Archive for October, 2011

By: Maha Kamel 

The deep aroma of Persian food in the air in the midst of laughter and conversation. It was the image of da’wa. It was a Friday afternoon and the Granada Hills Charter High School MSA was holding its First Annual Eid Banquet, inviting students from various high schools to gather and enjoy a night of laughter, food, communication, and most importantly, exchange. The banquet was just another chance to create an atmosphere for Muslims and non Muslims to feel comfortable. It was a place were once entered all stereotypes were left at the door, a place just like our very own Muslim Youth Group (MYG).

The night was a success. alhamdulillah. The MSA was so blessed to have the Islamic Center of Southern California’s own youth coordinator to serve as an inspiration for a group, as Soha Yassine was the keynote speaker for the evening. I’ve never felt more proud to be apart of such an amazing support community.

By: Haris Tarin, MPAC

Sunday, Oct. 16, the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC, on the National Mall. The ceremonial dedication was delivered by President Barack Obama and other speakers, including prominent civil rights leaders, faith leaders, musicians, poets and members of King’s family.

The entry to the memorial is through two stones, created from a single boulder and then separated to represent a “great monolithic struggle.” The parted boulder at the entrance is called Mountain of Despair and the boulder pushed forward with King’s engraved statue is called The Stone of Hope. The two main architectural components of the memorial were inspired by his famous “I Have a Dream” speech with these two inscriptions: “Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope” and “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” on each entrance stone. The sentiments from his speech still ring true today with the current climate of uncertainty, fear and despair for many minority communities in America. Obviously, King’s work is not done, he was just the impetus for many people to work and fight for hope and change.

Almost 20 years after his assassination, Alex Odeh, West Coast Regional Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, was also murdered as part of an attempt to continue to divide the nation on our differences rather than creating “a beautiful symphony of brotherhood” on our commonalities. America continues to experience factions within society who revel in divisions and weakness. Until today, Odeh’s family waits for the man who murdered him to be brought to justice.

In the tradition of King’s advocacy of nonviolence, Odeh worked to affect change for minority communities, through civic empowerment. The shortened lives of these two visionaries taken in their prime by extremists and racists are indicators of how badly their work was and is needed. America still struggles with blocks of people who seek to divide our nation rather than make it stronger based on our diversity.

The dedication of the King Memorial should be a reminder that our struggles are not over. We must continue to work on behalf of equity and equality for all, regardless of race, religion or creed. In the end, the fight for justice, compassion and equality are noble causes, and we should be thankful that we have brave souls who are willing to take on such enormous feats. It is a testament to the blessing of our diversity and our push for a stronger America.

By: Editor

All-American Muslim premieres Sun, Nov. 13th @ 10pm ET/PT. TLC has already come under great scrutiny for introducing the idea of the show. As of this week, TLC launched their Facebook site for the show with a show teaser as well as posted to their main TLC Facebook page. The conversation is already heating up. We want to ensure we include as many people to be part of this conversation especially from the Muslim community.   This is why your participation is critical.  You can see the teaser by clicking on the image above or here

We hope this series will help mainstream America to be more accepting of everyday American Muslims and extinguish the rampant Islamophobia in this country.

By: Shireen Karoon

Last Sunday, Dr. Gasser Hathout presented a lecture on “Issues with Quranic Interpretation.”  He shed light on the meaning on “Muhkam” and “Mutashabih” verses as defined and agreed by the scholars.  He noted that most scholars agree that the “Muhkam” verses of the Quran are those that have a clear cut meaning and are action item verses whereas the “Mutashabih” verses are those that have more than one interpretation, are allegorical, have no actions attached to them and their meanings is open to wide speculation.

Dr. Gasser gave various examples from the Quran to further illustrate this concept.  Why he believes that it is so important to make this distinction and understand this concept is because:

1. It is the best antidote for authoritarianism and dogmatism in Islam

2. It is the source of continuing dynamism or “Ijtihad” that can evolve with time

3. For us to avoid the robotic execution of instructions, but rather to be an active participant who thinks, interprets, and understands the verses within the confinements of the Quran and Sunnah, and implements this understanding in his/her life.

This was a very important lecture for our community as many walked away enlightened with a new understanding of our holy revelation.

Click here to listen to the audio of Dr. Gasser’s lecture.

By: Ahmad Shabeer

Hundreds, including our own Jihad Turk, went to Bovard Auditorium in the heart of the USC campus to remember 9/11 on Sunday September 11, 2011. The gathering, organized by the USC Office of Religious Life and the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, featured many of USC’s religious leaders, including the dean of religious life Varun Soni, former dean Rabbi Susan Laemmle, Father Lawrence Seyer and Jihad Turk.

Remembering 911, 10 years later – Jihad Turk from ICSCOnline on Vimeo.

“Today we remember 9/11 even though it was never forgotten,” Soni said. “All of our lives dramatically changed during those dark days.”

