Judgments," was a finalist forthe LinkTV Muslim American Film Contest.His first short story, "Ramadan Blues," was

published in the anthology "Pow Wow" published by Perseus/De Capo Press. His blog, "Goatmilk: An IntellectualPlayground" (goatmilk.wordpress.com) isranked in the top 7% of all political blogsand recently rated "Great" by blogged.com.

Yasir Al Mahdawy

Mr. Al Mahdawy was born in Iraq in Marchof 1973 and grew up in Baghdad in the samehouse his family lives in today. Aftercompleting his engineering degree fromBaghdad University College of Engineering,he worked for the Japanese Embassy, theUnited Nations and a French NGO. AfterJune 2006, he fled Iraq and lived in Jordanfor more than one year before beingapproved for resettlement in the UnitedStates.

In late 2007 he arrived in Albany, NY, andshortly thereafter he began volunteeringwith USCRI Albany. He acted as atranslator and liaison for the other Iraqifamilies that were being resettled in Albany.Finally in May 2008 he started working asReception and Placement Case Manager atthe agency. He values working at USCRIAlbany because it allows him to provideservices to new comers to the U.S.

Salam Al -Marayati

Salam Al-Marayati serves as the ExecutiveDirector of MPAC. For the past 16 years,Salam has had the opportunity to speak tocongregations at community-sponsoredevents, temples, synagogues, churches, highschools, and college campuses. He haswritten extensively on Islam, human rights,democracy, Middle East politics, the BalkanCrisis, and the Transcaucus conflict. Hisarticles and interviews have appeared on


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such prominent newspapers as The WallStreet Journal, The Los Angeles Times, TheChristian Science Monitor, The LA Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The SanFrancisco Chronicle and USA Today. He

has appeared on radio and TV talk shows,including The Dennis Miller Show, Tonightwith Deborah Norville, Politically Incorrect,and has been featured on C-SPAN and NBC.Salam has also been deeply involved ininterfaith activities. He served as co-chair ofthe Interfaith Coalition to Heal Los Angeles,which formed as a result of the Los Angelesuprising in the Summer of 1992. Salam alsoworks as an advisor to several political, civicand academic institutions seeking to

understand the role of Islam and Muslims inAmerica and throughout the world.

Iyad Alnachef

Iyad Alnachef earned his Masters in YouthDevelopment from Michigan StateUniversity. Between January 1999 andSeptember 2005, Iyad worked as an IslamicStudies/Arabic Teacher, youth leader, andyouth program director in several IslamicCenters in Michigan and Ohio. During that period, he organized about several youthcamps, events and programs in that area.

For the period between October 2005 andAugust 2006, he worked with the NationalCapital Area Council of the Boy Scouts ofAmerica as a District Executive forPowhatan District that served more than 80scouting units.

Iyad joined ISNA since August 2006 as theDirector of the Youth Programming andServices Department.

Zainab Alwani

Zainab Alwani is a PhD candidate in IslamicStudies. Her research interests have focusedon Islamic studies (Fiqh & Usul al fiqh), andFamily and Women's issues. She hasdeveloped Quranic models through variouscourses toward building "Quranic familystructure". A few of her publicationsinclude: Al Qazali and his Methodology inFiqh legislation, Aisha’s Commentaries and

Their Methodological Premises in HadithSciences, What Islam Says about DomesticViolence: A Guide for Helping MuslimFamilies, and others. Currently, she teachesIslamic and Arabic Studies along with theCulture of Middle East at Northern VirginiaCommunity College NOVA and the Schoolof Advanced International Studies at JohnsHopkins University. She has developedcourses in Arabic Studies examining the link between Islamic Philosophy, language and

the culture at previous institutes. Ms. Alwanialso teaches Women and Family in Quran atGSISS. She is a Board Member on differentacademic, educational, and socialorganizations.

Shahed Amanullah

Shahed Amanullah is an award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief ofaltmuslim.com, an online newsmagazine


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covering issues related to Islam in the West. Named by Islamica Magazine as one of“Ten Young Muslim Visionaries,” he writesand speaks regularly about the challengesand opportunities facing Islam in the West.

His work and writings have been featured in Newsweek, San Jose Mercury News, NewYork Times, Washington Post, BBC News, National Public Radio, BeliefNet, LosAngeles Times,Christian Science Monitor, San FranciscoChronicle, and the Voice of America. Histelevision appearances include “Nightlinewith Ted Koppel”, CNN Headline News, the“Today Show”, and “Hannity & Colmes.”

Shahed is also the founder of HalalfireMedia LLC, a network of Islamic-themedwebsites with over 6 million annual visitors.Along with altmuslim.com, signature properties include zabihah.com, the world’slargest database of Halal restaurants andmarkets, salatomatic.com, an extensive listof reviewed mosques and schools inMuslim-minority countries,unitedmuslims.org, a resource for civicengagement, and halalapalooza.com, a

comprehensive guide to Islamic e-commerce.

Shahed has served as a board member of theUnited Muslims of America, the MuslimPublic Service Network, and the MuslimYouth Camp of California. He is also ageneral partner in Zakat CommunityVentures, the first “venture philanthropy”fund dedicated to promoting Islamiccharitable values.

Patricia Anton

Originally from Medina, Ohio, PatriciaAnton accepted Islam in 1997 as a student atOhio State University, where she receivedher BA in International Studies. Patricia wasawarded a Graduate Fellowship in Non-Profit Management and Governance through

Indiana University, earned an MA in IslamicStudies from Cordoba University, and hascontinued her graduate studies at GeorgeMason University’s Institute for ConflictAnalysis and Resolution. She has alsostudied Arabic at Yarmouk University inJordan. Anton has worked for severalMuslim organizations including The IslamicSociety of North America, Islamic Relief,the International Institute of IslamicThought, and Cordoba University. She has

also worked on contract with the UnitedStates Institute of Peace, George MasonUniversity, and the Institute for DefenseAnalysis. She has contributed to developingtrainings and manuals for “Say Peace: AnIslamic Model of Conflict Resolution,”Project L.I.G.H.T. (Learning IslamicGuidance on Human Tolerance), and theMuslim-Christian Initiative on the NuclearWeapons Danger. Anton is co-founder ofMedina Center in Bethesda, Maryland,

where she has served as board member. Shehas also served on the board of Asia Relief.


