By: Editor

Founded in 2011 by the Islamic Center of Southern California, Bayan College is the newest member of the Claremont Lincoln University Consortium, located in Claremont, California. As a uniquely American and non-sectarian institution, Bayan College will educate men and women as Islamic religious leaders, scholars and educators in this new multireligious and multiethnic graduate school.

Bayan College represents an important next step in Islamic education in the American context. Bayan College will educate leaders who are qualified and well-positioned to effectively present Islam to American Muslims and the broader American society. These indigenous imams, chaplains, educators, activists and scholars will help serve the needs of the Islamic community in the religiously and culturally pluralistic realities of American society.

Currently, Bayan College is a program of Claremont Lincoln University, which offers the fully accredited M.A. in Muslim Leadership. In coming years, this degree will become the first program of Bayan College. Click here to visit Bayan’s website and learn about degree programs. 

By: Hassaan Shahawy

“O you who believe. Shall I lead you to a bargain which may deliver you from a painful chastisement? Believe in God and His Apostle and struggle hard in Allah’s cause with all your means and your soul. That is better for you, if you but knew.” (61:10-11)

This is one set of verses in the Quran that, ever since I learnt it, has stayed with me through every issue of every-day life that I deal with. The path to heaven is simple; something that I think is singularly unique about Islam in comparison to other religions. We have no trinity, nor reincarnations, nor any great paradox of faith. Rather we have, in this verse, one sole equation to lead us to our promised happiness. Easy as the concept may be to grasp, in application it can obviously prove extremely difficult. Our lives feel so long to us that the idea of having to guide every single decision we make with the goal of furthering Allah’s cause seems painstakingly difficult. However, the brevity of this verse expresses to me something that pulls me out of these times of frustration. The mere phrasing reminds me that our lives here are humble and so short compared to what is to come. Lying ahead of us we have the trials of death, of the wait in the grave, and of the Last Day, which to some of humanity will feel like 50,000 years on this Earth. Our current life is the deep breath before the plunge. If one prepares himself and breathe in air, then he will not flounder nor drown in the depths.

This life is brutally, utterly, and devastatingly short. All I need to do is meet every challenge, one by one, and in every challenge, pray and do what I know is right. Meanwhile, I get to enjoy the constant blessings that I’m given every day, not only happiness and sadness, but pure existence. What is the occasional sacrifice compared to being spared from the abyss of nothing? I’m truly and utterly happy, even when I am sad. And I know, insha’Allah, that it won’t be so long until the end.

By: Editor 

Best-selling spiritual author and national pulpit voice, Dr. R. Scott Colglazier, Senior Minister of First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, welcomed Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center and Imam Jihad Turk of the Islamic Center of Southern California to a special Interfaith service that sought to dispel the misconceptions each of these religions holds about the others, and explores our commonalities.  This event took place on November 13 at 11:00 am. It was an exploration of how our respective faith traditions contribute to a larger religious experience in America.

Dr. Colglazier says, “I am more and more convinced that the new opportunity being presented to us in the 21st century is to forge common understanding and mutual respect, especially in the arena of religion. The peoples of the earth will never find peace until the religions of the world find a way to understand one another better, appreciate differences of viewpoint, and celebrate common goals for the human family.  Dr. Colglazier, Imam Turk and Rabbi Levine Grater explored such topics as the tenth anniversary of 9/11, religion’s role in the current Occupy Protests worldwide, and Palestine’s recent Unesco status confirmation.

The Trilogue Service was in conjunction with the final day of Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited, the photodocumentary exhibit housed in the historic Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Golden States of Grace examines eleven different California faith communities that have found themselves on the outside of mainstream American society. Created by photographer Rick Nahmias, this work consists of 56 black and white images, didactics describing the photos, and an ambient soundtrack that captures music, interviews and prayers from these various communities.

Dr. Colglazier, whose accessible and optimistic spiritual work has been featured on CNN, The Today Show, and The CBS Morning Show as well as in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The New York Times. He was also recently interviewed on KCBS/KCAL 9. Dr. Colglazier advocates for a progressive Christianity that embraces the religious diversity of our city and world, using that diversity to make one’s faith stronger.

