United For Change – Our Families, Our Foundation – Imam Zaid Shakir from MQube on Vimeo.

Click here to view the HD video – http://1.mqu.be/IZSufc

Biggest Islamic Conference in Montreal History

Date: September 25th, 2010
Location: Montreal, Canada
Venue – The Palais des Congrès – Montreal Convention Center

United For Change – Our Families, Our Foundation – Imam Zaid Shakir from MQube on Vimeo.

Click here to view the HD video – http://1.mqu.be/IZSufc

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Imam Mohamed Magid, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

http://www.unitedforchange.com/events/program/

Short film about Imam Zaid Shakirs “Turn the Desert Green” tour in the UK. This is a tour organised by Islamic Relief to help fund projects in Mali.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the event was the participation of a wide range of speakers. For example, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, Professor, AlMaghrib Institute,* and Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Educational Director,Seekers Guidance, and former SunniPath Academy teacher shared the stage for the session “A Vision for the Muslim Community”.

Shaykh Qadhi, who was born and raised in the United States, stated that he sees 3 areas of optimism for American Muslims and 3 areas that need attention.

3 areas of optimism

1. Racial divide among Muslims has been greatly minimized. Compared to the 1970’s and 1980’s, there is much more unity in the America Muslim community. Masajid are filled with Muslims from all different nationalities, races, and backgrounds.

2. Greater identification with American culture. There is no “back home” for the current generation of Muslims as they were born here, identify with this culture, and are comfortable here.

3. Increased involvement in political life and the media. For example, there are now 2 Muslim congressman (Keith Ellison and André D. Carson) and the White House celebrates Iftar.

3 areas needing attention

1. Living a practicing religious life in a secular society. Work needs to be done with balancing the conservatism of Islam with a more hedonistic lifestyle.

2. Right Wing Islamophobia. Muslims are forced to deal with the fake dichotomy “you are either with us or against us.” There are always disagreements in the political realm. Having a different morality does not make someone less American. Every group, including those who identify themselves as Christian or Jewish, have loyalties that are not questioned and they are not accused of trying to impose a “Christian Shari’ah” for example.

3. Producing a new generation of indigenous scholars and imams. The U.S. needs Muslim leaders that are of the East and West and who understand this culture.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, who is Canadian, began with the vision “that America needs to be more like Canada!” On a more serious note, he stated that there needs to be more of a commitment to excellence, “to do the best thing, in the best way, for the best motives”.

Shaykh Rabbani stated that excellence is learned by following the Qur’an and Sunnah and by following the example of others. He mentioned that often Muslims do not expect excellence in the community. Many halal meat stores and masajids, for example, do not meet the standards we expect from other businesses or public places. He stressed the importance at looking at success stories such as the Umma Community Clinic in South Central LA, that provides high quality health care to all, regardless of ability to pay.

Part of excellence, he continued, is how we view ourselves with respect to society-at-large. The Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, was sent to perfect noble character. He (saas) saw the human potential and the inherent possibility of good, and helped others to fulfill this potential.

To achieve excellence, Shaykh Rabbani highlighted 2 things:

How can Muslim community achieve excellence

1. Establish indigenous institutions of Islamic knowledge that train in the highest level of scholarship. In this, both Shaykhs agreed.

2. Cultivate a spirit of service. What are we doing to seek the pleasure of Allaah (swt)?

Shaykh Rabbani ended with advice on how to succeed:

4 things that grant success:

1. Intention is true,
2. Goal is true,
3. Way to pursue that goal is true, and
4. Pursuing that goal in the best of ways.

*Shaykh Yasir Qadir will by presenting at IlmFest (October 3-4) in Baltimore

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On September 5, United For Change hosted its inaugural event United Against Malaria, One Body : One Goal.Part 1 of this series of articles spoke generally about this inspiring event. In this Part 2, the insights of Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, one of the speakers, are highlighted.

At the event, Sister Saleemah received the first United For Change Award For Excellence in Human Service, along with another co-recipient. Among her many achievements (e.g. author, activist), Sister Saleemah is the faith-based programmer for Malaria No More, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, formed to advance the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (see below).

Malaria No More describes itself as “a uniquely entrepreneurial organization” involved with funding, grassroots work, advocacy, and implementation. According to its website,

Malaria No More was born of a simple, startling insight: that ending malaria’s death grip on Africa is the best humanitarian investment we can make in the world today.Nothing else can have the same impact on as many people’s lives and livelihoods as quickly or cheaply.

During her speech, Sister Saleemah described eradicating malaria as the low-hanging fruit of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.

The” low-hanging fruit” is an expression that means to select the easiest targets with the least amount of effort. Fruit trees often have low branches that make its fruit easy to reach. The fruit on the lower branches may not be as ripe or as attractive as the fruit on higher branches, but it is much easier to harvest.

According to Sister Saleemah, malaria eradication efforts represent the low-hanging fruit because they impact each of the 8 Millennium Development Goals and provide the biggest opportunity to save lives.

The UN has described the Millennium Development Goals as follows:

Nine years ago, world leaders set far-sighted goals to free a major portion of humanity from the shackles of extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease. They established targets for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development. In short, they adopted a blueprint for a better world – and pledged to spare no effort in fulfilling that vision.

The 8 goals are: (1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) Achieve universal primary education; (3) Promote gender equality and empower women; (4) Reduce child mortality; (5) Improve maternal health; (6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other disease; (7) Ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) Develop a global partnership for development.

The target date for most of the goals is 2015. Unfortunately, according to a 2009 progress report, the unprecedented worldwide economic crisis threatens the accomplishment of these goals, as well as the potential devastating effects of climate change.

Unlike some of the other goals, however, much progress has been made with respect to eradicating malaria. Target 3 of Goal 6 (Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other disease) states “Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.”

Malaria is called a disease of poverty because infection and death rates are disproportionately concentrated in the least developed countries. About one million people die of malaria each year and 95% of them, mostly children, live in sub-Sahara Africa. Several factors make the risk of dying from malaria much higher in this region including: the abundance of a more lethal malaria parasite, more intense disease transmission, and weak healthcare systems.

According to the progress report, “major progress has been made in the fight against malaria in recent years, due in large part to increased funding and focus on malaria control. “ In fact, a 2008 Roll Back Malaria Global Action Plan, challenged countries to achieve universal coverage with key interventions by 2010.

Why does eradicating malaria affect the other goals? For example, the target with respect to Goal 4(Reduce child mortality) is to reduce the under age 5 child mortality rate by 2/3 between 1990 and 2015. Although there has been progress in this regard for developing regions as a whole, many countries, including sub-Sahara Africa, have made little or no progress.

In fact, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 1/2 of all deaths among children under the age of 5. Nevertheless, according to the progress report, there have been “remarkable improvements in several key child-survival interventions that are expected to yield further declines in under-five mortality over the next few years,” including the use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria. Thus, efforts to reduce new cases of malaria and deaths associated with the disease have a direct impact on this goal as well.

Sister Saleemah shared her parents’ wise advice, “to be a good Muslim you need to serve humanity.”Each of us can do our part to serve humanity this blessed month of Ramadan by contributing as little as $10 to Islamic Relief’s Bite the Bug campaign.

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