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Sadida Athaullah

Sadida Athaullah, born and raised inHyderabad, India, is the literary executor ofthe great 20th century Islamic scholar Dr.Muhammad Hamidullah and Director of theMuhammad Hamidullah Center. Athaullahholds an Master's degree in Education and

works for the public school system ofwestern Maryland. Regularly involved in peace and justice issues, she is a foundingmember of the Muslim Peace Fellowshipand sits on its board.

Moutasem Atiya

Br. Moutasem Atiya, an IT professional andIslamic activist, has been actively involvedin the Maryland and Metropolitan DCcommunities through classes, speakingengagements, and Friday khutbahs on aregular basis for the past 10 years. He hasstudied the Islamic Sciences from three ofthe luminaries of our time, Shaykh MohsenAn-Najjar, Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui, andShaykh Muhammad bin Yahya Al- Ninowy. Br. Moutasem established the Al-Madina Institute, which opened its doors in2008. As a mobile institution providinghigher learning to Muslim Americans, Al-Madina Institute uses time tested methods to

ensure appropriate transmission ofknowledge and infuse its practicalapplication in daily lives. Br. Moutasemcurrently resides in Columbia, MD with hiswife and son.

Azhar Azeez

Azhar Azeez was born in 1971 inHYDERABAD, INDIA and has been livingin US since 1995. He has bachelors inFinance from Osmania University and aMaster’s degree in business administration(MBA) and currently is pursuing his PhD inIslamic studies. For last 14 years he workedfor major US corporations such as GeneralElectric, American General Life and CapitalOne. He is a member of ISNA ExecutiveCouncil (Central Zone Representative) since2003 and is also the founder and currentPresident of Islamic Association ofCarrollton, Texas one of the large mosquesin the suburbs of Dallas, TX. He was also afounding member & past President ofCouncil on American Islamic Relations – Dallas/ Fort Worth Chapter. He is a regularspeaker and a fundraiser for various local,regional and national Islamic organizations.He has made several media appearances andwas interviewed by many local and nationalT.V. stations and newspapers such asaffiliates of CBS, ABC, FOX, KDTN, NBC,PBS KERA, CNN, Associated Press, USAtoday, Dallas Morning news etc. He speaksregularly on local & national radio programsand has written for various newspapers andmagazines. He is the founder & moderator


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of the weekly global e-mail newsletterwhich goes out to over 15,000 subscribersevery week on issues related to Islam &Muslims. He is married and has two kidsand currently resides in Dallas, TX.

Salman Azman

Salman Azam is one of the founders of theLakeshore Law Group LLP and is theManaging Partner of the firm. Hecoordinates the Corporate and Transactionalgroups within the firm. After graduatingfrom DePaul University School of Law, heworked as an associate at a prominentChicago corporate law firm. Mr. Azam thenset out to create a brand new firm focusedon the needs of small businesses and

professionals, especially those in the SouthAsian community. Today Lakeshore LawGroup LLP represents many prominent physicians, small and medium-sized businesses in the Chicago area and acrossthe country. Mr. Azam also serves as legaladvisor to several Muslim community non- profit organizations and is on the board ofthe Pakistani American Bar Association of North America and the Downtown IslamicCenter.

Ihsan Bagby

Ihsan Bagby is currently the AssociateProfessor Islamic Studies at the Universityof Kentucky. He obtained his PhD from theUniversity of Michigan in Near EasternStudies and his research for the last ten yearshas focused on Muslim in America.

Mirza Yawar Baig

Founder and President of Yawar Baig andAssociates, International Speaker, Coach,Trainer and Facilitator specializing inLeadership in Family Business, enabling thecritical transition from being ‘Person-drivento becoming Process-driven’ to createEnduring Leadership. Yawar’s EnduringLeadership program shows business familieshow to grow, yet stay together, by applying

case studies from both family businesses andmulti-national corporations. Its experientiallearning format enhances the application ofinherent and learned knowledge and skills.Yawar also works as a life coach and mentorfor prominent family businesses in India andSouth Africa. He transcends cultural boundaries by blending Eastern values with


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Western systems. Yawar brings to bear hisvaried experience in bauxite mining, tea andrubber plantations, tourism marketing andteaching which gives him the advantage ofspeaking from the perspective of a

practitioner and not merely as a theorist.Thanks to his openness, competence, value- based professionalism and the ability tospeak five languages, Yawar has instilledleadership and management fundamentalswithin many local, national and globalorganizations aimed at identifying andnurturing leadership potential.

Owais Balti

Owais Balti was born in Buffalo, NY. His parents, Drs. Mohamad Ashraf andMubeena Balti, are members of the ISNAFounder’s Committee and active leaders in

the Islamic Society of Niagara Frontier.Owais is a graduate of GeorgetownUniversity, with a Bachelor’s degree inFinance. He served a term as the Presidentof the Muslim Students Association duringhis time at Georgetown. Owais works in thearea of Financial Planning and Analysis. Hecurrently lives with his wife, AmnahTaufique, in Sterling, VA. Owais is anactive member of the ADAMS center andvolunteers with the educational wing of

ADAMS, the Qurtuba Institute, which provides classes, lectures, and seminars to promote greater Islamic literacy and deeperrespect for the traditional sciences of Islamicscholarship. Owais also participates inADAMS outreach through interfaith andcommunity service activities.