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater has a regular blog on The Huffington Post, is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, and has been published widely on many different websites and blogs. He currently serves on several boards, including Jewish World Watch, a synagogue-based consortium that focuses on genocide, primarily in Darfur and Congo; the executive committee of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California; and on the National Advisory Board of J-Street, as well as being a member of the advisory board of Just Vision.

Imam Jihad Turk, a religious director at the University of Southern California, advises and serves the needs of the Muslim students on campus. Turk has been serving as the Religious Director at the Islamic Center of Southern California since 2005. Together with an Episcopal Priest, Turk founded, and currently sits as co-chair, of the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group, a group comprised of major Christian and Muslim denominations and organizations intent on understanding each other and working together on common goals.

By: Editor 

Organized annually by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) in cooperation with the World Jewish Congress and the Islamic Society of North America, the Weekend of Twinning is an annual initiative based on synagogues, mosques and Muslim and Jewish student and young leadership groups forming partnerships and holding joint programs together with the goal of building ties of communication, reconciliation and cooperation between Muslims and Jews.

Check out these Twinning events happening this weekend :

Sunday Nov. 13: 

By: Shirin Karoon 

Chants of Eid takbeerat could be heard from the Grand Ballroom of the Pasadena Convention Center as Muslims hurried to attend the Eid Prayer.  This was the first time the Islamic Center of Southern California hosted Eid ul-Adha prayers at that venue, but approximately 3,000 people  were estimated to have attended. Dr. Maher Hathout led the community in prayer and afterwards delivered an uplifting khutba focusing on two messages for the community. Click here to view photos of the prayer. 

First, he elaborated on the concept of sacrifice and bringing it back to our system of values.  He reminded of the great sacrifices Prophet Ibrahim, peace be uponhim, made to prove his love to the Almighty God where all his sacrifices were void of any selfishness.  He prayed for the community to have this spirit as well.

Secondly, Dr. Hathout stressed the importance of having a vision. This vision was relevant to people of all generations, young and old who have to struggle, work, and pray together to achieve their vision. He reminded of the cooperation between Ibrahim and Ismail.  When Ibrahim saw the vision to sacrifice his son for God Almighty, he consulted with him, whereas the son responded: “O father, do as you are told, for you will find me amongst those who are patient.” In addition, when father and son were commanded by God Almighty to build the first house for the worship of God, they both worked and prayed in harmony and cooperation do fulfill this command.  Dr. Hathout further reminded the youth to earn their parent’s trust by being trustworthy individuals.

By: Marium Mohiuddin, MPAC

The Muslim Public Affairs Council is honored to announce that Dr. Cornel West, New York Times bestselling author and progressive cultural icon, will give the keynote address at its 11th Annual Convention on Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

MPAC is honored to have such a powerful philosopher and speaker join the lineup for the 11^th Annual Convention. West has emerged as a thoughtful and thought-provoking leader with a long legacy of activism, justice and prominence in American culture and civil rights.

West has emerged as a thoughtful and thought-provoking leader with a long legacy of activism, justice and prominence in American culture and civil rights. In this year of critical change, MPAC is honored to be joined by a speaker who not only can speak about that change, but also has a long track record of working toward that change in America. Over his decades-long academic career and most recently in the Occupy Wall Street movement, West has given voice to the countless numbers of people who feel voiceless.

West is a prominent and provocative intellectual, who is a professor in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. He has taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard and the University of Paris. The author of 19 books and editor of 13 books, West is best known for his classics“Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters,” as well as his new, “Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir.”

He appears frequently on the “Bill Maher Show,” “Colbert Report,” CNN and C-Span, as well as on his dear Brother, Tavis Smiley’s PBS TV Show. He is also co-host of the popular radio show “Smiley & West” heard on PRI around the country. The “Smiley and West” radio show is a highly-acclaimed progressive program.