By: Editor

“Koran by Heart” is an HBO documentary was first broadcast on August 9th, 2011. It follows the process of a contest in Cairo between young contestants (as young as 7 years old) reciting the whole Koran (600+ pages) from memory. The film captures the lives of several finalists drawn from the farthest reaches of the Islamic world.

Following the film, we are privileged to have a panel discussion with the Director Greg Barker and Editor Langdon Page. They will answer questions about the process of creating the documentary, getting it filmed in Egypt &  as they followed some young finalists to their home countries.

Prof. Amir Hussain, from Loyola Marymount will also participate in the panel to aid in our understanding of the religious context of the documentary’s many storylines.

A brunch of Middle Eastern foods (and pizza for the kids) will be served immediately following the film, and enjoyed during the panel discussion in Fellowship Hall.

Families are encouraged to come, as well as constituents and invited guests from the Islamic Center of Southern California.  The film will be inspiring to young people as well as parents.  It has been shown with great impact in middle schools in LA and NYC, after it opened the TriBeCa Film Festival this summer.

     Sunday at 10AM: Screening, Panel Discussion, and Brunch  

Brentwood Presbyterian Church

12000 San Vicente Blvd, LA 90049

Parking off Bundy (both sides, ½ bl so. of San Vicente intersection) and in bank parking garage, north side of San Vicente, across from the Church    (Help? Call Alice, 310-370-0266 )

By: Hassaan Shahawy

The recent sentencing of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani to death by an Iranian court makes absolutely no sense. Born to Muslim parents, Nadarkhani converted to Christianity and became the head of a network of Christian churches in Iran. However, the Iranian government has chosen to sentence him to death for apostasy, or converting away from Islam. The decision is beyond senseless. It is wrong in every possible definition of the word. Even after reading the traditional opinions of scholars on the topic, I fail to see how anyone could have made the argument that execution was a possible sentence, let alone the fact that law could enforce it. The evidence can only be classified as week; a series of contextual anomalies in the Quran that were then combined together and twisted to justify the killing of anyone who left Islam. The evidence against execution is beautifully and utterly simple. “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (2: 256). This verse comes with no qualifier, no exceptions, and no concessions. To add on to this, multiple hadith have been recounted of the prophet PBUH letting apostates free without any sort of harassment. However, there does not exist, to my knowledge, any hadith in which the prophet supports a sentencing of execution exclusively due to apostasy. The Quran is not meant to be a puzzle. It is one beautifully clear and self-sufficient work. Therefore, one explicit verse simply cannot be overruled by a series of verses taken out of context and then mashed together.

More important than the contextual evidence in this case, however, is this event’s reflection of the nature of modern Islam. There are two noticeable and worrying details. Firstly, there seems to be a shift in Islam that is driving people away from common sense. In a well-meaning eagerness for their religion, people are forgetting the principle tenants of a believer. Islam is the “middle-path,” and Muslims are instructed to “walk softly on this Earth.” We are told to be kind, compassionate, understanding, and thoughtful, and we are never meant to forget those characteristics. In a desperate search for depth and complexity in our religion, people tend to forget that the priority in Islam, beyond logic and scholarship, is the quality of the heart. If we open our hearts to Allah and to everyone in our world, not just the Muslims, then we are indeed being the best Muslim.

The second worrying detail is more of a political one. There are very few modern Muslims that support the sentencing of execution for apostasy. However, the Muslim world has somehow developed so that 14 Muslim countries support death for apostates. Who has been making these decisions and where are they coming from? The answer to this question is rather scary. For the past 100 years, Islam has been in its dark ages. At the beginning of the century, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Muslim Empire crumbled into a state of disarray. This century of war, dictatorship, oppression, and extremism, in comparison to the rest of Islamic history, has almost certainly been the most disastrous for Islam. However, with this sad statement comes a small beacon of hope: the Arab Spring. While still in its beginning stages, it can undoubtedly be said that the Arab governments are in a better state now than they were for a majority of the last 50 years. Likewise, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has reached a turning point, as the plight of the Palestinians has become apparent to the majority of the world. Extremist movements are on the decline and, in the waning moments of horrible wars in the Middle-East, it is hard to see any country engaging in an act of war in the Middle-East again without an extremely compelling reason. As ironic as it may sound, the Muslim world appears to have nowhere to go but up, Insha’Allah.

By: Editor

Here’s your chance to change your community, society, the world!

Check out 1st Annual ICSC Volunteer Day!

If you want to make a difference, this event is for you! On this day you will meet ICSC Committee Chairs/Project Leaders and sign up to become a future volunteer with:

• MECA (volunteer opportunities for young adults)
• Social Services
• Administration
• Interfaith
• Outreach/Awareness
• Education, Membership
• Technology/Communications
• Development and MORE!

Please note that babysitting will be provided. We ask that attendees plan to arrive at 3:15pm because we have a packed schedule. Questions? Contact ICSC Volunteer Coordinator Soha Yassine at syassine@icsconline.org.