Asad M. Ba-Yunus

Asad M. Ba-Yunus is an Associate at thelaw firm of Lubell &Rosen. He is a native ofCortland, New York, practices in the area ofmedical malpractice defense litigation.While earning his Bachelor of Arts in

Political Science from State University of New York at Binghamton, Asad worked as aLevel III Critical Care Paramedic, servingmainly rural and elderly patients through theBroome Volunteer Emergency Squad. Aftergraduating in 1997, he went on to earn hisJuris Doctor from The AmericanUniversity's Washington College of Law in2000. While at American University, he wasa Note & Comment Editor for theAdministrative Law Review, the American

Bar Association's official journal onadministrative law, participated ininterschool moot court competitions andserved as a judge in many competitions.Asad was admitted to the Florida Bar in2001 and the Washington D.C. Bar in 2002.Asad has also been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the UnitedStates. Prior to joining Lubell & Rosen,Asad was a defense attorney for Fertig &Gramling Law Partnership, the Mager Law

Group and worked as an Assistant StateAttorney in Miami-Dade County. .


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Hatem Bazian

Dr. Hatem Bazian, received his Ph.D. inPhilosophy and Islamic Studies from theUniversity of California, Berkeley.Currently, Bazian is a senior lecturer in theDepartments of Near Eastern and EthnicStudies. Dr. Bazian between 2002-2007,

also served as an adjunct professor of law atBoalt Hall School of Law at the Universityof California, Berkeley. He teaches courseson Islamic Law and Society, Islam inAmerica: Communities and Institutions, De-Constructing Islamophobia and Othering ofIslam, Religious Studies, and MiddleEastern Studies. In addition to Berkeley, Dr.Bazian is a visiting Professor in ReligiousStudies at Saint Mary's College of Californiaand adviser to the Religion, Politics and

Globalization Center at UC Berkeley as wellas Academic Affairs Chair at ZaytunaCollege of California. In Spring 2009, Dr.Bazian founded at Berkeley the Center forthe Study and Documentation ofIslamophobia, a research unit dedicated tothe systematic study of Othering Islam andMuslims.

Dr. Bazian is known for being an organicintellectual, a term used for academics

directly connecting their research to the people; rather than looking down from theivory tower. Dr. Bazian's published book,Jerusalem in Islamic Consciousness, is areflection of his desire to contribute to a better understanding of Muslim attachmentand informed political attitudes toward theSacred City and Palestine in general.

Currently, Dr. Bazian is working on two books, The Silicon Rush: DocumentingMuslim Communities in the the SiliconValley; and Virtual Internment: Muslimsand the War on Terrorism. Bazian most

recent publication is a chapter published inFrance, “Islamophobie: dans le mondemoderne” and an entry to Oxford's HumanRights Encyclopedia covering HR under thePalestinian Authority. As an activist, Dr.Bazian has played a significant role almostin every human and civil rights movement inthe Bay Area, nationally and internationallyincluding the defense of Affirmative Actionin California, American With DisabilitiesAct, Anti-Apartheid, Anti-Globalization

Movement, and Central American Solidaritystruggles.

Hazami Barmada

Hazami Barmada is Executive Director forthe 2008 9/11 Unity Walk. Barmadareceived a B.A. in Anthropology andSociology from Rhodes College. Barmada isan independent contractor and consultant forseveral profit and non-for-profitorganizations and companies with a focus on public and intercultural relations,international communications, and

organizational management. She is currentlythe Administrator for the Institute of Qualityof Life at Georgetown University. Barmadais the President of the Progressive Muslim Network and was recently appointed as theExecutive Vice President of the Council forAdvancement of Muslim Professionals, DC


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Chapter. She is involved in manyorganizations in a volunteer capacity.

Jamal M. al -Barzinji

Dr. Jamal al-Barzinji is a founding member,a Trustee and Vice President for Research &

Publications of the International Institute ofIslamic Thought (IIIT).

He has over forty years of progressiveexperience in development and leadership ofdiverse organizations (business, educational,think-tanks, political and charitable), such asMar-Jac Poultry, Safa Trust, Amana MutualFunds, SAAR Foundation, Bank IslamMalaysia, Dean of School of IslamicRevealed Knowledge & Social Sciences of

International Islamic University Malaysia, Nada International, and North AmericanIslamic Trust (NAIT).

He served as President of the MuslimStudents Association of the United States &Canada, Member of (MSA), Majlis Al-Shura of The Islamic Society of NorthAmerica (ISNA). He is a founding memberof International Charitable Foundation(KWT), the Association of Muslim Social

Scientists (AMSS), and the Association ofMuslim Scientists & Engineers (AMSE).

Dr. Barzinji served as advisor and consultantto various educational, charitable and professional organizations. He deliverednumerous lectures and wrote articles onvarious topics on Islamic Thought, Banking,

Islamic Movements, Current Affairs,Education and Islamic Presence in the U.S.and Europe. Dr. Barzinji holds a Ph.D. andM.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, with aminor in Management from Louisiana State

University, U.S.A. (1974), and a B.Sc. inChemical Engineering & Fuel Technologyfrom the University of Sheffield, England(1962).

David Beckmann

David Beckmann is one of the foremost U.S.advocates for hungry people. He has been president of Bread for the World for 15years, leading large-scale and successfulcampaigning to strengthen U.S. politicalcommitment to overcoming hunger and poverty. Before that, he served at the World

Bank for 15 years, overseeing large projectsand driving innovations to make the Bankmore effective in reducing poverty.

Mr. Beckmann earned degrees from Yale,Christ Seminary, and the London School ofEconomics, and five universities haveawarded him honorary doctorates. He is aclergyman as well as an economist. He haswritten many books and articles, including:Transforming the Politics of Hunger and

Grace at the table: Ending Hunger in God’sWorld.