He made his film debut in the “Matrix,” and was also the commentator (with Ken Wilbur) on the official trilogy released in 2004. He also has appeared in more than 25 documentaries and films, including “Examined Life,” “Call & Response,” “Sidewalk and Stand.”

He also has made three spoken word albums, including “Never Forget,” collaborating with Prince, Jill Scott, Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, KRS-One and the late Gerald Levert. His spoken word interludes were featured on Terence Blanchard’s “Choices” (which won the Grand Prix in France for the best Jazz Album of the year of 2009), The Cornel West Theory’s “Second Rome,” Raheem DeVaughn’s “Love & War: Masterpeace,” and most recently on Bootsy Collins’ “The Funk Capital of the World.”

In short, West has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.

MPAC’s 11th Annual Convention will focus on the Arab Spring and America’s role in this new era by engaging some of today’s greatest thinkers and activists. The convention will feature a dozen high-profile speakers who will explore the ramifications of the changing Muslim world, as well as nonviolent revolutions, foreign policy developments, toppled dictatorships and the evolving nature of the Arab Spring.

By: Editor

Recently, PBS special correspondent Saul Gonzalez reported on Claremont Lincoln University.   He explored how CLU is the first in the United States to bring together Christians, Jews and Muslims in the same classrooms to educate the future leaders of churches, synagogues and mosques.

Watch Calif. University Introduces First U.S. Multi-Faith School of Theology on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Based at Claremont Lincoln University,  Bayan College will educate men and women as Islamic religious leaders, scholars and educators in this new multireligious and multiethnic graduate school. Click here to learn more about Bayan College. 

By: Eba Hathout 

The Hassan Hathout Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization whose mission is to spread the message of "Love in God". Learn more at www.HassanHathoutLegacy.org

On the occasion of the Abrahamic festival of pilgrimage (Eid ul Adha), we chose to share a Friday sermon titled ”Days of Abraham” in the voice of Hassan Hathout.  Although it was delivered to a Muslim audience in Los Angeles in 1993, you may find that much of its content is relevant to different faiths and times. The speech is 24 minutes long and is primarily in English.  Arabic supplications and Quranic quotations are followed by English translations.

To hear the speech now, please click on the following audio link: Days of Abraham

By: Editor 

Following the lives of 5 Muslim families from Dearborn, Michigan, TLC delves into what it is like to be Muslim in America. TLC’s All American Muslim will air November 13th @ 10pm ET/PT. This new groundbreaking reality series follows the lives of five Muslim families in Dearborn, MI, one of the oldest Muslim communities in America. The powerful new eight-part series goes inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims to uncover a unique community struggling to balance faith and nationality in a post 9/11 world.

The families featured in the series share the same religion, but lead very distinct lives that often times challenge the Muslim stereotypes we see too often. Each episode offers an intimate look at their customs and celebrations, as well as the misconceptions, conflicts and differences they face outside—and within—their own community. The families on the series share their biggest celebrations and their unexpected challenges. The show lifts the veil of these present day stereotypes and shows the depth and variety present  among American Muslims.

As you can imagine, conversations are heating up across social media and beyond. Fringe anti-Muslim organizations are trying to utilize this show as a platform to spread their hate messaging in attempts to control American opinions. So it is critical that that both American Muslim and American non-Muslim communities are a part of this important conversation as a move that will surely inspire and broaden the public discussion about this community at a time when US public opinion of Muslims is at an all-time low. Ultimately, All-American Muslim is about civic duty, patriotism, religious freedom, the importance of family, and striving to live ‘the American dream’. Your participation is critical to representing the rich spectrum of opinions on this show and themes it explores.

Tune in starting November 13 @10pm ET/PT – and until then, watch the show opening here from the AllAmerican Muslim Facebook Page and if you like what you see, like the All-American Muslim Facebook page. If you are hungry for more, you can see more photos, videos, and learn about all the characters on the TLC.com All-American Muslim website.

New Groundbreaking TLC Reality Series, ”ALL-AMERICAN MUSLIM” Premiers Nov. 13th @ 10pm ET.