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Mirza AbuJafar Beg

Moulana Mirza AbuJafar BegImam is Imamand Khatib of the Jamaica, NY MuslimCenter and Principal of the center’s weekendschool. He is a former Imam and Khatib ofMasjidul Akbar Dhaka, Bangladesh,Principal of Islamia Aliya Madrasa, Dhaka,and founder of Anitur Rahman complex,Barisal

Imam Beg’s Educational Backgroundincludes Kamil from hadith, tafseer andfekaguru from Aliyah madrasa;Dowrahhadith from dawandinesab; Quiraat fromMuminbari, Kumila; and Tafseer fromMukahtil Mukarama.

Mohamed Rida Beshir

Dr. Mohamed Rida Beshir is the co-authorof four best-selling books on family issuesand parenting: “Parenting in the West,”“Muslim Teens,” “Blissful Marriage,” and“Parenting Skills” as well as other parenting books in Arabic. Several of his parenting books have been translated to many otherlanguages. Dr. Beshir, who is teaching two parenting courses with the Islamic AmericanUniversity, is a regular contributor to thefamily section of several Magazines and anadviser for the Islam online website’s familysection. Dr. Beshir is the recipient of theCity of Ottawa Certificate of Appreciationfor the year 2003 for his volunteer work in

the area of Education as well as other Cityof Ottawa awards for valuable services tocommunity children in year 2006. He is anEngineer by profession, with over 30 yearsof experience in Da’wa in North America.

He has held various volunteer national/localelected positions with MSA, ISNA, andMAS. He is one of the founders of HumanConcern International. He is activelydeveloping and delivering training programsto various Muslim communities all over theworld. He is a regular speaker in ISNA,ICNA, MSA, MAC and MAS conventions

Isra Bhatty

Bhatty graduated from The University ofChicago in 2006 with majors in economics

and near eastern languages and literature.She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as acollege junior and won many prizes forleadership and scholarship at The Universityof Chicago. Bhatty founded a tutoring program in Chicago, was an English-Urdutranslator of detainees at Guantanamo Bay,led a Chicago coalition on criminal justicereform, and has worked closely withChicago’s inner-city Muslim Action Network. She also founded and captained

an intramural champion women’s footballteam and is a hip-hop artist and poet.

At Oxford she is pursuing a M.Phil. inevidence-based social intervention, with afocus on programs for people of color,immigrants, and substance abusers. Bhatty isalso looking forward to working with the


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country's South Asian and Muslim populations.

Iman Bibars

Based in Cairo, Egypt, Dr. Iman Bibars islaunching Ashoka's program in the ARABWORLD. Iman has a BA and an MA inPolitical Science from the AmericanUniversity in Cairo (AUC), and a Ph.D. inDevelopment Studies from SussexUniversity in the UK. Iman also joined theGeorgetown University Arab Studies MAProgram and was a Parvin Fellow atPrinceton. Iman is a regional expert withmore then 22 years experience in the socialsector of the Arab World and the Africaregion. She has committed her life to workwith marginalized and voiceless groups,such as female heads of households in the poorest slums of Egypt, street children,street vendors and garbage collectors. Shehas worked with many internationalagencies and NGOs, including UNICEF,Catholic Relief Services, CARE-Egypt,GTZ and KFW. Iman is herself a socialentrepreneur, and co-founded and chairedThe Association for the Development andEnhancement of Women (ADEW), an NGO providing credit and legal aid for poorwomen who head their households.

Yaser Birjas

Shaykh Yaser Birjas is originally from theHoly Land and was born in Kuwait in 1970.He started his career in Electronic

Engineering in 1988 in the UAE, then inMadinah where he graduated as classValedictorian with the highest honors fromThe Islamic University of Madinah’sCollege of Shariah (Fiqh and Usool) in1996.In 1997, after the war was over, he went towork as a relief program aide under theinternational umbrella of relief agencies torebuild the war-torn Bosnia. Thereafter, andin the year 2000, he immigrated to the U.S.

Yaser Birjas is presently residing in El Paso,Texas. He was the Imam and religiousleader at The Islamic Center in El Paso sincehis arrival until the end of 2007.He is also an instructor at AlMaghribInstitute, an organization that providestrademark double-weekend seminars inIslamic studies. And a co-founder ofPractimate.com a world-class marriagetraining program for practical practicingMuslims in the West. He travels around the

nation to teach academic classes in Islamicstudies as well as to speak on different socialsubjects pertinent to the lives of Muslims inthe West.


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Kemal Bozkurt

Kemal Bozkurt is Reference Librarian atLawrance Public Library in MA. He has BSin Arabic Literature and Language fromSelcuk University, Konya, Turkey, MS inBanking and Insurance from MarmaraUniversity, Istanbul Turkey and currently

pursuing MS degree in Information LibraryScience , Southern Connecticut StateUniversity, New Haven CT.

Mr Bozkurt is the founder and publisher ofthe Green Pages Muslim Business Directoryand Editor-in-Chief of habername.com, aTurkish Daily Online Newspaper, reporterfor AKRA FM radio station. He is also the president of kemalpasha.com an onlinewholesale Turkish products business. He

He is a member of Zoning Board of City ofLawrance, MA, State Delegate forDemoctatic Party, MA and SchoolCommittee Candidate for City of Lawrance,MA.

He is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief ofhabername.com and mgreenpages.com,Boston, MA. He is married with threechildren and lives in Lawrance MA.

Zahid Hussain Bukhari

Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari is currently workingas Director, American Muslim StudiesProgram (AMSP) at the Prince AlwaleedCenter for Muslim-Christian Understanding,Georgetown University, Washington, DC.From 1999-2004, he also worked as DirectorProject MAPS: Muslims in American PublicSquare, which examined the role andcontribution of the Muslim community tothe American public life. The PewCharitable Trusts awarded a grant of $1.25million for this purpose. In January, Dr.Bukhari was elected President of IslamicCircle of North America (ICNA) for 2009-2010. He is also serving as ExecutiveDirector of the Center for Islam and PublicPolicy (CIPP). Dr. Bukhari’s researchinterests focused on religion and politics in

the United States and South Asia. He has avast experience in all aspects of surveyresearch. From 1978-1983, he worked asexecutive director of the Pakistan Institute ofPublic Opinion (PIPO), Islamabad, amember of Gallup International. He has published and presented papers on Islam anddevelopment, Muslim public opinion in theUS and other related topics in national andinternational forums. He is also editor of twovolumes of the Project MAPS: Muslims’

Place in the American Public Square: Fears,Hopes and Aspirations and Muslim inAmerica: Engaging Polity and Society inPost 9/11 Era (forthcoming). Dr. Bukharihas a Masters in Economics from theUniversity of Karachi and Ph.D. in PoliticalScience from the University of Connecticut.


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Shahid Buttar

Shahid Buttar, is Executive Director of theBill of Rights Defense Committee

(BORDC) and the People’s Campaign forthe Constitution (PCC), two organizationsaimed at raising awareness about theimpacts of national security policies on civilliberties and privacy interests. Previously heserved as Counsel to Muslim Advocates’Program to Combat Racial & ReligiousProfiling. Buttar has long advocated indefense of the Constitution.

A 2003 graduate of Stanford Law School, heserved as Professor Lawrence Lessig’s

Constitutional Law Teaching Assistant andas Executive Editor of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal. Based inWashington, DC, from 2003 to 2008, Buttaralso served the American ConstitutionSociety for Law & Policy as AssociateDirector for Communications & Outreach.

As a musician, Shahid has performed aroundthe world for audiences as large as 50,000.His debut CD, Get Outta Your Chair , was

released in 2008 and features music from thefunk, blues, hip-hop, house, drum 'n bass,and South Asian fusion traditions, including Bumpin’ in My SUV and the Baghdad Blues.

Sarah Cady

Ms. Cady supports partner agencies in theReception and Placement Program. Prior toworking at USCRI HQ, Ms. Cady workedwith the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in New York City as a Program Associate

supporting resettlement around the UnitedStates. She has also worked as a refugeeCase Manager/Job Developer in USCRI’sAlbany field office and as an Americorpsmember with the International RescueCommittee in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms.Cady received a dual B.A. in InternationalRelations and French Language, Literatureand Culture from Syracuse University in New York State. She studied in Strasbourg,France and is proficient in French.

Mas’ood Cajee

Mas’ood Cajee is a California-based dentist,

journalist, and Muslim thought leader. In2003, he completed a Masters in PublicHealth at the Harvard School of PublicHealth and was a California EndowmentScholar in Health Policy at HarvardUniversity. As an undergraduate in 1993,Mas’ood created cybermuslim, the firstIslamic-oriented site on the Internet.Currently he is a contributing editor atFellowship magazine and a columnist foraltmuslim.com. He has written on interfaith

relations, current events, and policy issuesfor various publications including theBuddhist journal Turning Wheel,Fellowship, counterpunch.org, Minaret,Adbusters, Beliefnet.com, and Britain’s Q- News. A board member of the MuslimPeace Fellowship, Mas’ood also serves as asenior member of the Muslim Public Affairs


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Council, and has served on several other boards including the National Council of theFellowship of Reconciliation, the nation’soldest and largest interfaith peace and justiceorganization. He continues to advise various

community, media, and philanthropicorganizations in the United States andabroad. Having visited 45 states and over 25countries on four continents, Mas’ood nowresides in northern California with his wifeand two sons.

André Carson

Congressman André Carson is a 34-year-oldnative of Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised andmentored by his grandmother,Congresswoman Julia Carson, he learned

from a young age the values of compassion,integrity and determination. He went on toobtain a Bachelors degree in CriminalJustice Management from ConcordiaUniversity-Wisconsin and a Masters inBusiness Management from IndianaWesleyan University.

For almost a full decade, André devotedhimself to law enforcement and the protection of Hoosiers across Indianapolis.

He first served as a Local BoardInvestigative Officer for the Indiana StateExcise Police for nine years before beingdetailed to the Indiana Department ofHomeland Security's Intelligence FusionCenter in 2006. Congressman Carsoncurrently serves on the prestigious FinancialServices Committee, which oversees all

components of the nation's housing andfinancial services sectors including banking,insurance, real estate, public and assistedhousing, and securities. His ambitiousagenda includes working to create economic

opportunity for Hoosiers, pushing forwardcomprehensive affordable healthcarelegislation, working to responsibly bring anend to the war in Iraq and to restoreAmerica’s role as a respected global leader.

Sami Catovic

Sami Catovic is a NewJersey attorney; PhdStudent at Temple University - Departmentof religion; Adjunct Professor - TempleUniversity, Department of Religion; Board

member of New Jersey Muslim Attorneys;Member of ISNA Executive Council - EZRepresentative; Co-Chair of 2009 NationalConvention Program

Robert Chase

In September 2007, The Rev. Robert Chasewas called to be the Founding Director ofIntersections, a new justice-based globalinitiative of the Collegiate Church of NewYork. Previously, Chase served as Directorof Communication for the 1.2 million

member United Church of Christ. At theUnited Church of Christ, he was responsiblefor the denomination's efforts in publicrelations; marketing and education through print, radio, video and emerging electronictechnologies. He also served as ExecutiveDirector of the UCC's Office ofCommunication, Inc., the church's historic


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media justice agency, was responsible forthe UCC's multiple web sites and served as publisher of United Church News with itscirculation of more than 200,000.Among other marketing efforts for the UCC,

he was a principle architect of the church'saward winning "God is still speaking,"identity campaign. Chase has servedcongregations in New York and New Jerseyand was founder and President of CreativeConnections in Media, a full-servicecommunications company. He is an award-winning video producer with more than 100 productions to his credit and he has standingas an ordained minister in the United Churchof Christ.

Owaiz M. Dadabhoy

Owaiz M. Dadabhoy, Investment Manager,California, joined Saturna Capital in Augustof 2008. Raised in Southern California, heearned a BA in Business Administrationfrom California State University atFullerton. Mr. Dadabhoy spent over 15 yearsat Wells Fargo and was most recently aDistrict Manager in Long Beach. Prior tothat, he was Senior Sales Director for WellsFargo’s Wealth Management group in Los

Angeles where he managed six SalesDirectors and led a team of over 200licensed bankers. Mr. Dadabhoy is activewith charitable and community activities,co-founding the UPLIFT CharitableCorporation in 2006. He is married with twochildren and enjoys spending time with hisfamily in various outdoor activities.

Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo

Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo is currently theChief Shariah Officer and Board Member atShariah Capital.Shaykh Yusuf is a well-known andrespected Shariah advisor and Islamicscholar whose career spans more than 30

years. Based in the Washington, DC area, heserves as a Shariah advisor to over 20 globalfinancial entities, including index providers, banks, mutual funds, real estate funds,leasing funds, institutional investors, homefinance providers, alternative asset managersand others.Shaykh Yusuf is the author of “ACompendium of Legal Opinions on theOperations of Islamic Banks”, the firstEnglish reference on the fatawa issued by

Shariah boards. His three-volume publication has become the standardreference for Islamic financial institutions.In addition, Shaykh Yusuf wrote theintroduction to “Islamic Bonds”, the 2003 book that introduced Sukuk and transformedthe world’s Islamic capital markets. Hiswritten work has appeared in journals andnewsletters and as chapters in books,including Euromoney’s “Islamic AssetManagement”, “Islamic Retail Finance and

Islamic Finance: Innovation & Growth”. Hisentries on the terminology of IslamicFinance appear in The Oxford Dictionary ofIslam.Shaykh Yusuf is also a special consultant,appointed by the Asian Development Bankand the Islamic Development Bank inJeddah to the International Financial


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Services Board (“IFSB”) on the subject ofSukuk. IFSB is the international standard-setting body of regulatory and supervisoryagencies that have a vested interest inensuring the soundness and stability of the

Islamic financial services industry, broadlydefined to include banking, capital marketsand insurance.

Mika’il DeVeaux

Mika’il DeVaux has over 25 years ofexperience working with men incarceratedin New York State maximum-security prisons and many who released followinglong periods of confinement. DeVeauxreceived a Bachelors of BusinessAdministration degree from Bernard M.Baruch College (CUNY), a Masters of

Professional Studies degree from the NewYork Theological Seminary, and a Mastersof Arts degree from The College at NewPaltz (SUNY). DeVeaux has published papers in New Directions in Evaluation: aPublication of the American EvaluationAssociation, The Journal of OffenderRehabilitation, and Crescent International.Other writings include You Are AlmostThere, a small narrative that focuses onincarcerated Muslims, Imagine This, a

chapbook of poems and has had severalother poems featured in various publications. He has presented papers andmade presentations at a variety of venuesincluding: the 45th and 46th AnnualMeeting of the American Society ofCriminology, Muslim Alliance in NorthAmerica (1st and 2nd) Annual Conference,

NAACP Criminal Justice Conferences(Jamaica, New York), and others; as well asco-authoring a paper presented at the AnnualConference of the American Public HealthAssociation (1995).

Susan Douglass

Susan Douglass has an M.A. in Arab Studiesfrom Georgetown University, a B.A. inHistory from the University of Rochester,and is currently in the doctoral program atGeorge Mason University. During 2006, shewas Senior Researcher for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Sheserved as an Affiliated Scholar with theCouncil on Islamic Education for over adecade, reviewing over a dozen commercialtextbooks in development, reviewing state

standards, and developing instructionalresources.Major publications include World Eras: Riseand Spread of Islam, 622-1500 (Thompson/Gale, 2002), teaching resourcesfor the Council on Islamic Education and the National Center for History in the Schools, achildren’s book Ramadan (CarolrhodaBooks, 2002), Teaching About Religion in National and State Social Studies Standards (Freedom Forum First Amendment Center

and Council on Islamic Education, 2000),and many articles and book chapters. Shecontributed to online teaching resourcessuch as the IslamProject.org, theSmithsonian Freer Gallery teaching guideArts of Islam, and the online curriculumWorld History for Us All, and designed TheIndian Ocean in World History online


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resource. For the past three years she hasconducted the educational outreach programat the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center forMuslim Christian Understanding.

Jean F.

Duff

Jean Duff is a seasoned management professional with broad experience in thestart-up of non-profit social enterprises, andfor-profit businesses, and in the managementof their growth. She is the ExecutiveDirector of CIFA (Center for InterfaithAction). She brings experience developingall aspects of service and policyorganizations, including building crosssector collaborations, program developmentand evaluation, strategic planning andmarketing, public and community relations,and fundraising. For the past 17 years shehas worked exclusively with organizationsserving the poor and advocating for social justice.

A. J. Durrani

A.J. Durrani is a grassroots political activistin the greater Houston area, and wasrecently elected to the Texas StateDemocratic Executive Committee (SDEC)as the male representative of the AsianAmerican Democrats of Texas (AADT). Heis presently Vice President of AADT and thePrimary Coordinator/Spokesperson for the

Coalition of New American Communities(CONAC), which is a non-profit politicalaction group, established to improve andincrease political awareness in "newAmericans". CONAC efforts have led to

thousands of new registered voters, over 70Precincts Chairs in the Houston area, andrecently culminated in a historic first -- theelection of three Muslims to the TexasSDEC. A.J. has been active in local IslamicCommunity organizations for over 25 yearshaving held Shura (Board of Director) positions with the Islamic Society of GreaterHouston and in Denver and New Orleans.One of his primary areas of focus has beenfull-time Islamic Education, and he has been

instrumental in the creation andestablishment of five Islamic schools. Hehas also led the efforts to establish IslamicBoy Scouts troops in the local communities.Besides Islamic-related communityactivities, A.J. has held leadership positionsin mainstream civic and local communityorganizations like charitable institutions,school district committees, and homeownerassociations. He has a BS in PetroleumEngineering from Milan, Italy and an MS

from Penn State Univ.

Bob Edgar

Rev. Dr. Robert William (Bob) Edgar is president and CEO of Common Cause, anonpartisan government watchdogorganization, effective May 2007. He servedas a Democratic member of the United


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States House of Representatives from 1975to 1987, representing the 7th district ofPennsylvania.Prior to his position as president and CEO ofCommon Cause, he came from the post of

general secretary of the National Council ofthe Churches of Christ in the U.S. (NCC),the leading U.S. organization in themovement for Christian unity. n May 2007,Bob Edgar was named president and CEO ofCommon Cause, a national nonpartisan,non-profit "citizens" lobby working to makegovernment at all levels more honest, openand accountable, and to connect citizenswith their democracy.

Bob arrived at Common Cause with a longhistory of leadership and public service thatincluded 12 years in Congress. He was thegeneral secretary of the National Council ofthe Churches of Christ in the USA for sevenyears immediately before arrivingg atCommon Cause.

Maha ElGenaidi

Maha ElGenaidi is the Founder andPresident of Islamic Networks Group (ING).She is a former commissioner on Lt.Governor Cruz Bustamante's "Commission

for One California", Commissioner on SantaClara County Human RelationsCommission, and Advisor to California'sCommission on Police Officers Standards &Training (POST) for hate crimes andcultural diversity training, and former Co-chair and Vice-chair of the Bay Area HateCrimes Investigators Association

(BAHCIA). She is the recipient ofnumerous civil rights awards which includethe “Civil Rights Leadership Award” fromthe California Association of HumanRelations Organizations, the “Human

Relations Award” from the Santa ClaraCounty Human Relations office, and the"Citizen of the Year" Award from the SantaClara County Board of Supervisors. Ms.ElGenaidi has spoken to hundreds ofschools, churches, police departments,corporations and other public institutions,has appeared on numerous television andradio programs, and is author of seventraining handbooks on outreach forAmerican Muslims, as well as eight training

modules for public institutions on"developing cultural competency with theAmerican Muslim community". Ms.ElGenaidi is currently ING's CEO.

Keith Ellison

Keith Ellison has represented the FifthCongressional District of Minnesota in theU.S. House of Representatives since takingoffice on January 4, 2007. The FifthCongressional District is the most vibrant

and ethnically diverse district in Minnesotawith a rich history and traditions. The FifthDistrict includes the City of Minneapolisand the surrounding suburbs. RepresentativeEllison's philosophy is one of "generosityand inclusiveness." His roots as acommunity activist and his message ofinclusivity through democratic participation


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resonates throughout the Fifth District. His priorities in Congress are: promoting peace, prosperity for working families, and promoting civil and human rights.

Gazi Erdem

Dr. Gazi Erdem has a BS Degree inReligious Studies from the Divinity Faculty

of Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Heholds Two MA degrees; first one is IslamicHistory from Uludag University, BursaTurkey where he studied The Knowledge atthe era of Me’mun the Abbasid Caliph andthe other degree is in Islamic Studies fromSelly Oak College of BirminghamUniversity, UK where he studies OrthodoxChurch under Ottoman Empire in theSixteenth Century. He completed his Ph.Ddegree in Islamic History from Ankara

University, Ankara, Turkey where hestudied Christians under Ottoman Empire between 1856 and 1876.After serving as an imam and preacher(Vaiz) in Bursa, Turkey for many years, hehas hold for various managerial positions atthe Religious Affairs of Turkey (Diyanet).He has been the Attache for ReligiousAffairs to the NY Consulate General ofTurkey.Dr. Erdem is expert in many areas such as

Islamic History, Islamic Cililizations,Religious leadership, Interreligious Dialoguein Islamic Sources and History, OttomanHistory and Christians under the OttomanEmpire.

John Esposito

John Esposito is a University Professor aswell as Professor of Religion andInternational Affairs and of Islamic Studiesat Georgetown University, Dr. Esposito isFounding Director of the Prince AlwaleedBin Talal Center for Muslim-ChristianUnderstanding.

A consultant to the Department of State aswell as corporations and the mediaworldwide, Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam, and the impact of Islamicmovements from North Africa to SoutheastAsia. He is currently a member of the WorldEconomic Forum's Council of 100 Leadersand a recipient of the American Academy ofReligion's 2005 Martin E. Marty Award forthe Public Understanding of Religion.

Esposito is Editor-in-Chief of the 4 volumeOxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic

World . His more than 30 books include:Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (aWashington Post and Boston Globe bestseller), What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?; Islam: The Straight Path; Islamand Politics; Islam and Democracy and Makers of Contemporary Islam (with John

Voll); and Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think : With DaliaMogahed.


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Saleemah Abdul -Ghafur

Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur is an author andactivist (faith-based initiatives and genderequality in Islam). She works with Malaria

No More, a leading non-profit formed toadvance the United Nations MillenniumDevelopment Goals by ending malaria-related deaths by 2012. She also consults ona variety of interfaith projects andvolunteerism efforts.

Iman Faris

Mr. Iman M. Faris is a senior managementconsultant, with a career spanning multipleindustries from training and politicaladvocacy to technology and construction.Through his decades of experience in adiversity of organizations and industries, he brings his clients a global awareness of best practices, change management principles,and proven coaching methods.

Iman grew up in the North AmericanMuslim community; his family was one ofthe pioneers that helped establish thecommunity. From his formative years,Iman’s parents drove home a sense ofcommunity and imparted to him and hissiblings a rigorous sense of duty to give back to society. There was always a

community project to help with and to learnfrom whether it was a relief effort, a youthactivity, or mosque building.

Today, Iman continues his involvement as a

leader and organizer. He is extensivelyinvolved in youth work; managing youthcamps, delivering lectures to high schoolstudents and training youth leaders. He hasalso been involved with local projects,including: annual festivals on the occasionof Eid, as board member of several localorganizations, including Abraar School,host of the local Muslim radio show, andcoordinator and contributor to a variety oflocal, regional and national Muslim

community lectures, conferences, andworking groups. Iman is supported by hiswife Zameela, daughter Ayesha, and the restof his community-minded family.

Manzoor Ghori

Manzoor Ghori is the founder and chairmanof the Indian Muslim Relief & Charities(IMRC). IMRC has been working since1982 to provide education, humanitarian and

health care services to the orphans and theneedy in India. IMRC also provides medicaland emergency aid during natural disastersand man made disasters such as riots.

He has been active in Muslim community in North America since the early 70’s. He wasthe founding member of Muslim


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Community Association, Santa Clara, CAand Islamic Society of East Bay, Fremont,CA.

Manzoor Ghori founded Ameen Housing

Cooperative Inc. in 1994. This organization provides an alternative for home buyerslooking for ways to avoid interest-based bank loans.

He is the founder and board member of North American Islamic Shelter for theAbused (NISA) that supports victims ofdomestic abuse.

Manzoor was also on the advisory board of

Council of American Islamic Relations(CAIR), an advocacy group for justice andmutual understanding and Islamic NetworkGroup (ING) which delivers educational programs relating to Islam and Muslims.

He is the founder & chairman ofJahangirabad Education Trust, India. Thistrust launched Jahangirabad Media Institutein 2005 and is about to launch a university -Jahangirabad Institute of Technology - in

2007.

Ghulam Nabi Fai

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai is the ExecutiveDirector of the Washington-based KashmiriAmerican Council /Kashmir Center. He isthe founding chairman of the San Francisco based Global Peace Forum and the

Chairman London-based Justice Foundation.Dr. Fai is also the Member of the Board ofDirector of Istanbul-based the Union of the NGOs of the Islamic World.

He addressed the 46th thru 61st Sessions ofthe United Nations Commission on HumanRights (UNCHR) at Geneva; and also

participated in the 41st thru 57th Sessions ofthe United Nations Sub - Commission onPrevention of Discrimination and Protectionof Minorities at Geneva. He attended the 1st,2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th sessions of the United

Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in2006 & 2007. He was invited to attend the3

rd , 6th, 7

th, 8

th, 9

th and 10

th Summit of the

Head of the States of the Organization of theIslamic Conference in January 1981 inMakkah, Saudi Arabia; December 1992 inDakar, Senegal; in December 1994 inCasablanca, Morocco; in December 1997 inTehran, Iran; in November 2000 in Doha,Qatar; and in October, 2003 in Putrajaya,Malaysia respectively. He addressed the

preliminary session at the CentennialConference of Parliament of the World'sReligions in Chicago in August 1993. He participated in the 42nd Session of theUnited Nations Commission on the Status ofWomen in New York in March 1998. Headdressed the 14th International Conferenceon Conflict Resolution in St. Petersburg,Russia in May 2006. He also addressed theFourth International Conference on GlobalGood in Honolulu, Hawaii in June 2006.

Dr. Fai has been a leading spokesman forthe Kashmir cause for over three decadesand has traveled to over forty countrieslecturing on the subject. His articlesappeared in The New York Times, TheWashington Post , The Washington Times,Chicago tribune, Wall Street Journal,Financial Times, Plain Dealer , BaltimoreSun and many other foreign policy journalsin the United States and around the world.

He has been living in exile since August1980 for his political beliefs. He is marriedand has two children.


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Maryam Kabeer Faye

Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye was guidedfrom a young age to make the journey insearch of Truth. At twelve, she was given ascroll with a painting of an ancient manwalking through mountains, upon which,were the words: SEEK AND THE TRUTHSHALL MAKE YOU FREE.

From that moment on, her life became a journey in search of the liberating Truth.Born Jewish, she embraced Islam in ElKhalil, ten minutes away from the burial place of the Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) at thehands of an ancient Sufi Sheikh. Since then,she has studied with Sufi Mastersintensively around the world, on a journeyof transformation culminating in WestAfrica.Her book, JOURNEY THROUGH TEN

THOUSAND VEILS, The Alchemy ofTransformation on the Sufi Path, whichdocuments both the inner and outer journey,is a revealing social commentary, dispellingmany stereotypes such as the proposition,that women are inevitably oppressed inIslam. On the contrary, it is by entering intothe heart of Islam that the author wasliberated, elevated, and guided to realize thetrue purpose of her existence.Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye is a teacher,

speaker and writer on Islam and spirituality.She travels extensively throughout theworld, building bridges of light, knowledge,and understanding.

Fatemeh Fakhraie

Fatemeh Fakhraie is an editor, writer, and blogger who writes about issues related toMuslims, feminism, race, and politics inseveral print and online outlets, includingRacialicious, ReligionDispatches, and

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